News From Around the Basin – June 18, 2026

Drought across the basin; good beer needs good water; come see our water heroes; and more, in this week’s Potomac News Reservoir >>>

The Week’s River Report: Drought across the basin

Today’s U.S. Drought Monitor Map shows little improvement over last week, with 5% of the watershed in Extreme Drought conditions, 25% experiencing Severe Drought conditions and the majority of the remainder in Moderate Drought. At least it is holding steady for now.

After a nice bump in flow at the USGS Point of Rocks gage, it has dropped again to around 2,500 cubic feet per second (cfs), which is below normal for this time of year.

Jurisdictions across the basin are declaring a drought watches and warnings.

It looks like much of the basin should expect around 0.5 inches of rain over the next week or so, according to NOAA.

Rain in the basin is almost 4 inches below normal since last December.

Bay data just got more accessible

Data is the backbone of the Chesapeake Bay recovery. Access to data helps scientists, policy makers, and the public better understand the state of the Bay.

ICPRB has two staff members at the Chesapeake Bay Program that help manage the considerable amount of data that is collected across the watershed. The main tool to make the information accessible is DataHub, a Chesapeake Bay Program data portal for accessing monitoring data, which includes water quality, living resources, and fluorescence.

One example of the impact of data is the Chessie BIBI Stream Health Index, which has tracked improvement in overall stream health over the past two decades.

Recently the DataHub received a major update, which introduced performance improvements and formatting updates to improve user experience.

Key new improvements:

  • Faster performance of data queries and downloads

  • Modernized API structure with enhanced documentation, allowing users to directly access and download data automatically into their own software application
  • Improved access to supporting documentation and informational tooltips throughout the user interface
  • Upgraded data preview that supports cleaner and more readable data exploration before downloading
  • Standardization of column and download file names to improve interoperability of datasets and user accessibility
  • Refreshed and cleaner layout of the Annual Water Quality Data File Download page

Water heroes at the AWWA Annual Conference and Expo

Will you be attending next week’s AWWA ACE26 in DC? Hear from ICPRB’s own water heroes on Collaborative Source Water Protection: Lessons from the Potomac DWSPP Model on Tuesday morning to learn how federal, state, and local partnerships drive effective outreach and innovation.

Speakers from ICPRB and our partners will explore 20 years of collaborative source water protection through the Potomac DWSPP model. This session features regional case studies on salinity, PFAS, land use, and emergency response. It also includes an interactive spill communication exercise led by ICPRB Associate Director of Spill Response Sarah Ahmed.

ICPRB in the community

We are excited to announce our first salty beer collaboration, Salt Watch, which has been launched by Lone Oak Brewing Co. If you are in the Olney, MD, area this Saturday, 2-6pm, come say hi to ICPRB staff and our partners at Izaac Walton League  to learn about the impacts of winter salt and how we can all be Winter Salt Smart. Good beer starts with good water.

All our upcoming events:

Contact us for more information