Virginia Lee

Eutrophication and management initiatives for the control of nutrient inputs to Rhode Island coastal lagoons

An assessment of developing eutrophic conditions in small temperate lagoons along the coast of Rhode Island suggests that in such shallow, macrophyte based systems the response to nutrient enrichment differs from that described for plankton based systems. The nitrogen loadings per unit area of the salt ponds are 240–770 mmol N per m2 per year. Instead of the high nutrient concentrations, increased phytoplankton biomass and turbidity, leading to eventual loss of benthic macrophytes described for such systems as the Chesapeake, Patuxent and Appalachicola Bay, nutrient enrichment of the Rhode Island lagoons has led to increased growth of marine macroalgae. The increased macroalgal growth appears to alter the benthic habitat and a shift from a grazing to detrital food chain appears to be impacting important shellfisheries. As more extensive areas of organic sediments develop, geochemical cycling changes, resulting in higher rates of nitrogen remineralization and accelerated eutrophication. The major sources of nitrogen inputs to the salt ponds have been identified and a series of management initiatives have been designed to limit inputs from present and potential development within the watersheds of the lagoons.

The Effectiveness of Coastal Zone Management in the United States

The Coastal Zone Management Effectiveness Study was undertaken between 1995 and 1997 to determine how well state coastal management programs in the United States were implementing five of the core objectives of the U.S. Coastal Zone Management Act (CZMA). The five core objectives studied were: (1) protection of estuaries and coastal wetlands; (2) protection of beaches, dunes, bluffs and rocky shores; (3) provision of public access to the shore; (4) revitalization of urban waterfronts; and (5) accommodation of seaport development (as an illustration of the policy to give priority to coastal-dependent uses). Separate articles in this issue of Coastal Management report the findings of the five studies, each dealing with one of the core objectives. Each of the articles assesses issue importance, processes and tools used, and the limited outcome data available for that objective. This article provides an overview of the purposes of the study, the methodology used, the summary findings of each study, and overal...

Providing Public Access to the Shore: The Role of Coastal Zone Management Programs

In many coastal states and territories, coastal zone management (CZM) programs have been the prime catalyst in leveraging public access initiatives among state and federal agencies, public organizations, and the private sector. A wide range of tools are used, including acquisition, regulations, technical assistance, and public education. The diversity of approaches is illustrated through a variety of case examples. Although hard numbers for measuring outcomes were not uniformly available, between 1985 and 1988, when federal and state CZM funding dedicated to public access was tracked,

Development of coastal vegetated buffer programs

141.5 million (unadjusted 1988 dollars) were spent on 455 public access-related projects. A policy shift occurred in the 1990s away from reliance on acquisition and regulation as the most effective means of providing access and toward technical assistance and public outreach-a response to the overall decrease in funds available for access. CZM programs have been able to balance the contradictory goals of the federal Coastal...

Review of the section 309 coastal states enhancement grants program

This article describes a multiple benefit/multiple use approach to implementing vegetated buffers, using as an example a program adopted by the Rhode Island Coastal Resources Management Program. The multiple benefit/multiple use approach capitalizes on the inherent ability of vegetated buffers to perform multiple functions, such as pollutant removal, habitat protection, scenic improvement, erosion control, and historic/archaeological site preservation. These benefits provide a more robust means for justifying vegetated buffer implementation, and should help develop a broader constituency for the adoption of vegetated buffer policies. Application of vegetated buffers for residential and other developing lands has not been adequately addressed in existing vegetated buffer implementation efforts. We present one solution to implementing vegetated buffers on residential and developing lands. The approach and background information should prove useful for the application of vegetated buffers outside of coastal ...

Narragansett bay pollution control: An evaluation of program outcome

The Federal Coastal Zone Management Act of 1972 (CZMA) was substantially amended by Congress in 1990 to create a new program. The Coastal Zone Enhancement Grants Program (Section 309) encourages states to improve their coastal zone management (CZM) programs in eight national enhancement areas. A review of the § 309 Enhancement Grants Program between 1992 and 1994 indicates that the overall intent of the program is being actively pursued by all coastal states with some notable achievements. The § 309 program is serving as a catalyst for states to address issues beyond their existing programs and regulations. States are paying more attention to national issues, especially cumulative and secondary impacts of coastal development. States are strengthening their CZM programs through enactment of specific measurable changes such as new legislation, revised regulations, and adoption of local plans. The programs strength comes from its ability to leverage § 309 to targeted needs. It is too soon to determine the u...

Comparison of Trends in Organic Loadings and Dissolved Oxygen Concentrations in Delaware and Narragansett Bays

Abstract Program evaluation, a technique used to measure the effectiveness of governmental programs, is applied to estuarine management. Point source loadings of oxygen demanding organic material and ambient conditions of bottom water dissolved oxygen in the upper reaches of the Narragansett estuary were examined over recent decades to determine the effects of a sweage treatment plant in reducing pollution. Two tests of program outcome are presented. The first demonstrates that a statistically significant increase in bottom water dissolved oxygen is correlated with a sewage treatment plant upgrade. Other possible causes for this change are examined and eliminated. Apparently, enhanced sewage treatment is the cause of an improvement in dissolved oxygen, one measure of ambient water quality. The second analysis shows that these improvements in water quality exceed those that could be attributed to improved background conditions caused by reduced loading from the major river. Estuarine segments lacking impro...

A Profile of Volunteer Environmental Monitoring: National Survey Results

Despite great interest in estuarine protection and large expenditures on wastewater treatment there has been little systematic comparative evaluation of estuarine management decisions and impacts on the conditions of estuaries. In both Delaware and Narragansett Bays sewage treatment plants serve major urban systems at the head of the bays and discharge approximately 75 percent of the total sewage derived organic loading to each Bay. Long term records of BOD loadings from these plants indicate that government decisions to build secondary treatment facilities resulted in significantly decreased BOD loadings to these estuaries. Long term surveys of summer (worst case) dissolved oxygen conditions in the upper estuarine portions of both bays indicate a resulting improvement of dissolved oxygen concentrations. Moreover, they also indicate a major improvement starting several decades earlier, coincidental with the construction of primary sewage treatment facilities in the 1950s. In both bays pollution levels had reduced oxygen concentrations to hypoxic (3mg/l) levels even in surface waters during the summer for several miles along upper Narragansett Bay and several tens of miles along upper Delaware Bay. It is difficult, however, to attribute the marked improvement in dissolved oxygen in recent years to government decisions to expand municipal treatment. Industrial activities, with large volumes of potentially high BOD wastewater, have for a long time discharged to these urbanized upper estuaries. Unlike the municipal treatment plants, there is little quantitative information available on these industrial discharges. Changes in industrial processes or relocation of the plants to other states may have significantly affected water quality.