Remembering our oil spills legacy: Why Washington has an emergency response tug at Neah Bay

The March 24, 1989, Exxon Valdez oil spill was one of the worst vessel spills in history.
Eleven million gallons of crude oil spilled into Alaska’s Prince William Sound after the 987-foot oil tanker struck Bligh Reef. The toxic spill killed thousands of sea birds. Many marine animals also perished, including sea otters, orca whales, and bald eagles.

Just three months earlier, Washington experienced one of our worst-ever oil spills, fouling more than 100 miles of our Pacific Coast.

Exxon Valdez oil spill cleanup worker, Aug. 8, 1989. 

Photo from CC BY-SA 2.0.

In heavy seas, the Nestucca – a 300-foot tank barge loaded with heavy fuel oil – snapped free from a tug’s tow line near the entrance to Grays Harbor. As the tug crew worked to come alongside to board the barge and reconnect the tow line, the tug hit the side of the barge hard, creating a hole that released 231,000 gallons of fuel oil over the next several days.

In the following months, the oil reached large sections of the western coast of Canada’s Vancouver Island. The spill killed tens of thousands of sea birds.

History is worth remembering

Catastrophic spills like these form the backdrop for Washington’s drive to maintain a strong spill prevention program. They are a large part of the reason why we’ve had a permanently stationed emergency response tug at Neah Bay for the last 19 years.

Washington’s drive for oil spill prevention continues today. The recently passed 2018 Strengthening Oil Transportation Safety Act requires us to take a variety of steps to promote the safety of marine transportation and protect the Salish Sea from oil spills. One of our tasks under the Act is to develop a report for the Legislature that will include recommendations about an emergency response system for Haro Strait, Boundary Pass and Rosario Strait, which could lead to a stronger safety net for Washington and the waters it shares with Canada.

In 2010, this 712-foot container ship Horizon Tacoma was inbound to Washington from Dutch Harbor, Alaska, and about three miles off Neah Bay when the crew noticed smoke coming from one of two turbochargers on the ship’s propulsion engine. To prevent engine damage, the ship’s engineer recommended that the captain shut down the engine. The state’s emergency response tug, Hunter, shown here, quickly responded and towed the ship to Tacoma, with assistance from an escort tug. Photo from Crowley Maritime Corp.

Emergency response tug is a safety net

The Emergency Response Towing Vessel (ERTV) at Neah Bay is a powerful, fully-equipped tug that stands ready around the clock to assist disabled vessels and barges off the Pacific coast or in the western Strait of Juan de Fuca. Vessels calling for the tug may have lost propulsion, lost steering, or suffered some other type of problem, leaving them vulnerable to running aground and spilling oil.

The tug’s mission is to get a line on any disabled vessels to keep them from grounding. The tug not only prevents shipwrecks, it protects our coast from oil spills, and helps keep our shipping lanes open, which are important to the regional and worldwide economy. The tug is a safety net for all vessels – for those that carry oil as a commodity and those that carry a large amount of fuel on board for transportation.

The birth of the emergency response tug

Washington leaders established the emergency rescue tug in 1999 and initially funded it during winter months only, when the winds and seas on our coast are most treacherous.

Neah Bay was chosen as a strategic home base because it is the marine transportation crossroads of the Strait of Juan de Fuca and the Pacific Ocean. It’s the gateway to multiple Washington and Canadian ports, Naval Base Kitsap, which is one of the world’s largest naval complexes, and five Washington refineries.

Importantly, the location was chosen because there’s a lot at stake here – the cultural resources of the Makah Tribe, the Olympic Coast National Marine Sanctuary, the Olympic National Park, the Makah National Fish Hatchery, and Flattery Rocks National Wildlife Refuge.

By 2008, the Washington Legislature committed $3.6 million to fund a full-time, year-round tug to protect our waters.

In 2010, the Legislature decided that the vessels using the shipping lanes should pay for the safety net, so the tug program moved from being state funded to being funded by the industry. By this time, the state had paid for the tug for 11 years.

Today the tug is funded by commercial cargo, passenger vessels of 300 or more gross tons, and tank vessels that transit to or from Washington ports through the Strait of Juan de Fuca. All of these vessels are required to have oil spill contingency plans to prepare for possible spills. These contingency plans spell out the details on how and when to call the tug.

The Marine Exchange of Puget Sound, a local shipping cooperative, collects fees from the vessels and decides which tug company gets the contract. The tug company currently under contract is Foss Maritime.

Both Ecology and the U.S. Coast Guard can request a deployment of the emergency response tug if needed.

Did you know? 

Since 1999, the emergency response tug has been called out 67 times, mostly to escort partially disabled ships as a precaution, and sometimes to tow a vessel into port. Since the start of 2018, the tug Denise Foss has already been deployed three times.

• Jan. 31: Traveled 530 miles to tow the 961-foot container ship MV MOL Prestige, which lost propulsion after it suffered a fire west of British Columbia’s Queen Charlotte Islands. 
• Feb. 22: Rescued a 656-foot bulk carrier Federal Iris, with more than 500,000 gallons of fuel onboard, after it suffered an engine room explosion 127 miles west of the mouth of the Columbia River. The tug got a tow line on the ship the next day. 
• On March 25: Deployed to assist the 958-foot bulk carrier MV HL Passion inbound for Canada that was having engine problems just north of Neah Bay. When the tug arrived, the crew had restarted the engine, but the tug stayed alongside and escorted the ship to Port Angeles.

Lots of oil moves through Washington

More than 20 billion gallons of oil is transported through Washington each year by vessel, pipeline, road and rail. We have one of the lowest oil spill rates because we have one of the most comprehensive spill prevention, preparedness, and response programs in the nation. Industry commitment and collaboration have helped us build a strong safety net.

We remain vigilant to prevent spills, in part, because we keep a close eye on the evolving nature of oil movement.

Find out more about the Neah Bay emergency response tug by visiting our website and our interactive map.

by Sandy Howard, Ecology communications

Ecology denies petition to begin rulemaking to establish nutrient wasteload allocations for a Puget Sound TMDL

Puget Sound

On Oct. 10, 2017, Ecology received a rule petition from Northwest Environmental Advocates for us to engage in rulemaking to place wasteload allocations in a rule for a Puget Sound nitrogen Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) – or official water cleanup plan.

Some important things to know to understand this petition

Washington state law (RCW 34.05.330) provides a pathway for any person to petition an agency to request the adoption, amendment, or repeal of any rule.

A wasteload allocation is a TMDL term that refers to numeric limits placed on point source discharges of pollution. Point source pollution most commonly refers to the permitted discharge of polluted water out of the end of a pipe.

Denying the petition

We denied the petition in a letter responding to Northwest Environmental Advocates on Dec. 8, 2017. We decided to deny the petition on the grounds that we are not immediately ready to develop a Puget Sound TMDL, and adopting a wasteload allocation into a rule is not necessary to implement a TMDL.

We agree with the petitioner that Puget Sound is impaired by nutrient pollution and that a TMDL may be necessary to address this impairment. However, we do not agree with NWEA's statement that we have all the data and analysis necessary to immediately and effectively develop a TMDL for nutrients in a system as complex and vast as Puget Sound. A TMDL can be a useful tool for water quality improvement, but it isn’t the only tool in our toolbox.

Using sound science to shape our actions

We began the technical work to understand the dissolved oxygen issue in South and Central Puget Sound back in 2008. That work included a water quality model for South and Central Puget Sound, however, scientists and decision-makers learned from that work that human impacts need to be evaluated on the larger scale of the Salish Sea.

This is when scientists expanded our scientific model to the Strait of Juan de Fuca and Canadian waters to develop the Salish Sea Model. A circulation and water quality model of this size and complexity takes time to build correctly. It has been through extensive peer review by other scientists and engineers to make sure it gives us accurate results. We and Pacific Northwest National Labs have worked hard to build the technical tool to grapple with and understand the nutrient issue in Puget Sound.

Working to address the nutrient problem in Puget Sound

We finished several pieces of the Salish Sea Model in 2017. These pieces improve the model’s skill and predictive power. We also spent the year communicating what we know and understand about the nutrient problem from current data analysis using the Salish Sea model.

We have scoped the issues by talking with stakeholders, scientists, and the regulated community. We are looking at nutrient management examples from around the country, and have begun building a project implementation framework to reach our water quality goals and help Puget Sound.

Tackling nutrients in 2018

As we continue technical analyses in the coming year, we will begin developing a strategy that can be implemented to address nutrients in marine water quality.

Washington state and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) have invested nearly a decade of time and money developing the Salish Sea Model to give us the power to answer one big question:

What impacts are humans having on dissolved oxygen and water quality in the Salish Sea?

We are now ready to apply that model to figure out what actions are needed to reduce nutrients and improve Puget Sound water quality.

Denying the petition but still addressing the problem

While we are denying this petition to put wasteload allocations from a Puget Sound Nutrient TMDL into rule, we will continue to:

• Use the Salish Sea model to determine where treatment technologies that remove nutrients will have the greatest impact on reducing nutrient inputs to Puget Sound.
• Use the Salish Sea model to determine which nutrient reductions are necessary to avoid impaired water quality.
• Evaluate where reducing nutrient inputs from the watersheds that contribute to Puget Sound are necessary.
• Continue our work to reduce non-point sources of nutrient pollution.
• Continue working with agricultural communities to reduce nutrient runoff from farms that can adversely impact shellfish harvest areas.

Our work to reduce nutrients in Puget Sound

Follow this Puget Sound Nutrient Watch blog series to stay current and learn about our work to reduce nutrients in Puget Sound.

Earlier blogs:

• Salish Sea Computer Model
• Puget Sound's Growing Nutrient Problem

Visit our website and join our email list to get up-to-date information on the nutrient problem in Puget Sound.

We want this to be a collaborative effort that brings all of the technical work that is happening on Puget Sound nutrients together. We need all hands on deck to find the best solutions for meeting water quality goals for Puget Sound.

Contact information

Dustin Bilhimer

Puget Sound Nutrient Source Reduction Project Manager

dustin.bilhimer@ecy.wa.gov

360-407-7143

Puget Sound Nutrient Watch: The Salish Sea Computer Model

Welcome to our second installment of Puget Sound Nutrient Watch, an ongoing blog series that will focus on the excess nutrient problem in Puget Sound.

In this post we will be focusing on the Salish Sea Model and how scientific computer models help us better understand the world around us.

So...what is a scientific model?

Puget Sound Model built in the 1950's at the University
of Washington School of Oceanography as a research tool
for understanding Puget Sound circulation patterns.

Many children like to play with models — like doll houses, model cars or model airplanes. These toys are simplified versions of things we find in the world around us. These models might seem like they are just amusing toys on the surface, but they actually help you learn how the world works!

Similarly, scientists also use models. Scientists often rely on developing models to establish new science. Models are ideas that scientists use to explain patterns they observe in the world.

A computer model replicates some part of the environment in a way that helps us understand and predict potential changes. This allows scientists to ask the model questions like, "If the water temperature goes up three degrees, what happens to everything else?" If you were to change something in the model, it should tell you how changing the same thing in the environment would play out in nature.

Weather forecasting — for example — relies on computer models. Models are built to explain how aspects of the real world work and consist of ideas and concepts. Scientists use models to investigate the secrets of nature!

Characteristics of scientific models

Good scientific models should be:

• Grounded in scientific principles.
• Compared to a mechanism that is well understood.
• Calibrated to actual data so we can have confidence in the outputs.
• Be able to test if hypotheses are true or false.

New models are more likely to succeed if they dovetail or merge with existing scientific models. In fact — successful models often reveal that phenomena we once thought to be isolated are really connected incidents. Modern models use high-powered computers to compute millions of calculations!

It’s important to remember that a model is not the same as the real thing; they are similar in some respects, but not in all. A model becomes more refined and complex after many, many rounds of testing. Over time, the model looks less like the original simple model, and looks more like the real environment it is simulating.

We have confidence in a model's ability to simulate real life when it produces the same results that we find in actual data. If the model can accurately represent a known condition, we can use it to predict future conditions.

Why are models needed?

The most important advantage of computer modeling is that it gives us the ability to ask “what if?” questions about complex aspects of the world we can’t easily test in reality. Often, the focus of science is too small to be observed directly, or may be inaccessible for a direct visual study. For example, we may not be able to access the center of the earth to study it, but a computer model can give us a pretty good idea of what's happening!

Tidal motion in Salish Sea Model - 72-hour animation of April 2006 conditions.
Image courtesy of Pacific Northwest National Laboratory.

New scientific discoveries depend upon scientists developing scientific models and interacting with them. Each hypothesis tested, simulation ran, and calibration made helps scientists better understand nature. After all, science is an attempt to explain our natural environment and make predictions about it.

What is the Salish Sea Model?

First of all, this model covers a huge area! The Salish Sea includes the Puget Sound, the Strait of Georgia, and the Strait of Juan de Fuca.

Our Environmental Assessment Program and staff from Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) developed the Salish Sea water quality circulation model — called the Salish Sea Model for short — as a tool to broaden our understanding of how nutrients travel and ultimately affect water quality throughout Puget Sound.

We are using the Salish Sea Model to evaluate how current and potential future inputs of nutrients effect dissolved oxygen levels in the Salish Sea.

The Salish Sea model helps us understand questions like:

• Are human sources of nutrients in and around the Salish Sea significantly impacting water quality now? How bad might it get in the future?
• Where are the areas that are most sensitive to human impacts? When are those effects the most harmful?
• How much do we need to reduce human sources of nutrients to protect water quality in the Salish Sea?

Domain of Salish Sea Model.

We will be using the model to test the effects of short- and long-term actions to reduce anthropogenic — or human caused — sources of nutrients. We are aim to use this information to increase Puget Sound’s resilience to the effects of climate change and population growth. These model findings will help decision-makers use resources wisely and guide where additional study or action is necessary.

How have we used the model so far? Check out these publications:

• Puget Sound and the Straits Dissolved Oxygen Assessment: Impacts of Current and Future Human Nitrogen Sources and Climate Change through 2070
• Salish Sea Model: Sediment Diagenesis Module
• Salish Sea Model: Ocean Acidification Module and the Response to Regional Anthropogenic Nutrient Sources

Ask an engineer

We’ve asked one of our Salish Sea modeling engineers — Greg Pelletier — to participate in a Q&A about the Salish Sea Model, learn more from our interview!

What have we begun to learn from the Salish Sea Model?
We are starting to learn about the effect of regional anthropogenic sources of nutrients on changes in dissolved oxygen and acidification of the Salish Sea. We are finding that there are extensive areas of the Salish Sea that do not meet the water quality standards for dissolved oxygen. There are also areas where regional human-caused sources of nutrients appear to decrease dissolved oxygen to levels that do not meet the water quality standards.

How does this model help us understand ocean acidification?
The model allows us to look at how much impact is caused by regional anthropogenic sources and compared them with global sources. For example, in waters at the bottom of Puget Sound, the model predicts that the regional nutrient sources caused by humans has the highest impact when compared with estimates of combined global anthropogenic and nutrient impacts.

The model allows us to look at how much improvement would result from efforts to reduce nutrients to different levels. Also, the model allows us to look at the relationship between hypoxia (low dissolved oxygen) and acidification.

Greg Pelletier presenting at the Puget Sound Nutrient Dialogue, July 2017

How long does does it take for us to run a scenario in the model?
The model uses a very powerful “cluster” computer at Battelle’s Pacific Northwest National Laboratory. It takes a couple of days for the computer to run all of the calculations for a single year for the original version of the model, and up to three days are required for our latest expanded version of the model.

We call each model run a scenario because it represents a particular set of assumptions. For example, one scenario is the existing conditions as they are in a particular year while another scenario is what we call “reference conditions” with human sources of nutrients removed.

In addition to the computer time, it takes time to make the input files for the model scenario – and to review the input files to assure their quality, which can vary depending on the complexity of a scenario. This step alone can take multiple people and several months.

After the model run is completed, time is required to convert the model output files into visualizations such as maps or animations of the predicted water quality, interpret what they are telling us, and discuss it with project team.

What do you like most about working with models?
The best part about working with models in my job is working with all of the great people we have on our modeling team. Our modeling team from Ecology includes Anise Ahmed, Cristiana Figueroa-Kaminsky, Sheelagh McCarthy, and Teizeen Mohamedali. We also collaborate with several great people from Battelle’s Pacific Northwest National Lab. It takes a team of people to do this work.

Different people do different parts of the model analysis. For example, some people work mainly in preparing model input information, while others work more on running the model or preparing the output visualizations. The entire modeling team works together to look at and discuss the model input files and the interpret the output visualizations. It is very rewarding to find out what the model runs tell us about the relationships between nutrient loading sources and changes in water quality throughout the Salish Sea.

Another amazing thing about working with models is its ability to predict water quality in areas where we have no monitoring data. We are confident of these predictions because the model performs well to replicate observed data when we compare it to areas where we have actual water quality measurements. Sometimes the results show us where we need to collect more data.

Puget Sound, Marine Park

Our work to reduce nutrients in Puget Sound

Follow this Puget Sound Nutrient Watch blog series to stay current and learn about our work to reduce nutrients in Puget Sound.

Earlier blogs:

• Puget Sound's Growing Nutrient Problem

Visit our website and join our email list to get up-to-date information on the nutrient problem in Puget Sound. We want this to be a collaborative effort that brings all of the technical work that is happening on Puget Sound nutrients together. We need all hands on deck to find the best solutions for meeting water quality goals for Puget Sound.

By: Jenny Robertson, Ecology Environmental Specialist

Puget Sound Nutrient Watch: A new blog series

Welcome to our first installment of “Puget Sound Nutrient Watch,” an ongoing series of blogs that will focus on the excess nutrient problem in Puget Sound.

A healthy Puget Sound is an integral part of our cultural history and future. Are nutrients causing it to change?

In this post we will be going over why we care about excess nutrients and how they are affecting Puget Sound. Read on to learn about:

• Our recent Puget Sound Nutrient Dialogue that brought together scientists from across Puget Sound region to discuss the latest science on nutrients.
• Why you should care. Understand what happens to a water body that is overly rich with nutrients. 
• Two brand-new publications on nutrients in Puget Sound. These review new modules that have been added to the robust Salish Sea computer model. 
• The report on the Sediment Diagenesis Module describes how the model incorporates the dynamic interaction of nutrients within the sediment and water column. 
• The report on the Ocean Acidification Module reveals on how the new ocean acidification module can help us pinpoint areas in Puget Sound that are influenced the most by regional sources of nutrients.
• How can nutrients be bad? Impacts that excess nutrients cause to the health of the Sound.
• What to expect in this blog series.

Puget Sound Nutrient Dialogue

We would like to thank everyone that came out to the Puget Sound Nutrient Dialogue in Auburn last month, it was a great success! We had around 120 people show up ready to participate in the conversation surrounding the science of excess nutrients in Puget Sound.

Puget Sound Nutrient Dialogue participants eager to save the Sound.

If you missed out and would like to participate in future events, please sign up for email notifications through our Listserv. We welcome the opportunity to collaborate with others who value the Puget Sound and want to protect it from excess nutrients.

Presentation slides, a summary of the event, pictures, videos, and more from the Puget Sound Nutrient Dialogue will be posted on the project webpage.

Why should we care? 

Nutrients such as nitrogen, phosphorus, and organic carbon are an important part of a healthy and productive marine ecosystem. Excess nutrients, however, can be problematic for marine water quality – most often nitrogen. Just as you need nutrients to keep your body healthy, too much of anything throws the system out of balance. 

We're working to understand nutrient problems in Puget Sound
so we can keep it the beautiful natural resource that it is today. 

When it enters marine waters in excessive amounts, nitrogen causes what is called eutrophication. Eutrophication is the term for what happens when a water body becomes over-enriched with nutrients. This over-abundance of nutrients will cause dense growth of algae and plant life and the death of animal life from lack of oxygen.

Nitrogen acts like a fertilizer causing algae to grow. Too much nitrogen results in excessive algae growth, which puts the health of Puget Sound off balance. When algae die and decompose, it consumes oxygen out of the water column (especially at depth). In some shallow inlets and bays around the Sound, this will deplete oxygen to low levels which stresses fish and the other critters that live in important nearshore habitats.

Thinking about our future

Our science today tells us we have a nutrient over-enrichment problem in Puget Sound. We are in the beginning phase of a long-term project that will ultimately help us address this overabundance of nutrients. Our goal is to ensure the Puget Sound we know and love remains resilient to stresses from nutrient problems caused by our growing population and exacerbated by climate change.

Latest science – understanding the problem

Salish Sea graphic of nutrient-rich zones
from the Salish Sea Model.

One of the most important tools for understanding the effects of nutrients in Puget Sound is the Salish Sea Model. The model was developed by Pacific Northwest National Labs in collaboration with Ecology scientists and with grant funding from EPA.

This robust computer model helps us better identify human sources of nutrients that are negatively impacting the health of Puget Sound by simulating the natural environment. It models complex water circulation and water quality dynamics in all of Puget Sound, the Strait of Juan de Fuca, and the Strait of Georgia.

Our two latest publications - released July 2017 - help predict impacts that are influencing Puget Sound's health.

The Sediment Diagenesis Module added the capability to the Salish Sea Model to simulate sediment-water exchanges. This module simulates the way organic matter decomposes, which allows the model to more accurately reflect actual conditions in Puget Sound. As organic matter decays both within the water column and bottom sediment layers, nutrients are released back to the water and consume oxygen in the process.

The Ocean Acidification Module calculates the impacts of regional nutrient sources on acidification. Results from this effort indicate that human-related sources of nitrogen and organic carbon can influence Puget Sound's carbonate system balance.

Toxic algae blooms - like this one that happened at
Deception Pass - can be caused by eutrophication.

Blogging on how this issue impacts Puget Sound’s health

Throughout this series we will dive into the specific impacts caused by excessive nutrients in Puget Sound that have damaging effects on water quality.

These impacts potentially include:

• Harming nearshore habitat and benthic invertebrates
• Intensifying ocean acidification at some locations
• Facilitating the break-down of the marine food web
• Increasing the number of algae blooms

Stay tuned as upcoming blog features dig into each of these issues, highlight new reports, and share new information as it becomes available.

Tackling the Puget Sound nutrient problem

The Puget Sound Nutrient Source Reduction Project is using best available science to understand the nutrient problems in the Sound and develop a plan to reduce human impacts so that we can protect the health and resiliency of Puget Sound.

The Salish Sea Model is a state-of-the-art computer modeling tool that allows scientists, engineers, and planners to understand the complex physical, chemical, and biological patterns in circulation and water quality. We will be using the model to compare Puget Sound to marine water quality standards, understand how bad water quality will be if we continue with the status quo, and evaluate nutrient reduction options for improving and restoring the Sound to meet our water quality goals.

Visit our website and join our listserv to get up-to-date information concerning the nutrient problem in Puget Sound. You can also this full blog series by searching "Puget Sound Nutrient Watch". We want this to be a collaborative effort that brings all of the technical work that is happening on Puget Sound nutrients together. We need all hands on deck to find the best solutions for meeting water quality goals for Puget Sound.

By: Jenny Robertson, Ecology Environmental Specialist

Calling all lovers of the Puget Sound!

Are you interested in regional efforts to keep Puget Sound healthy and resilient? Join us in Auburn, Wed., July 19 at Green River Community College to attend our Puget Sound Nutrient Dialogue. This all-day meeting will bring together those working to understand and protect Puget Sound to discuss what we’re learning from our most recent science.

Fort Lawton West Point Lighthouse, Discovery Park, Seattle, Washington (Courtesy of Kenny Rowe)

After a decade of development, we have the state-of-the-art Salish Sea environmental computer model to help us understand changes in Puget Sound and evaluate the best solutions to reduce human impacts. This model shows us that land-based human sources of nutrients are leading to cases of low dissolved oxygen levels in the Sound. We are using this tool – in combination with ongoing field monitoring data and broad stakeholder input – to develop options to reduce nutrients in the Sound.

Join the conversation and learn how an over-abundance of nutrients affect our beloved Puget Sound. A healthy balance of nutrients is essential for a healthy food web, just as we require a balanced diet for good health. But excess nutrients from human sources can cause problems in Puget Sound just as over-eating can lead to health problems in your body. The over-enrichment of nutrients is diminishing dissolved oxygen levels that fish and other species in the Sound need to thrive.

 

Click here to register!

Join us in person

When	July 19
Time	8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Where	Green River Community College, Lindbloom Student Union Center
Address	12401 SE 320th St. Auburn, WA, 98092

Register by July 5 to secure your seat!

Parking and the event are free. Coffee and light refreshments will be provided. Lunch will be available for purchase at the college’s newly remodeled cafeteria.

 

How can nutrients be negative for Puget Sound? 

A healthy Puget Sound is integral to our identity and our future. There is a growing body of science and evidence that shows increasing nutrients are adversely affecting the Sound. 

This dialogue is meant to bring together stakeholders, decision-makers, scientists, and the interested public to:

• Talk about the current state of the knowledge
• Discuss the effects of excess nutrients in Puget Sound
• Make connections between different areas of research
• Identify new studies that will improve our knowledge and understanding
  

Just like your human body, our Puget Sound ecosystem needs balance to be healthy. Too many nutrients in the Sound can also lead to undesirable changes in the food web, over-growths of algae that wash up on our beaches, increases in jellyfish populations, and more harmful algae blooms. Beyond changing what is considered normal for Puget Sound, these problems could reduce the Sound’s ability to be resilient to increasing pressures from climate change and the growing human population in the region.

 

Stay involved! 

Learn more about the project on our website where you can also find updated information on the Puget Sound Nutrient Dialogue as it becomes available.

Subscribe to our project listserv to receive email updates. 

By: Jenny Robertson, water quality environmental specialist

Baby herons make their entrance

The live heron cam on March’s Point in Padilla Bay is back! The springtime spectacle began in mid-April when the fuzzy baby herons began making their entrance into the world.

Baby herons draw a crowd to the activities at Padilla Bay

By Krista Kenner, communications manager, Bellingham

Kids of all ages can attend special classes and/or watch an educational video in the theater before exploring the shoreline of the bay.

This week, baby blue herons have been abuzz over here at the Department of Ecology. Baby animals, inherently squeal-worthy, are even better when you combine them with a live web cam to watch their every move —so it has definitely kept people talking this week.

The heron population is located in Skagit County near the Padilla Bay National Estuarine Reserve, which is managed by the Washington State Department of Ecology. Ecology research is conducted at Padilla Bay to monitor plant and animal populations (especially eelgrass), evaluate sources of pollution, protect water quality—and to understand the bay's relationship to greater Puget Sound.

Herons have nested at this site on Padilla Bay since the late 1970s. Today it's believed to be the largest nesting area for Great Blue Herons in all of Western North America, with recent estimates ranging from 600-700 nests.

The Padilla Bay babies began hatching about two weeks ago. Thanks to a partnership with Skagit Land Trust, which owns most of the land that the herons nest on, we're able to watch the fuzzy creatures grow and develop over the next six to eight weeks.

Connecting people to estuaries

The live heron cam is one of many exhibits available to visitors of the Breazeale Interpretive Center, an educational facility located at the Reserve. A popular class outing or weekend family activity, the center provides a place where people can learn about estuaries and watersheds, both important to the health of Puget Sound. The center offers educational exhibits, fish tanks, and interactive learning experiences such as games, art and more.

"We're helping people make the connection between their actions and the health of the estuaries and beyond," said Glen "Alex" Alexander, educational coordinator at the Padilla Bay Reserve. In the video, he gives an example of how kids can learn something and carry it on, making an impact on a larger scale.

The Breazeale Interpretive Center at the Padilla Bay Reserve is open to the public Wednesday through Sunday, 10am-5pm except on official State holidays. For more information visit http://www.padillabay.gov/.

---

New science sheds light on Puget Sound dissolved oxygen

By Mindy Roberts, Environmental Assessment Program and Andrew Kolosseus, Water Quality Program

The Pacific Ocean is the largest source of nitrogen overall, but human activities add more through wastewater discharges and watershed inputs.

Our two reports evaluate the influence of people, climate, and the Pacific Ocean on oxygen levels in South and Central Puget Sound as well as the larger Salish Sea. Two of our just-released scientific studies show the impacts of human nitrogen sources on dissolved oxygen in Puget Sound now and into the future.

Impacts are greatest in parts of South and Central Puget Sound, although the Pacific Ocean has the largest influence overall.

We plan no regulatory changes as a result of the findings. Our next steps are to refine our analyses. We will continue to coordinate with cities, counties, tribes, and other stakeholders on next steps.

We wrote this blog to let you know more about our findings.

Oxygen matters…

Dissolved oxygen levels have been decreasing in Puget Sound. This is troubling because fish and other aquatic life need oxygen just like humans do. Fish use gills just like we use our lungs — imagine how the low oxygen levels on the top of Mount Rainier feel to climbers. Similarly, when oxygen levels in the water are not high enough, fish can become stressed or die.

What’s causing the oxygen levels to decline? Is it us?

Ecology began asking those questions in the late 1990s, but it wasn’t until recent computer model developments that we’ve been able to tease apart influences in the complex ecosystem of Puget Sound.

What’s our footprint?

As the population grows in our region, our wastewater inputs and developed lands increase. Our daily activities generate more nitrogen, an essential element for growing plants, than a forested area does. We also add nitrogen through our wastewater treatment plants and septic systems, as well as in runoff from fertilizers and domestic animals.

When we add too much nitrogen, which is a fertilizer, excess algae blooms in marine waters like Puget Sound. That algae dies and decays, using up oxygen in the process. But how much do we worsen oxygen?

Both studies found that our actions do worsen oxygen in some regions. Low oxygen is predominantly influenced by ocean inputs and local circulation patterns.

We also projected oxygen into the future — to the year 2070, when our region’s population will nearly double from 4.2 million people today to about 8 million. That means more wastewater, more developed lands, and more nitrogen.

Where are our biggest impacts on oxygen?

While our biggest nutrient sources are from our biggest cities where most of us live, resulting impacts are showing up miles away. The South Sound study found that Carr, Case, Totten, Eld, and Budd Inlets in South Puget Sound, as well as East Passage in Central Puget Sound, respond the most to nitrogen inputs.

We also looked at the effect of human nitrogen sources throughout the U.S. and Canadian waters of the Salish Sea. Again, the greatest impacts were found in South and Central Puget Sound, both now and into the future. Circulation patterns make the South Sound a zone where ocean and human nutrients and their impacts get concentrated.

What about the ocean? How much of an impact does it have?

Pacific Ocean oxygen concentrations have been declining over a 50-year period. If those trends continue through 2070, oxygen levels would decline strongly in the Strait of Juan de Fuca, Strait of Georgia, and Hood Canal. We’re interested in what’s behind the ocean trends.

Climate change affects oxygen as well

Air temperatures will increase in the future, also warming the water. Warmer water holds less oxygen, so oxygen levels would decline further. This effect shows up strongest in shallow areas like Bellingham Bay.

The amount and timing of flow from the rivers will also change due to changing snowmelt. This speeds up or slows down circulation and brings in more or less nitrogen to Puget Sound at different times of the year.

What are the next steps?

These are the first detailed analyses of how Puget Sound oxygen concentrations respond to our activities, ocean conditions, and climate change. Other regions like Chesapeake Bay and the Gulf of Mexico have been evaluating these questions for decades.

We’ve clearly learned a great deal about how Puget Sound works. Over the next few years, we will improve and refine our computer prediction models. We will focus our effort on improving key processes such as bottom sediment influences.

We do not yet know whether reductions in human sources will be needed to meet water quality standards for dissolved oxygen. It is too early for regulatory changes. The next updates will be in 2015.

Thanks to staff, funding, and perseverance

These two studies provide a strong technical foundation for understanding a complex topic like dissolved oxygen in Puget Sound. Dozens of staff from Ecology, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, UW Climate Impacts Group, and partners have contributed to this work over the years — check out our web pages for a full list of publications and acknowledgments.

We lend a huge thanks to numerous monitoring and modeling staff and managers in Ecology’s Environmental Assessment and Water Quality Programs, who worked through science and policy questions for the past eight years.

And we thank more than 40 cities, counties, tribes, and other partners who provided insight and recommendations on numerous presentations and publications.

Lastly, we would not have achieved these accomplishments without funding support from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency under several National Estuary Program grants.

The two studies can be found online:

• South Puget Sound DissolvedOxygen Study: Water Quality Model Calibration and Scenarios
  
  
• Dissolved Oxygen Assessmentfor Puget Sound and the Straits: Impacts of Current and Future Human NitrogenSources and Climate Change through 2070

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