Public presentation on Quartermaster Harbor Nitrogen Management Study – November 19, 2009
Posted by: kbritz on 11/05/2009 09:44 AM
Updated by: kbates on 04/18/2010 01:11 PM
Expires: 01/01/2010 12:00 AM
The expected outcomes of this study are recommendations for policy changes in the 2012 King County Comprehensive Plan update for nitrogen management on Vashon-Maury Island. The policy recommendations will be transferable to similar rural areas in Puget Sound where inputs of nutrients from small streams, On-Site Septic systems and direct ground-water discharge flow are impacting the receiving waters.
Public presentation on Quartermaster Harbor Nitrogen Management Study – November 19, 2009
You are invited to attend a public presentation about the Quartermaster Harbor Nitrogen Loading Study on Thursday, Nov. 19 at 7 p.m. in the Vashon Maury Island Land Trust building, 10014 Bank Road SW, on Vashon Island.
For more information about the Quartermaster Harbor nitrogen loading study or the presentation scheduled for November 19th, contact Stockton at 206-296-1910 or laurence.stockton@ kingcounty. gov.
Background information
King County, in partnership with the Environmental Protection Agency, the University of Washington-Tacoma, Washington State Department of Ecology and the Vashon-Maury Island Groundwater Protection Committee are conducting a four-year study to evaluate the role of nitrogen in the risk of lethal, low-level dissolved oxygen events in Quartermaster Harbor. This long-term research partnership was formed to get to the bottom of Quartermaster Harbor’s troubling low dissolved oxygen levels. The results of this study will help determine the causes of the problem and identify potential solutions.
Low dissolved oxygen levels can kill marine life, such as fish, shellfish and other marine organisms. Dissolved oxygen levels in Quartermaster Harbor have been recorded near lethal levels over the past three years of monthly monitoring. As a poorly flushed embayment of Puget Sound, Quartermaster Harbor has many characteristics similar to Hood Canal, where multiple, lethal, low-oxygen events have occurred. Similarities to Hood Canal include increased upland development, high value ecological habitat and high value shellfish fisheries.
The study will identify and quantifying nitrogen sources, plus model what impacts nitrogen is having on dissolved oxygen in Quartermaster Harbor. The expected outcomes of this study are a better understanding of the nitrogen loading entering Quartermaster Harbor, the impact of nitrogen loading on the observed low dissolved oxygen events, and recommendations for policy changes to improve nitrogen management on Vashon-Maury Island.
The Quartermaster Harbor Nitrogen Management Study will be conducted in three phases starting in 2009 and working through 2012:
· Phase one will estimate the nitrogen loadings from various potential sources using existing data and published literature values and by preliminary water quality sampling of streams, groundwater and marine waters;
· Phase two will build upon the results of the phase-one work by collecting additional data, modeling the contributing nitrogen loadings in to Quartermaster Harbor, and developing a hydrodynamic model of Quartermaster Harbor to simulate water conditions.
· Phase three will link the nitrogen loadings to Quartermaster Harbor dissolved oxygen levels by simulating the effects of different nitrogen management scenarios there.
The cost of the study is estimated at $893,000; of that amount, $625,000 is being provided by a grant from the Environmental Protection Agency, with the remaining funding coming from King County, the University of Washington-Tacoma and the state Department of Ecology.
New policy recommendations for nitrogen management on Vashon-Maury Island will be developed working with stakeholders for consideration in the next update of the King County Comprehensive Plan, which is scheduled for 2012. The policy recommendations will be transferable to similar rural areas in Puget Sound where inputs of nitrogen from small streams, on-site septic systems and direct groundwater discharge flow are impacting the receiving marine waters.
Extensive surface, ground and marine water data are being collected as part of this project. The project data, documents, reports and public information sign up list are available at:
http://www.kingcounty.gov/environment/watersheds/central-puget-sound/vashon-maury-island/quartermaster-nitrogen-study.aspx
Read more about the Quartermaster Harbor Nitrogen Loading Study in the article by Leslie Brown at the Vashon Beachcomber. “Scientists to study nitrogen levels in Quartermaster Harbor” http://www.pnwlocalnews.com/vashon/vib/news/67795062.html
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