Diesel spill in the Condado Lagoon was detected in the afternoon of April 15, 2014. The source of the diesel was quickly identified and eventually contained.
The areas around the Condado Lagoon were cleaned every Friday during the month of April.
Glass bottles are perhaps the most common type of debris cleaned from the water.
Our special thanks to this group of volunteer for all their work!
Gladys Rivera explains the methods to monitor water quality to the volunteer leaders.
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Gladys Rivera, the coordinator of the island-wide event.
A look at the colorimetric legend of water quality measurement kits provided to all volunteer groups.
SJBE resident, the Brown Pelican (Pelecanus occidentalis) hunts for a meal.
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Our Executive Director, Dr. Javier Laureano, during the monitoring effort in the San Juan Bay
SJBEP Volunteer Laura Roldán gathers water for the pH measurement.
Diesel spill in the Condado lagoon. On the
afternoon of April 15, a diesel spill was noticed in the Condado Lagoon.
A local resident raised the alarm about the spill to the SJBEP. Water
quality monitoring coordinator Ernesto Olivares, and marine debris
specialist Cristina Ramírez, did a great job at identifying the point
source of the spill to avoid further contamination and proceed to the
mitigation of the spilled material, which began immediately.
Meeting of the Condado Lagoon Estuarine Research Reserve co-management
commission. On May 1st, 2014 the co-management commission of the Condado Lagoon
Estuarine Research Reserve met for the third time. During this very productive
meeting we discussed the progress of the Reserve's Management Plan,
the follow-up of the diesel spill and other recent spills with the
Environmental Quality Board, the beginning of the new water quality monitoring
efforts and the use of long row boats in the lagoon.
Executive Director, Dr. Javier Laureano, spoke about billboards
to the San Juan municipal legislature. The high concentration of
billboards and other publicity in public roads of San Juan is matter of concern
to all of us. On April 21, our Executive Director (also a resident of San Juan)
spoke to the San Juan municipal legislature about the issue of excessive
publicity and the concerns it raises for public health. Specifically, the issue
discussed was the establishment of several lighted billboards along the Ashford Avenue
in Condado, an important avenue that abuts the Condado Lagoon
Estuarine Reserve.
Coastal clean-up at the Condado Lagoon. During
the month of April 2014, the shorelines of the Condado Lagoon were
cleaned every Friday by a group of selected volunteers. The clean-up activities
were coordinated by Cristina Ramírez, who is in charge of the project
"The Condado Lagoon is my home" funded by NOAA. As you
can appreciate in the pictures, every Friday there was enough trash to fill
several bags. This is why it is important to establish a solid waste management
plan that takes into consideration the large amounts of trash that becomes marine
debris.
Puerto Rico Water Quality Monitoring Day. Gladys
Rivera, our Citizen Science and Public Participation Coordinator, worked hard
to train volunteer leaders that in turn managed volunteer groups during the Puerto Rico
Water Quality Monitoring Day, which occurred Saturday April 26, 2014. This is
an island wide effort to gather data about the quality of our water bodies,
including rivers, lagoons and beaches.
During the PR Water Quality Monitoring Day, over 1,000 volunteers
monitored the quality of Puerto Rico's waters at 150 different sites
around the island. This is part of a world-wide effort to gather data on water
quality using citizen scientist efforts. This is the 6th year the SJBEP coordinates
this event, and there are still many groups gathering data around the island.
The data collected by our volunteers will be uploaded and become part of global
data set: check out this link! www.worldwatermonitoringday.org/
