THE NATIONAL SIGNIFICANCE OF THE DELAWARE ESTUARY ...
THE NATIONAL SIGNIFICANCE OF THE DELAWARE ESTUARY – One Ecologist’s Perspective
Scott W. Nixon Graduate School of Oceanography University of Rhode Island
THE DELAWARE IS PERHAPS OUR FINEST EXAMPLE OF AN ESTUARY, WITH A SIMPLICITY OF FORM AND A DIVERSITY OF HABITATS THAT IS UNMATCHED
DELAWARE BAY
http://www.delawareestuary.org/images/SciencePix/TFW_4_dk.JPG
RATIO OF WETLANDS AREA TO OPEN WATER AREA IN SOME US ESTUARIES
Narragansett Bay Long Island Sound Tampa Bay Mobile Bay Chesapeake Bay Apalachicola Bay Chincoteague Bay Delaware Bay Aransas Bay San Francisco Bay Barataria Bay Inshore Georgia
0.02 0.05 0.06 0.08 0.11 0.12 0.31 0.38 0.39 0.42 1.43 1.90
NARRAGANSETT BAY
BOSTON HARBOR
CHESAPEAKE BAY
PAMLICO SOUND
APALACHICOLA BAY
SAN FRANCISCO BAY
OPEN WATER SURFACE AREA OF SOME IMPORTANT ESTUARIES IN THE UNITED STATES, km2
Waquoit Bay, MA Barnegat Bay, NJ Great South Bay, NY Narragansett Bay, RI New York Bay Indian River Lagoon, FL Mobile Bay San Francisco Bay Potomac Estuary, MD Delaware Bay Puget Sound Long Island Sound Chesapeake Bay Pamlico Sound
8 102 235 328 390 725 1152 1173 1279 1989 2330 3200 11500 27092
THE DELAWARE HAS LONG BEEN AN URBAN WORKING BAY WITH A COMPLEX MIX OF POLLUTANTS. IT ALSO HAS A LONG AND RICH HISTORY OF INNOVATIVE MANAGEMENT.
FAIRMOUNT WATER WORKS 1821 by Thomas Birch Opened 1815; had 28,000 customers by 1843
PHILADELPHIA WATER SUPPLY 1853
MILLCREEK SEWER CONSTRUCTION 1883
SEWER SYSTEM 1895 First treatment plant 1923
“…THE DELAWARE RIVER BASIN WAS THE FIRST RIVER BASIN IN THE NATION TO HAVE AN INTERSTATE AGENCY CREATED IN RESPONSE TO WATER POLLUTION.”
• INTERSTATE COMMISSION ON THE DELAWARE RIVER BASIN (INCODEL) - FORMED IN 1936 • FIRST INTERSTATE WATER QUALITY STANDARDS ADOPTED 1939-1945
R. C. ALBERT (1988) ESTUARIES 11: 99-107
HOW BAD DID IT GET?
“In 1946, surveys by the United States Fish and Wildlife Service…recorded the all-time worse condition – an area of anoxia running shore-to-shore and top to bottom for twenty miles…”
R. C. ALBERT (1988) ESTUARIES 11: 99-107
THE US ARMY CORPS OF ENGINEERS BEGAN COMPREHENSIVE RIVER BASIN PLANNING ON THE DELAWARE IN 1956 – THE FIRST SUCH EFFORT IN THE COUNTRY
“As an outgrowth of this activity, the Delaware Estuary Comprehensive Study (DECS) was launched in the early 1960s. DESC was a pioneering study…involving the development of one of the first water quality models for an estuary…” Albert (1988)
“THE DELAWARE RIVER BASIN COMMISSION WAS INSTITUTED IN 1961…THE DELAWARE COMPACT IS A UNIQUE DOCUMENT [ALLOWING] THE COMMISSION WIDE LATITUDE IN CONCEIVING AND IMPLEMENTING WATER RESOURCES PROGRAMS IN THE BASIN.” R. V. Thoman (1972) Systems Analysis and Water Quality Management
“THE CLEANUP OF THE DELAWARE ESTUARY REPRESENTS ONE OF THE PREMIER WATER POLLUTION CONTROL SUCCESS STORIES IN THE UNITED STATES.”
R. C. ALBERT (1988) ESTUARIES 11: 99-107
THE DELAWARE ESTUARY IS ONE OF THE BEST AND MOST INTENSIVELY STUDIED IN THE COUNTRY
he s M ape on ak t e D S P ere Ba el an u y y aw F g B ar ra et S ay e B nc ou ay i s c n d & oB N E s ay ar tu ra ar ga y ns et tB ay Ta m pa N Ba o C rt y ol h um In le bi t, a SC R iv er W Es ill tu ap ar a y Ba y Bo ,W st A on H M ar ob bo ile r B M ay iss ,A iss L ip N p eu iS se ou Es nd tu W ar aq y, uo N C A it pa Ba la y, ch M ic A o la Pe Ba no bs y, co FL tB ay ,M E
C
# of Peer Reviewed Articles
AQUATIC SCIENCES AND FISHERIES ABSTRACTS (ASFA) CITATIONS FOR U.S. BAYS AND ESTUARIES, 1980-2005
2500
2000
1500
1000
490 395
500
0
http://www.marsci.uga.edu/images/research/tilburg3.jpg
SOME AREAS OF NATIONAL IMPORTANCE WHERE DELAWARE BAY CLEARLY STANDS OUT
•WATER QUALITY MODELING •BEHAVIOR OF POLLUTANTS IN ESTUARIES, WETLANDS •ESTUARINE PHYSICS •BIOPHYSICAL INTERACTIONS CRAB LARVAE AND PHYSICS OYSTERS, SALINITY AND DISEASE
•NUTRIENT DYNAMICS SOURCES (INC. ATMOSPHERIC, DON) ANALYTICAL METHODS DISTRIBUTIONS and FATES (STABLE ISOTOPES) www.mareco.org/rocky/crab_repro.html
SOME AREAS OF NATIONAL IMPORTANCE WHERE DELAWARE BAY CLEARLY STANDS OUT •PRIMARY PRODUCTIVITY
•REMOTE SENSING OF WETLANDS
•SEDIMENT DYNAMICS, BUDGETS
•SALT MARSH RESTORATION
•TURBIDITY MAXIMUM
·ESTUARINE FISH ECOLOGY
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v105/n88n88/Birds/gbbSemipalmflight.jpg
http://www.urbanrivers.org/web_images/Delaware.jpg
·MULTISTATE MANAGEMENT
http://www.dnr.state.md.us/Bay/cblife/algae
•WATER COLUMN MICROBIOLOGY
•MIGRATORY SHOREBIRD ECOLOGY
HASKINS SHELLFISH RESEARCH LABORATORY IS THE OLDEST MARINE SHELLFISH EXPERIMENT STATION IN THE COUNTRYFOUNDED 1901
THE NATIONAL SIGNIFICANCE OF THE DELAWARE ESTUARY • THE DELAWARE IS THE QUINTESSENTIAL DROWNED RIVER MOUTH ESTUARY – THE POSTER CHILD OF ESTUARIES • THE DELAWARE ESTUARY HAS A LONG HISTORY OF HUMAN IMPACT, INNOVATIVE MANAGEMENT, AND RECOVERY • THE DELAWARE HAS BEEN STUDIED INTENSIVELY AND PROVIDES A TEXTBOOK OF INFORMATION ON ESTUARINE ECOLOGY, CURCULATION, AND BIOGEOCHEMISTRY
“FLOSSIE” WRIGHT’S TIPS FOR TALKS
1.BE INFORMATIVE 2. BE PROVACATIVE (BUT NOT TOO MUCH!) 3. BE AMUSING (BUT NOT TOO MUCH!) 4. BE INSPIRATIONAL
Scott W. Nixon Graduate School of Oceanography University of Rhode Island
THE DELAWARE IS PERHAPS OUR FINEST EXAMPLE OF AN ESTUARY, WITH A SIMPLICITY OF FORM AND A DIVERSITY OF HABITATS THAT IS UNMATCHED
DELAWARE BAY
http://www.delawareestuary.org/images/SciencePix/TFW_4_dk.JPG
RATIO OF WETLANDS AREA TO OPEN WATER AREA IN SOME US ESTUARIES
Narragansett Bay Long Island Sound Tampa Bay Mobile Bay Chesapeake Bay Apalachicola Bay Chincoteague Bay Delaware Bay Aransas Bay San Francisco Bay Barataria Bay Inshore Georgia
0.02 0.05 0.06 0.08 0.11 0.12 0.31 0.38 0.39 0.42 1.43 1.90
NARRAGANSETT BAY
BOSTON HARBOR
CHESAPEAKE BAY
PAMLICO SOUND
APALACHICOLA BAY
SAN FRANCISCO BAY
OPEN WATER SURFACE AREA OF SOME IMPORTANT ESTUARIES IN THE UNITED STATES, km2
Waquoit Bay, MA Barnegat Bay, NJ Great South Bay, NY Narragansett Bay, RI New York Bay Indian River Lagoon, FL Mobile Bay San Francisco Bay Potomac Estuary, MD Delaware Bay Puget Sound Long Island Sound Chesapeake Bay Pamlico Sound
8 102 235 328 390 725 1152 1173 1279 1989 2330 3200 11500 27092
THE DELAWARE HAS LONG BEEN AN URBAN WORKING BAY WITH A COMPLEX MIX OF POLLUTANTS. IT ALSO HAS A LONG AND RICH HISTORY OF INNOVATIVE MANAGEMENT.
FAIRMOUNT WATER WORKS 1821 by Thomas Birch Opened 1815; had 28,000 customers by 1843
PHILADELPHIA WATER SUPPLY 1853
MILLCREEK SEWER CONSTRUCTION 1883
SEWER SYSTEM 1895 First treatment plant 1923
“…THE DELAWARE RIVER BASIN WAS THE FIRST RIVER BASIN IN THE NATION TO HAVE AN INTERSTATE AGENCY CREATED IN RESPONSE TO WATER POLLUTION.”
• INTERSTATE COMMISSION ON THE DELAWARE RIVER BASIN (INCODEL) - FORMED IN 1936 • FIRST INTERSTATE WATER QUALITY STANDARDS ADOPTED 1939-1945
R. C. ALBERT (1988) ESTUARIES 11: 99-107
HOW BAD DID IT GET?
“In 1946, surveys by the United States Fish and Wildlife Service…recorded the all-time worse condition – an area of anoxia running shore-to-shore and top to bottom for twenty miles…”
R. C. ALBERT (1988) ESTUARIES 11: 99-107
THE US ARMY CORPS OF ENGINEERS BEGAN COMPREHENSIVE RIVER BASIN PLANNING ON THE DELAWARE IN 1956 – THE FIRST SUCH EFFORT IN THE COUNTRY
“As an outgrowth of this activity, the Delaware Estuary Comprehensive Study (DECS) was launched in the early 1960s. DESC was a pioneering study…involving the development of one of the first water quality models for an estuary…” Albert (1988)
“THE DELAWARE RIVER BASIN COMMISSION WAS INSTITUTED IN 1961…THE DELAWARE COMPACT IS A UNIQUE DOCUMENT [ALLOWING] THE COMMISSION WIDE LATITUDE IN CONCEIVING AND IMPLEMENTING WATER RESOURCES PROGRAMS IN THE BASIN.” R. V. Thoman (1972) Systems Analysis and Water Quality Management
“THE CLEANUP OF THE DELAWARE ESTUARY REPRESENTS ONE OF THE PREMIER WATER POLLUTION CONTROL SUCCESS STORIES IN THE UNITED STATES.”
R. C. ALBERT (1988) ESTUARIES 11: 99-107
THE DELAWARE ESTUARY IS ONE OF THE BEST AND MOST INTENSIVELY STUDIED IN THE COUNTRY
he s M ape on ak t e D S P ere Ba el an u y y aw F g B ar ra et S ay e B nc ou ay i s c n d & oB N E s ay ar tu ra ar ga y ns et tB ay Ta m pa N Ba o C rt y ol h um In le bi t, a SC R iv er W Es ill tu ap ar a y Ba y Bo ,W st A on H M ar ob bo ile r B M ay iss ,A iss L ip N p eu iS se ou Es nd tu W ar aq y, uo N C A it pa Ba la y, ch M ic A o la Pe Ba no bs y, co FL tB ay ,M E
C
# of Peer Reviewed Articles
AQUATIC SCIENCES AND FISHERIES ABSTRACTS (ASFA) CITATIONS FOR U.S. BAYS AND ESTUARIES, 1980-2005
2500
2000
1500
1000
490 395
500
0
http://www.marsci.uga.edu/images/research/tilburg3.jpg
SOME AREAS OF NATIONAL IMPORTANCE WHERE DELAWARE BAY CLEARLY STANDS OUT
•WATER QUALITY MODELING •BEHAVIOR OF POLLUTANTS IN ESTUARIES, WETLANDS •ESTUARINE PHYSICS •BIOPHYSICAL INTERACTIONS CRAB LARVAE AND PHYSICS OYSTERS, SALINITY AND DISEASE
•NUTRIENT DYNAMICS SOURCES (INC. ATMOSPHERIC, DON) ANALYTICAL METHODS DISTRIBUTIONS and FATES (STABLE ISOTOPES) www.mareco.org/rocky/crab_repro.html
SOME AREAS OF NATIONAL IMPORTANCE WHERE DELAWARE BAY CLEARLY STANDS OUT •PRIMARY PRODUCTIVITY
•REMOTE SENSING OF WETLANDS
•SEDIMENT DYNAMICS, BUDGETS
•SALT MARSH RESTORATION
•TURBIDITY MAXIMUM
·ESTUARINE FISH ECOLOGY
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v105/n88n88/Birds/gbbSemipalmflight.jpg
http://www.urbanrivers.org/web_images/Delaware.jpg
·MULTISTATE MANAGEMENT
http://www.dnr.state.md.us/Bay/cblife/algae
•WATER COLUMN MICROBIOLOGY
•MIGRATORY SHOREBIRD ECOLOGY
HASKINS SHELLFISH RESEARCH LABORATORY IS THE OLDEST MARINE SHELLFISH EXPERIMENT STATION IN THE COUNTRYFOUNDED 1901
THE NATIONAL SIGNIFICANCE OF THE DELAWARE ESTUARY • THE DELAWARE IS THE QUINTESSENTIAL DROWNED RIVER MOUTH ESTUARY – THE POSTER CHILD OF ESTUARIES • THE DELAWARE ESTUARY HAS A LONG HISTORY OF HUMAN IMPACT, INNOVATIVE MANAGEMENT, AND RECOVERY • THE DELAWARE HAS BEEN STUDIED INTENSIVELY AND PROVIDES A TEXTBOOK OF INFORMATION ON ESTUARINE ECOLOGY, CURCULATION, AND BIOGEOCHEMISTRY
“FLOSSIE” WRIGHT’S TIPS FOR TALKS
1.BE INFORMATIVE 2. BE PROVACATIVE (BUT NOT TOO MUCH!) 3. BE AMUSING (BUT NOT TOO MUCH!) 4. BE INSPIRATIONAL
