Severe loss of dissolved oxygen/ CAC President to meet with other CAC leaders at NYC

Activities update for September 4 to 10, 2010

Severe loss of Dissolved Oxygen (DO) at the Eastern Axis of the SJBE's mixing zone: The following bodies of water are showing severe loss of their DO concentrations (4.0 mg/L desirable target): Blasina Canal (0.87 mg/L); Torrecilla Lagoon (.08 mg/L); Suarez Canal (.09 mg/L); San Anton Creek (1.24 mg/L) and San Jose Lagoon (2.95 mg/L). The Program is examining the possibility of creating an Ad Hoc Committee to discuss this recurrent situation. Dead fish were reported by contractor.

Planting at Chiclana Creek- Several volunteers have confirmed their participation for this ongoing effort to restore the riparian ecosystem of the creek. The planting event will take place on Saturday, September 11, 2010 from 8:30am to 11:00am.

Estuary’s Green Cinema-Septemeber 11, 2010- After showing our documentaries, we will screen the movie 500 Days of Summer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PsD0NpFSADM This week independent filmmaker Maria Jose (Majo) submitted the short film “The Edge of the Sea” to be screened during the month of November 2010. The activity takes place every 2nd and 4th Saturday of the month at 7pm-Condado Lagoon Park in San Juan, to your right from Carolina to San Juan as soon as you approach the Condado Lagoon in the Baldorioty de Castro Avenue.

SAVE THE DATE!!--State of the San Juan Bay Estuary conference- Will take place at the Caribe Hilton Hotel on September 28, 2010 from 8am to 12pm at the San Gerónimo Room C

CAC President will travel to NYC to meet with Judith Enck- Gretchen Guzmán, our CAC President, will be traveling during the first week of October 2010 to meet with EPA’s Regional Administrator and other CAC Presidents to discuss several issues of relevance to our communities and ecosystem.

Interviews for new contracts: We have been evaluating resumes and interviewing several candidates for contracts that will start on October 1, 2010. This includes the contract of a community person that will help the recycling project of Barrio Obrero Marina, highlighted by Judith Enck in her most recent visit to the SJBE.

MAPFRE Foundation: Finance and Bank Chair Ramón Lloveras and Javier Laureano met with Iraida Meléndez, Vice President for Social Responsibility for MAPFRE-PR and discussed several habitat restoration and community-based projects.

Meeting at EPA-Chiclana filling complaint- The meeting took place on Wednesday, September 8, 2010 with representatives from the community, EPA, USACE, EQB and the SJBEP. EQB will follow-up the complaint. Community representatives were most grateful for our efforts to further the solution of the situation.

CCMP Awards ceremony/ House Resolution- House Representative Hon. Nuno López will draft a House Resolution to congratulate the Program on the special occasion of the 10th Anniversary of its CCMP publication.

Scientific Presentation- Our Scientific Advisor, Dr. Jorge Bauzá, was invited by DNER to offer a presentation on its Global Change and Biodiversity Symposium. His conference will focus on sources and sinks of greenhouse gases in mangrove forests. The activity will take place on November 16 and 17, 2010.

Cantera Community Council: Gladys Rivera, our Outreach Coordinator, met with community representatives to further develop our alliance with this Martin Peña Channel community for the development of educational activities, such as the screening of documentaries, and habitat enhancement through planting and cleanups.

For more info. please refer to our website www.estuario.org or call Cathy Ortiz at 787 602 6202