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Wilson Bay Project
Summary Grant Number: 1998A-703 Grant Date/Approval Date: June 1, 1999 Project
Summary: The Bay also is the discharge point for the runoff from 60 livestock facilities within the New River Watershed. Additionally, the New River Watershed experienced an 85% population growth in the years 1980-1990. The added non-point source pollution resulting from such high volume growth contributed significantly to the deterioration of the Bay, in addition to the urban streams that drained into it. Algal blooms and fish kills were reported regularly and shellfish harvesting from Wilson Bay was prohibited. The Bay, once supporting recreational use, became so polluted with bacteria that the levels of fecal coliform bacteria were regularly reaching 2-75 times the standard for recreational use. The Jacksonville downtown area, bordering Wilson Bay, was in a state of disrepair as well. After 25 years of urban decay, a majority of the available retail space was vacant and the businesses that remained downtown were doing poorly. In 1997 a group of concerned community members hoping to re-establish the economic vitality of the downtown area and restore ecosystem functioning to the waterfront formed the organizations, Bettering Our Local Downtown, and the Wilson Bay Water Quality Initiative. Through these two programs, the Jacksonville community members hoped to transform the eyesore downtown area and public health hazard Wilson Bay into an area that could be a source of pride, education, and economic revenue to the community. As a first step, the City of Jacksonville Wilson Bay Wastewater Treatment Plant was removed in 1998 and replaced by an environmentally friendly land application plant that was situated further inland. The site of the old wastewater treatment plant is now being transformed into a center for recreation, environmental education, and community development called Sturgeon City. The tanks that formerly treated wastewater will now be used to raise short-nosed sturgeon, an endangered species once plentiful in the New River, and the old biotower will be used to process the waste associated with the fish. The second phase of the Wilson Bay Water Quality Initiative involved a comprehensive plan for reducing the amount of pollutants entering Wilson Bay from urban runoff. The plan called for reducing impermeable surfaces and maximizing vegetated areas that would filter the pollutants out of stormwater and reduce overall runoff. Riparian buffers to urban streams were revegetated. Public meetings were held to educate the landowners in the area about landscaping techniques that they could apply to their lands that would reduce the stormwater runoff and pollutants that entered Wilson Bay. Infrastructure was designed that would redirect stormwater to landscaped areas and impervious rain gutters were replaced with vegetated swales. Additionally, acres of wetlands surrounding the complex and bordering the Bay are to be restored and used for educational purposes and to further filter runoff before it enters the Bay. The third phase of the Wilson Bay cleanup involved the innovative technique of using native bivalve species as living filters to remove nutrients and pollutants from Wilson Bay. It was discovered that the waters of Wilson Bay circulated very poorly and that the pollutant load already present in the Bay would be removed slowly. Over 2 million oysters as well as ribbed mussels and clams have been planted in the Bay in order to expedite the process. Since the implementation of the bivalve planting and stormwater management techniques, impressive positive trends in overall water quality have been observed. The amount of polyaromatic hydrocarbons in the sediments of Wilson Bay has decreased by nearly 70% and the total nitrogen in the water has been reduced. The fecal coliform levels in the water have also been reduced to below the recreational use standard. There has been an increase in dissolved oxygen, allowing for the recruitment of new wildlife in the Bay. An influx of crabs, barnacles, fish, sea cucumbers, anemones, waterfowl, and healthy, sustained populations of benthic invertebrates have been observed since the implementation of the water quality initiative. Additionally, the harvesting of crabs from the bay has recommenced. A $572,000 grant from the Clean Water Management Trust Fund was used to fund the stormwater reduction efforts and the bivalve plantings.
Sturgeon
City Website: www.sturgeoncity.org |
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