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Water Matters, 1.15.16 Prof Christopher Gobler
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Nitrogen pollution in Long Island’s coastal waters – impacts and solutions
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Transcript of Water Matters, 1.15.16 Prof Christopher Gobler
Nitrogen pollution in Long Island’s coastal waters – impacts and solutions
Long Island and the gravity of water
Our groundwater is our drinking water
The beauty of Long Island waters
The bounty of Long Island fisheries
The richness of our maritime culture
Menhanden, 1700s, 1800s
Oysters, 1800s, 1900s
Whaling, 1700s, 1800s
Clamming, 1900s
How are things looking these days?
1970
1972
1974
1976
1978
1980
1982
1984
1986
1988
1990
1992
1994
1996
1998
2000
2002
2004
2006
0
100,000
200,000
300,000
400,000
500,000
600,000
700,000
800,000
Hard Clam landings from Great South Bay in bushels
NY bay scallop landings
The end of our maritime culture?
How are things looking these days?
Riverhead turtle die-off, May 2015, linked to red tide, saxitoxin
Riverhead fish kill, June 2015, linked to nitrogen loading, algal blooms, low oxygen
Brown tide, south shore, July 2015, linked to shellfish mortality
Point Lookout, seaweed bloom, August 2015, unsightly, contributes to low oxygen,
low pH
Great Peconic Bay, rust tide, September 2015, linked to fish mortality
All of Long Island is a watershed -Materials on land eventually enter our groundwater and
surface water.
1980 1990 2000 2010 20202
2.2
2.4
2.6
2.8
3
3.2
3.4
3.6
3.8
Nitr
ogen
(mg/
L)
Expanding population, nitrogen levels
Suffolk County groundwater
1900 1910 1920 1930 1940 1950 1960 1970 1980 1990 2000 20100
200,000
400,000
600,000
800,000
1,000,000
1,200,000
1,400,000
1,600,000Population of Suffolk County
Septic tanks,
cesspools
Many impairments associated with nitrogen overload
Impaired
Minor impacts
No known impacts
Salt marsh ecosystems
Salt marshes protect coastlines
Salt marsh
Salt marsh
Salt marshes protect coastlines
Salt marshes protect coastlines
Flooding during Hurricane Sandy
Healthy marsh Nitrogen loaded marsh
“Coastal eutrophication as a driver of salt marsh loss”, Deegan et al 2012, Nature
Dense, strong roots
Nutrient weakened, roots
Manhasset, K
ings Point
Manhasset, Plum
Point
Manhasset, M
anor Haven
South Manhasset B
ay
Nissequogue R
iver
Stony Brook H
arbor
Flax Pond
Mount Sinai H
arbor
Peconics, Corey C
reek
Peconics, Cedar B
each Creek
South Oyster B
ay, Gilgo Is.
South Oyster B
ay, Goose Is.
Western B
ays, Middle B
ay
Western B
ays, East Bay
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
Perc
ent l
oss s
ince
197
4
Loss of wetlands on Long Island, since 1974
NYSDEC survey data
Nassau County, North Shore
Suffolk County, North Shore
East end Suffolk CountySouth Shore
Nassau CountySouth Shore
Salt marsh
Salt marsh
Salt marshes protect coastlines
Seagrass: Critical habitat for fish and shellfish
NYS seagrass, 1930 - 2030
NYSDEC Seagrass Taskforce Final Report, 2010; Suffolk County assessment, 2014
1930 2009 20300
50,000
100,000
150,000
200,000
Acre
s of s
eagr
ass
Extinction in NY
90% loss$200,000,000 lost annually (Johnston et al 2002).$10,000,000,000 lost since 1975.
Samples for eelgrass genetic analysesHarmful algal blooms across Long Island
Brown tide Rust TidePSP DSPToxic blue green algae Seaweeds
More nitrogen makes harmful algae on Long Island grow faster.
Brown tide
Toxic blue green algae
Studies: Hattenrath et al 2010; Gobler et al 2011, 2012; Gobler and Sunda 2012; Harke and Gobler 2013, 2015 Hattenrath-Lehmann et al 2015
1980 1990 2000 2010 20202
2.2
2.4
2.6
2.8
3
3.2
3.4
3.6
3.8
Nitr
ogen
(mg/
L)
Alexandrium red tides and paralytic shellfish poisoning
(PSP)
AlexandriumSaxitoxin
Wastewater
N
Wastewater-derived nitrogen loading promotes PSP in Long Island Sound.
-Hattenrath et al 2010, Harmful Algae
Saxitoxin
Presence of PSP-producing Alexandrium in LI and CT: 2007-2014
= cells not detected
= < 100 cells L-1
= > 1,000 cells L-1 = 100 - 1,000 cells L-1
**circles represent the highest observed densities at each site**
~900 time points
• Alexandrium found at 49 of 65 sites samples (75%)
Nitrogen promotes in the water impairments: algal blooms, low oxygen
Clams Oysters Scallops Mussels
-100
-80
-60
-40
-20
0
Perc
ent d
eclin
e sin
ce 1
980
NYS landings of shellfish, 1980 – 2010
Losses due to nitrogen driven harmful algal blooms, seagrass loss, and water quality degradation.
Where is the nitrogen coming from?
Kinney and Valiela, 2011
Gobler and Stinnete, 2014
Where is the nitrogen coming from?
Stephen Lloyd, The Nature Conservancy, 2014
Where is the nitrogen coming from?
Stephen Lloyd, The Nature Conservancy, 2014
Where is the nitrogen coming from?
Crisis
Danger Opportunity
Center for Clean Water Technology
On-site wastewater disposal
…Engineering a solution…
Coupled septic tanks and leaching pit
CCWT Mission
• Develop and commercialize the next generation of nitrogen removal technology for septic systems– Improve efficiency of nitrogen removal– Reduce system costs– Minimize maintenance– Shrink the infrastructure
Alternative septic systems
Long Island’s Coastal Ecosystems
Nitrogen mitigation goal 2015
Conclusions
• Water is at the heart of the Long Island existence.
• Excessive nitrogen loading is causing ecosystem and economic harm across Long Island.
• Nitrogen loading reductions are needed to improve water quality.
Questions• Reducing nitrogen levels will be very difficult. Do we know it
will work? Are there success stories on Long Island regarding the reduction of nitrogen levels and water quality improvements?
• How long will it take to improve water quality conditions once we start reducing nitrogen levels?
• What can be done to improve water quality once nitrogen is released into coastal waters?
