Proceedings of the 2007 Georgia Basin Puget Sound Research Conference
Session 1F: Impacts of Human Population Growth On the Ecosystem
Chair: Charlie O’Hara
When Concerned About Toxic Stormwater Pollutants in the Built Environment: Sweep Before You “Treat”
There is strong momentum towards the treatment of stormwater with wet ponds, swales, sand filters, and other structural devices. While treatment devices have their place, in new developments and certain retrofits, jurisdictions should first consider the establishment of a cost-effective pavement cleaning program to reduce toxic stormwater pollutant contributions from existing urban lands. Studies completed by the senior author clearly establish that the most cost-effective BMP from a stormwater sediment and toxic pollutant reduction standpoint and therefore the first BMP to consider is street sweeping. In fact, with the highly effective newer machines, whether those are vacuum, regenerative air or mechanical, the practice should now be called “street cleaning”. Where treatment devices currently exist, street cleaning will improve their overall performance and reduce their maintenance requirements and associated costs. It is not a question of whether pavement cleaning will improve water quality, but of how to most effectively use limited public dollars to obtain the most pollutant reduction benefit. The paper will provide an overview of: the origin of the urban myth that cleaning streets is not an effective BMP, demonstrated improvements in stormwater quality due to street cleaning, other on-going street sweeping pilot projects, how street sweeping pollutant removal unit costs compare to structural BMPs, and how a cost-effective cleaning program can be developed.
Quantification of Peak Season Marine Vessel Traffic Pressure in the San Juan Islands
The marine waters surrounding the San Juan Islands appear to communicate high levels of vessel traffic, especially during the sunny summer days of peak vacation season. This perception is corroborated by several factors: 1. international commercial shipping lanes serving two major North American ports; 2. Alaskan Marine Highway, Washington State and several international ferry routes; 3. a plentiful sport and commercial fishery with 4 major game fish providing year round opportunities; 4. an extremely popular yachting and pleasure cruising environment featuring several nature parks accessible only by water; and, 5. Orca pods and numerous sea-foul rookeries providing very appealing on-water tourist attractions. However, prior to this study, there have been no published attempts to quantify vessel pressures in the San Juan Islands. In this pilot study we develop methods for deriving statistics on vessel traffic utilizing spotters and digital photography from fixed wing over-flights during the peak tourist season (August-September 2006). Samples were stratified by weekend/holiday days and week days. Data was collected for 4 week days and 9 weekend/holiday days. Results indicate average total of 953 vessels on water at any given daylight time for weekend/holiday days and 659 for week days. Vessels were also identified by general type as: power, sail, commercial fishing, cargo and ferry. Rough location markers were plotted in a GIS yielding relative concentration gradients.
Urbanization, Private Property Rights, and The Fate of Coho Salmon Habitat in Puget Sound
Puget Sound coho salmon (Oncorhynchus kisutch), which are dependent on perennial first, second, and third order streams for reproduction and survival are in decline, and are currently listed as a species of concern’ under the US Federal Endangered Species Act. Urbanization of the Puget Sound lowlands (PSL) has contributed greatly to the decline of these fish. Development and growth is occurring throughout the PSL and the vast majority of coho salmon habitat exists on privately owned lands.
Public awareness of, and support for the concept of protection and restoration of salmon habitat is generally high in the Puget Sound area. However, as government agencies increasingly rely on private landowners for the conservation of salmon habitat, and as protective regulations are imposed on these landowners, an organized resistance movement has been fostered that demands monetary compensation for development and other private property rights lost to government regulation of private lands. The colliding trends of increasing human population growth, declining coho populations, and increasing resistance to government regulation of privately owned lands in the Puget Sound basin must be reconciled if coho salmon decline is to be reversed.
Effectively and Efficiently Meeting Multiple Local Jurisdiction Resource Protection Mandates through Landscape Characterization
Whatcom County, in a partnership with Federal and State resource agencies, is developing a watershed-based management plan for the Birch Bay watershed. This innovative effort attempts to develop a unified approach for characterizing, analyzing and developing a local plan that sustains natural resources and addresses storm water while accommodating population growth. The effort will: 1) offer statewide watershed characterization tools and analysis methods that are tested and applied at a local level by a local government; and 2) demonstrate how watershed-based planning improves local planning and decision-making, reduces workload and cost, and increases predictability while meeting multiple mandates and improving the health of local and regional ecosystems.
The Birch Bay management plan uses an integrated set of watershed characterization tools that are applied from landscape to site scales. This includes assessment and analysis of watershed processes and fish and wildlife needs at the landscape to sub-basin scales, and wetland functions at the site scale. The resulting series of characterization and synthesis maps demonstrate the most appropriate areas for protection, restoration and development. This information is incorporated into development standards and regulations that guide future development more effectively than site based environmental review and permitting.
McKee Peak: Development Planning in Consideration of Ecological Sensitivities
In early 2005 the City of Abbotsford retained Madrone Environmental Services Ltd. to complete Terrestrial Ecosystem Mapping (TEM) and a rare element survey of the McKee Peak Planning Area in Abbotsford. Located at the southwest end of Sumas Mountain, McKee Peak represents an excellent example of undisturbed deciduous and mixed forest. The area provides habitat for at least 21 threatened and endangered plant, animal, and invertebrate species, including Phantom orchid (Cephalanthera austiniae), Pacific Water Shrew (Sorex bendirii) and Oregon Forestsnail (Allogona townsendiana).
There has been a great deal of public concern in regards to the development of McKee Peak, specifically as development pertains to environmental impact. However, the majority of McKee Peak is privately owned. Real estate markets are driving the value of land in the Fraser Valley to astronomical levels and there is increasing pressure on the landscape as land owners sell, subdivide and develop to maximize their investments. Recognizing that McKee Peak is a valuable environmental asset, the City of Abbotsford took the initiative to identify the most sensitive areas of the Peak. Knowing where the most important habitat is located, will guide neighbourhood planning and ensure that habitat for rare species is considered.
Treatment of Ballast Water: Good Possibilities or a Pipe Dream
Non-indigenous aquatic species are transferred around the world in the ballast water of ships. The only “technology” presently available is mid-ocean ballast water exchange. Ships planning to discharge ballast must exchange their ballast with water collected at least 50 or 100 miles from shore. Our research team documented the presence of large numbers of non-indigenous and nearshore zooplankton in the ballast of ships that reported a mid-ocean exchange. In recent years, several different treatments were examined in experiments performed in bench to full-scale shipboard tests. The University of Washington has participated in tests of ultraviolet light, SeaKleenÆ, ozone, electrolytically produced sodium hypochlorite, and a sequential filtration and UV light system. Different treatments have different positive and negative attributes. Pending legislation and regulations have established standards that permit very low numbers of organisms in ballast water discharge. For example, proposed International Maritime Organization (IMO) regulations permit 10 or less viable organisms that are between 10 and 50 µm in their minimum dimension in 100 mL of ballast water. For organisms ?50 µm, 10 are permitted in a cubic meter. The limits proposed for the different size fractions of organisms are very challenging for treatment technologies to achieve and the numbers are much less than what would be expected in ballast water that is exchanged in the middle of the ocean.