The Estuarine Research Federation (ERF) held its 2003 conference Sept.15-18, in Seattle – espoused as the largest and most diverse ERF conference ever with over 1100 abstracts from 1500 scientists, resource managers and students representing 29 countries. 3The theme was the convergence of ocean forces, influences of the land, and human activities and cultures.

T.H. Huxley is remembered for the establishment of science as a profession in Britain, defining agnosticism as the state of unanswered questions, and an agitator for the new science, to which he gave the name biology. While less has been said about his particular fondness for the Phylum Mollusca (clams, oysters etc.), as well as for jellyfish and medusae of all kinds, of which he analyzed thousands. He later reorganized their place in the animal kingdom by inventing a new phylum, Coelenterata.

Huxley would have been honored to see the future biologists and leading experts from around the globe focused on sharing strategies, science and debating their latest research and management subjects to improve the health of estuaries.

While Puget Sound was the host estuary for this conference, it has shown sharp dec

Where freshwater and saltwater mingle, coastal estuaries are at once the richest and most threatened marine habitats on the planet. Puget Sound is an estuary where salt water from the ocean mixes with fresh water from more than 10,000 streams and rivers that drain the region’s mountains and lowlands, it is also home to approximately 4 million people, of which many dispose of their treated sewage waste and untreated stormwater runoff.

Although many scientists agree that progress has been made to restore Puget Sound, it and other estuaries throughout the world are in danger of upsetting the ecological structure of these fragile ecosystems at levels that may never recover.

Ecological dysfunction and eutrophication can be caused by excessive nutrients entering coastal environments in the form of sewage and fertilizers. Organisms such as phytoplankton and other algae feed and proliferate on a rich diet of this ‘food source’ upsetting the natural balance and resulting in conditions of low dissolved oxygen affecting an abundance of fishes and macroinvertebrates.

“Hypoxia has the greatest, most pervasive effect on fish kills. There is no comparison though it can be complicated by overfishing,” stressed Dr. EJ Chesney, a scientist from the Louisiana Universities Marine Consortium.
Dr. Nancy Rabalais, a world recognized expert in low dissolved oxygen issues, offered solutions concerning the current state of hypoxia and recent fishing closures on the Hood Canal, “the single-most action you can take in that situation is to take care of the septics.”

“These sensitive estuaries may be slow to respond to nutrient management strategies and are also unlikely to return to their original state. I would further recommend launching a dynamic public education campaign with property owners to reduce or eliminate the use of fertilizers which enter the coastal waters throughout the Hood Canal watershed,” added Rabalais. These concerns were echoed by Jan Newton, oceanographer with the Department of Ecology and University of Washington, working in Willapa Bay and the Hood Canal.

Studying and managing impacts on shorelines throughout Puget Sound was the focus of Kurt Fresh, scientist with NOAA Fisheries and the NWFSC, who concluded that we need to assess and manage the full range of problems facing our shoreline not focus on each element of itself. Much like the famous words of Sir Richard Burton that ‘faith is a shattered mirror strewn, where each believes his piece to be the whole to own’.

Similar comparisons were drawn from half a world away by S.M. Mudge, a scientist from the University of Wales, Bangor in his presentation “Sewage and Flushing – The Dynamics of Nutrients and Organic Matter in Coastal Lagoons” based on recent studies of the Ria Formosa lagoon in Portugal.

Studies indicated a ‘decoupling’ between the sources of sewage-derived materials, and the sites where they are deposited. These lagoons are exceptionally productive — home to clams, oysters and other aquaculture units while also popular beaches for tourism. All of these may be at risk due to increased nutrient concentrations from sewage leading to eutrophic conditions in the inner basins where the exchange with the sea is poor.

Analysis of lipid “biomarkers” originating in sewage discharge indicates that organic matter can be deposited in areas near the sources, whereas the nutrients are moved with the water and reach the extremities of this complex system. Restricted exchange with the sea means that conditions may be impaired at certain states of the tide and lead to poor water quality. Similar circumstances persist in the Hood Canal and other poorly flushed bays in Puget Sound, such as that of Liberty Bay near Poulsbo.

Bob Johnston, PhD with the Space and Naval Warfare Systems Center, Bremerton, demonstrated the “Integrated Watershed-Receiving Model” for Sinclair and Dyes Inlet, a scale model developed to simulate hydrodynamic mixing and transport, loading from the watershed, and exchange with the surrounding waters of the greater Puget Sound.

A module to simulate fecal coliform die off augmented the model and scenarios of combined sewer overflow events could be simulated. Currently, fresh water inflows from the watershed are being integrated into the receiving water models, benthic flux from the sediments are being incorporated, and the models are being applied to calculate Total Maximum Daily Loads for the inlets.

Through the Puget Sound Marine Environmental Modeling (PSMEM) partnership, the inlet-scale model will be coupled to the Puget Sound Circulation Model to simulate fluxes between the inlets and the Puget Sound. Ruth Fruland, a scientist with the University of Washington, presented their education project entitled, “Learning About Puget Sound Using Virtual Reality Technology” as part of the PSMEM project.

The Sinclair Inlet was also the subject of fish seining studies and mass marking of juvenile Chinook salmon studies presented by Doris Small of the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) in collaboration with the Suquamish tribe and U.S. Navy reported in earlier editions of this journal.

“Dyes Inlet may be open for commercial shellfish gathering for the first time in years according to the state Department of Health,” Johnston explained. This holds promise for the future of other shellfish industries in the Puget Sound if trends continue.

The city of Bremerton has spent millions of dollars to correct and improve combined sewer overflows and nearly eliminated these occurrences. The Kitsap County Health District has reported more favorable water quality trends throughout the watershed.

Meanwhile, this week Liberty Bay experienced the state’s record largest sewage spill in seven years emptying 350,000 gallons of raw sewage into the bay and shellfish beds. This prompted a 7-day closure and “no water contact” warnings extending from Bainbridge Island to Brownsville including all of Liberty and Nesika bays.

Pumper trucks were employed to lift sewage and let it flow into a stream that runs along the Keyport base’s fenceline and then into the mud flats and eventually Liberty Bay. Then Pump Station 16 at Keyport was shut down which caused the major spill. Low ebb was about 5:40pm on Thursday when some of the plume entered Nesika Bay and after 5:40 came flowing back into Liberty Bay. Since the fix wasn’t completed until Friday morning, it is assumed that Poulsbo’s sewage continued to flow through at least one full tide cycle. All of the evening peak sewage was carried into Liberty Bay (until about 10:15 pm). Given the timing, it is likely that most of the 350,000 gallons went directly into Liberty Bay.

While fecal coliform does last a shorter time in salt water than fresh, other harmful elements of raw, untreated sewage; including pharmaceuticals, sediments, birth control pills, and even caffeine, may linger in these waterways without detection. This as the Chinook salmon are coursing their way through these waters, feeding and foraging, as they make their way to the natal stream of Dogfish creek to spawning habitat, is unsettling.

Optimistically, we can see that these episodes present learning opportunities as to where we choose to locate sewer lines, conduct maintenance, deal with capacity problems, and monitor these large municipal sewage lift systems. While septic systems have been the source of problems in some areas, one needs to consider carefully the cost and life of the system duration with infrastructure carrying this capacity.

Innovative solutions to pollution and protection of our coastal waters will continue to evolve with science and societal changes derived through experience of our failures.