STATE OF THE BAY 2015

Tonight 3 year anniversary Hurricane sandy

The Clean Up

Hurricane Sandy
 Deaths: Sandy, the largest Atlantic system on record, killed 159 people,
according to NOAA. Including 43 people in NYC
 Homes destroyed: Sandy damaged or destroyed at least 650,000 homes and
250,500 insured vehicles. More than 300,000 business properties were also
affected, .
 Power: During Sandy's immediate aftermath, more than 8.5 million
customers lost power, .
 Surge: Sandy set historical maximum recorded water levels at the Battery
in New York, Kings Point, N.Y.; Bergen Point, N.Y., Sandy Hook, N.J.,
Bridgeport, Conn., and New Haven Conn., according to NOAA.
 Cost: Superstorm Sandy caused $65 billion in damage in the U.S., making it
the second-costliest weather disaster in American history behind only
Hurricane Katrina, -- (NOAA).
 Turn West: It was the first time in modern recorded history that a storm took
a sharp turn to the west and hit New Jersey. A scientific study said it was a
once-in-700-years track.

Tonight’s Goal
Over view of what is going on in Jamaica Bay
Three main topics—
Habitat/Wetlands
Water quality
Fish and Wildlife
*-12- Short presentations-

Local Input
JBEW and ALS and their members out on the bay
every day of the year
Collectively thousands of hours of observation time
on bay each year
Observations often pick up on new trends or
developments ie Wetland loss ,water quality changes,
Grassioli , Ulva , Algae blooms ,Cow nosed rays, …

Ecowatchers retrieving oyster cages

Collaborative Effort
ACOE
NPS
NYS DEC
NYC DEP
NYC Parks
NGO’s-JBEW and ALS and Enviro Groups
Unprecedented Cooperation

Aerial View-Wetland projects to date

Habitat/Wetlands
• Wetlands Loss first discovered by JBEW in 1995
• Loss rate put at 40 acres per year
• Advocacy led to restoration efforts
– Big Egg— year 2002--- 2 Acres
– Elders East--Year 2006--- 40 Acres
– Elders West-Year 2010----40 Acres
– Yellow Bar---Year 2012----44 Acres
– Rulers Bar---2012 Year--------- 12 Acres
– Blackwall----2012/15 Year-------- 20 Acres

Presentation –Group-1-Projects underway
Rulers / Blackwall---Elizabeth Manclarke-ALS
Sunset Cove--------- Elizabeth Jordan----NYC DPR
Spring Creek--------Venettial Lannon----NYS DEC

Additional Areas of Concern

Little Egg Marsh

SUBSIDENCE

Big Egg 2006

Big Egg 2012

Large Interior Pooling

Future Potential Projects

Army Corps of Engineers Presentation

Alternative Concepts
Adjacent Slurry Sediment Enrichment
Smaller projects
Worked at Big Egg Restoration-and in Louisiana
Sand source is at times limited
Save the area before full fragmentation occurs
Greatly Reduced price
Natural process for grading
Less invasive and impacting ---no pipes, ships , heavy
machinery
Can be conducted as a maintenance projects

Alternative Concepts

Interior subsidence and pooling

Water Quality
2010 Nitrogen Agreement
Negotiated agreement between JBEW,ALS,NY/NJ
Baykeeper, NRDC and City of New York
Most significant impact to water quality in the bay
since inception of Dewatering operations began
From high of over 50,000 LBS of Nitrogen per day to
Less than 30,000 LBS per day and will continue to drop
with additional upgrades that are coming on line

Nitrogen Agreement Back story
1995-1999 JBEW documented increase in Algae
Blooms and noted changes in Secchi Readings
2004-2009 discussions with DEC and DEP over
concerns on Nitrogen Loading
2009-Clean water lawsuit brought forth by NRDC
representing JBEW ,ALS, NY/NJ Baykeeper
Lawsuit on hold-December 2009 negotiations
February 2010 –Press conference announcing
Agreement---$100,000,000 plant upgrades and
$15,000,000-in Wetland restoration funds

Dropping Nitrogen Loading

Reduced Nitrogen Effects
“cleaner water”- visibility- most
notable during height of summer
Decrease in Algae Blooms
No incidence of Fish die offs
Wetlands effect ?—Tipping
Point?

Water Quality
Other Water Quality Projects
Oyster projects--NYC DEP –presentation cleaning the
water Naturally ?—John McLaughlin DEP
Marine Debris Removal—Lisa ALS

Areas of concern during sustained high heat/no rain

Conditions Present
Hydrogen sulfide smell
High heat/ direct sun/Midday full moon low
Low oxygen levels
Low water depths
Very high water temps over 80 degrees F

Discolored—green water

Post Construction Monitoring
Part of Nitrogen agreement
Will measure the impact of
upgrades
Will seek to collect additional
Data
ie: Ulva studies

Presentation
Post Construction Monitoring Program—John
McLaughlin

Fish Populations

Fluke

Blue Claw Crab

Fish Survey Results
Water Temperatures and Bait have huge impact as
larger fish move in and out of bay
Very cold winter. Water temps in bay remained cold
late into spring affected the bait and also the
predators
Fall saw very warm temperatures late into the season
and also affected the populations present

Survey
Striped bass—
below average in spring
Below average during summer
Fall run is late and starting to show large increases in
bay
Blue Fish –
• Similar but had picked up in August within the bay
Menhadden—
* Late start due to water temperatures. Large schools in
August with the smaller Peanut Bunker present as well

Survey
Fluke (summer Flounder)
Reports of large numbers early and good size catches
dropped off going into middle of summer and catch
sizes also reduced
Off shore Populations seemed to stay stable
Blue Claw Crab
Non Existent? Very low populations for last three
years. Including night time surveys on mud Flats—
Hurricane Related ?? Cyclical ??

Future Trawl Survey ?
Presentation –Venettia Lannon DEC