American oystercatchers taking flight in the marsh grasses of Jamaica Bay, where marshland is shrinking. They are on the Audubon Society’s watchlist for species facing population loss or threats like loss of habitat. Photo NY Times...Jamaica Bay Loses Marshes at Faster Rate, Report Says - New York Times:
The saltwater marsh islands of Jamaica Bay — crucial habitat for dozens of species of fish and birds — are vanishing at a rate far faster than previously thought and could disappear within five years, according to a report scheduled to be released today.
Using satellite imagery of the bay, along with field observations, the report found that about 33 acres of tidal wetlands are lost every year, nearly twice the 18-acre annual loss found in a previous study by the state released in 2001. The latest report was compiled by the Jamaica Bay Watershed Advisory Committee, a New York City body, and experts at the National Park Service’s Gateway National Recreation Area, which includes the bay.
“The dramatic increase in the rate of marsh loss we found is shocking,” the report says. “Given the short time that appears to be remaining for the marsh islands, this may be our last chance to save Jamaica Bay.”
While experts are not in agreement on what causes the severe losses, scientists suspect that one principal reason is nitrogen pollution from the treated outflow of four city sewage treatment plants on the bay. Large amounts of nitrogen can kill delicate marsh plants, and without the root structures to hold sediment in place, the marsh islands could be quickly washed away.
Brad Sewell, co-chairman of the advisory committee and director of the NY/NJ Harbor-Bight Project for the Natural Resources Defense Council, said that if the city improved its sewage plants and cut in half the 35,000 pounds of nitrogen that pour into the bay every day, the rate of wetlands deterioration could be slowed substantially.
Environmentalists have recognized the rapid loss of Jamaica Bay’s wetlands for more than a decade. The 2001 report by the state’s Department of Environmental Conservation predicted that the bay’s marsh islands would disappear completely by 2024.
By using more sophisticated instrumentation and improved satellite imagery, the new report offers a more accurate picture of the bay’s health, Mr. Sewell said. The new report predicts that most of the marsh islands could vanish by 2012, although some might last longer, and others might wash away sooner.
“There’s a known solution, although it costs money, and our recommendation is to get started with it now,” Mr. Sewell said. The sewage plants can be outfitted to cut back the amount of nitrogen pumped into the bay, Mr. Sewell said.
The city is planning to equip its East River sewage plants, at a cost exceeding $700 million, in response to a longstanding legal action concerning a cleanup of Long Island Sound.
The city has no plans yet to equip its Jamaica Bay sewage plants in the same way.
A 2005 city law required the city’s Department of Environmental Protection to develop a comprehensive plan for the bay. The draft plan, released in March, did not include the nitrogen reduction that the advisory committee is recommending.
“The link with nitrogen is very weak,” said Angela Licata, deputy commissioner of the department. “To find that smoking gun and justify spending the capital dollars to upgrade the plants has been frustrating.”
In fact, said Mrs. Licata, the amount of nitrogen that the sewage plants pump into the bay has decreased by about a third over the last decade, even as the rate of wetland loss has accelerated.
Mrs. Licata said the department would take the new report into account before issuing a final protection plan for Jamaica Bay in October. But she said the department plan would include other actions to protect the bay, including working with the Army Corps of Engineers to do additional wetlands restoration.
