Greenwashing at its best: all for the black tern . . . . .

"A Tern for the Better at Braddock Bay" 

Black Tern – Montezuma National Wildlife Refuge © D. Sherony

by Jim Ochterski, Rochester Birding Association Conservation Committee  appearing http://rochesterbirding.com  July 2014 

Braddock Bay, just west of Rochester NY, is so well known for its hawk migration observation platform that many people forget that it is , in fact a bay. [!]  Bays are inlets of water alongside large lakes or the ocean.  The mixing of landforms opens up many combinations of dry land, partially submersed land, mud flats, dense plants, trees, and stretches of open water.  Bays are one of the most desirable habitats for migrating and breeding birds because they offer shelter, abundant food sources, and diverse nesting areas.  Braddock Bay is part of a larger complex of inlets and ponds that are sometimes directly connected to Lake Ontario and sometimes not.  Gravel and is shifted by lake currents and pounding waves, creating bars and channels.  When lake level regulation began in the 1950’s to improve commercial ship navigation through the St. Lawrence Seaway, the natural shifting was disrupted and before long, the system was almost continuously flooded.  In the wake of Hurricane Agnes, a formidable sand bar barrier was washed away, and erosion has been hitting the lake side of Braddock Bay very hard. [WHAT!! THERE IS A NATURAL SAND BARRIER ALONG THE LAKE ONTARIO SIDE—PILES UP AGAINST THE MANITOU TROLLEY FOUNDATION] 

When years of continuous flooding, erosion, and human activity combine in a freshwater area, you can expect one thing to thrive: cattails.  A fast-growing, adaptable, and nearly invasive native plant, cattails fill in most shallow water areas completely.  In Braddock Bay, the cattails have formed a nearly lifeless monoculture. [REALLY?]  They help stabilize sediments and are home to some species, but a lot of the habitat richness that once characterized the Bay is now gone.  Cattails can do this because the fluctuation of water levels is very limited now.  Cattails can invade former diverse meadow marshes because sustained lake levels allow them to survive and overtake sedges and grasses that otherwise put up with the frequent drier soil conditions when lake levels fluctuated naturally.

Fortunately, habitat decline in Braddock Bay caught the attention of a rather formidable force: the US Army Corps of Engineers.  In a partnership with the NYS Department of Environmental Conservation, Ducks Unlimited, the Nature Conservancy of Central and Western New York, and the Town of Greece, the Army Corps of Engineers is studying how, when, and where to build, dig, and dredge to finagle some improved coastal habitat.  The target species of all this work (an indicator of success) is the Black tern.

Black terns have not nested in Braddock Bay in almost a generation.  Even though preferred Black tern habitat is rich in cattails, they require other plant species as well, such as rushes, sedges, and cord grasses.   In other words, cattail monocultures are not desirable, and will not support a colonial nesting species like the Black tern.

So, the US Army Corps of Engineers is now conducting a feasibility study to explore if the construction of an artificial headland breakwater, the scooping of deeper potholes into the bay, and re-channeling areas through the cattails will bring in plant species to restore Braddock Bay.  If the habitat can be so modified that Black terns return as an easy-to-spot nesting species, there should be enough habitat available for other species of birds and mammals.

In the words of the US Army Corps:  “The goal of [Braddock Bay] restoration is to improve habitat diversity of the existing emergent marsh currently dominated by cattail, and to reduce erosion of the existing emergent marsh. The black tern was chosen as a target species for habitat restoration, because it represents a historic habitat no longer present in the bay. This habitat, characterized by diverse aquatic vegetation zones, sedge grass meadows, and open water areas interspersed within a matrix of emergent marsh, will be significantly more ecologically diverse than the existing cattail dominated emergent wetland and would provide high quality habitat for many species of fish and wildlife including American mink and northern pike.” During your next visit to Braddock Bay, look at the lackluster stand of cattails.  Imagine in their place a multi-faceted marsh habitat with swooping Black terns and hovering Northern harriers.  Then, look to the migrating hawks (mere specks in the sky) and delight in a possible turn for the better.

US Army Corps of Engineers Braddock Bay overview (PDF link)

Braddock Bay ~ Town of Greece NY 2014

Watching a small barge with an even smaller crane pull apart the submerged west spit as it morphs into the old Manitou Trolley bed under the western mouth of Braddock Bay

• NYS Senator Chuck Schumer and Braddock Bay
• Dredging News for Braddock Bay
• US Army Corps involved

Economic development?  .  .  .  Habitat Restoration? . . . . Recreation? . . . . What is going on?  West spit of Braddock Bay, at right, where waves wash up and over submerged trolley bed. 

US Army Corps of Engineers proposal:
Braddock Bay, NY - Coastal Wetland Restoration 
from the report . . . . . "Nearshore / Non-Point Source Focus Area 
Project Location: Braddock Bay is located on the shore of Lake Ontario within the Great Lakes Rochester Embayment Area of Concern (AoC) in the town of Greece in Monroe County, New York. 
Project Description: "The project goal is restoration and protection of 340 acres of coastal wetlands. The project will enhance wetland habitat, treat invasive species, and improve coastal resiliency of existing wetlands by restoring the historic barrier beach. Potential project alternatives involve restoration of an extensive network of channels and potholes that will increase habitat interspersion, complexity, and diversity; as well as restoration of the former barrier beach to protect the bay from wave energy and reduce erosion of existing wetlands. 
Non-Federal Partner: No cost share sponsor is required for the current Feasibility Study. Funding is provided by the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative (GLRI) through USEPA and is 100% Federal. Both the Town of Greece and New York State Department of Conservation support implementation. REALLY!! 
Project Benefits: The project benefits include: contributing to the delisting the Rochester Embayment Great Lakes Area of Concern (AoC) Beneficial Use Impairments (BUIs) for both (1) degradation of fish and wildlife populations and (2) loss of fish and wildlife habitat, contributing to the Lake Ontario Lakewide Management Plan (LaMP) goal to maintain/restore ecosystem to support self-reproducing diverse biological communities, and restoring habitat for the New York State endangered black tern that has not nested there since 1998. 
Project Status: USACE is conducting a feasibility study of alternatives for ecosystem restoration at Braddock Bay. A draft feasibility study report was presented to the Rochester." 

What is the US doing to address the Great Lakes?

Priorities: contaminated sewer overflow...invasive species...toxic contaminants in sediments ... protection of drinking water... economic impact of tourism, fisheries, wildlife and other industries relying on Great Lakes

A Congressional Legislative Hearing before the Committee on Environment and Public Works was held July 16, 2014.  To track these bills: Library of Congress bill tracking website.   

• The Great Lakes Water Protection Act, S. 571, addresses sewer overflows. The measure, authored by Sen. Mark Kirk, R-Ill., would ban the sewer overflows that pour contaminated water into the lakes. After 2033, counties, cities and other political entities

West Spit Braddock Bay NY

would face increasingly steep fines for overflows. The bill would also mandate standard methods for publicly reporting sewer overflows. At present, the Great Lakes states don't have a uniform approach now for getting such news out promptly. There's an identical bill in the House, H.R. 1185.
• The Invasive Fish and Wildlife Prevention Act, S. 1153, would speed up the federal government's review process when it considers whether to ban the importation of animals and plants. Current screening takes more than four years to complete. In the Illinois River, where Asian carp infestation is extreme, 90 percent of the river’s biomass is now Asian carpThe measure is authored by Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y. The House version of the legislation, H.R. 996, lists U.S. Rep. Marcy Kaptur, D-Toledo, as a co-sponsor. For more: NY Invasive Species.
• The Great Lakes Ecological and Economic Protection Act, S. 1232. The measure, authored by Sen. Carl Levin, D-Mich., and co-sponsored by Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, would reauthorize the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative, an Obama administration program which has provided $300 million a year for the last four years for programs to clean up the lakes. It would also reauthorize the Great Lakes National Program Office, the main Environmental Protection Agency office for Great Lakes matters, and the Great Lakes Legacy Program, which removes contaminated sediment from polluted areas. The bill also would authorize the Federal Great Lakes Interagency Task Force, which pulls together different federal agencies to help the Great Lakes.  To see where the money goes in the Rochester NY area: Great Lakes Restoration Initiative projects at Braddock Bay, area beaches and wetlands.  

Among those testifying was Policy Director of Healing Our Waters the Great Lakes Coalition: testimony is available at the National Parks Conservation Association site. The Great Lakes Coalition was formed in 2004. The Healing Our Waters-Great Lakes Coalition is led by the National Wildlife Federation and the National Parks Conservation Association. The Coalition has staff in Washington, D.C., Ann Arbor, Michigan, Madison, Wisconsin, and Chicago, Illinois.  From the Sandusky, Ohio Register, July 18, 2014.

L. Ontario Waterkeeper ~ Canada, Ontario and the shared 'Lake of Shining Waters'

How much commitment has Canada made to Lake Ontario?  They are worried according to this recent article "Lake of Shame...Ontario's Pollution Problem"  especially about Toronto's old and polluting sewer system. "Lake Ontario is the 14th largest lake in the world: 19,529 square kilometres, 1,146 kilometres of shoreline, 244 metres at its deepest.  Which is one reason it’s not a total cesspool, experts say.  Its size and depth help dissipate the bacteria, which our drinking-water filtration plants kill off with chlorine. But what about the agricultural runoff? The sewage? The industrial sludge? The nuclear waste? The pesticides? Herbicides? Road salt? The toxic by-products of burning medical and municipal waste? The engine oil you poured down the storm sewer? The leftover prescription pills you flushed down the toilet?" . . . From The Star July 8, 2011.

Quick Facts about L. Ontario from Canadian perspective Lake Ontario provides drinking water to 9-million people [in Canada]. The entire Great Lakes system provides water for 30 million people. More Canadians live in the Lake Ontario watershed than any other watershed in the country. The lake never completely freezes because it is so deep. The surface of Lake Ontario has frozen over at least five times, the last time in 1934. Lake Ontario has a “seiche”, a natural rhythmic motion as water sloshes back and forth every 11 minutes. Glaciers formed the lake between 14,000 and 10,000 years ago. The lake is one of the five Great Lakes, which 21% of the world’s surface freshwater. Lake Ontario is the 14th largest lake in the world. All Great Lakes water flows through Lake Ontario before it flows to the Atlantic Ocean. Water takes about 6 years to flow through Lake Ontario to the St. Lawrence River Lake Ontario is the most threatened Great Lake. Niagara Falls pours into Lake Ontario. Iroquois and Huron First Nations lived on the lake for thousands of years before Europeans arrived. “Lake Ontario” means “lake of shining waters”. Commercial fishing peaked in the late 1880s; 130 years later, government and NGOs are still working to restore the lake’s native fish populations. Lake Ontario is partially in Canada, partially in the USA. There used to be 150 species of fish in the Great Lakes. The most common fish in Lake Ontario used to be the American Eel. There are over 100 beaches on Lake Ontario.

For more: the Canadian Waterkeeper website www.waterkeeper.ca . . . . And more from CREATE Great Lakes.

Blue-green cyanobacteria algae and swimming, drinking water

What does the NYS Department of Health say about the algae blooms in the bays and ponds along the southern shore of New York State? "Blue-green algae, technically known as cyanobacteria, are microscopic organisms that are naturally present in lakes and streams. They usually are present in low numbers. Blue-green algae can become very abundant in warm, shallow, undisturbed surface water that receives a lot of sunlight. When this occurs, they can form blooms that discolor the water or produce floating rafts or scums on the surface of the water."

"What are the potential health effects from drinking or coming in contact with water containing blue-green algae?"

"Some blue-green algae produce toxins that could pose a health risk to people and animals when they are exposed to them in large enough quantities. Health effects could occur when surface scums or water containing high levels of blue-green algal toxins are swallowed, through contact with the skin or when airborne droplets containing toxins are inhaled while swimming, bathing or showering.

Consuming water containing high levels of blue-green algal toxins has been associated with effects on the liver and on the nervous system in laboratory animals, pets, livestock and people. Livestock and pet deaths have occurred when animals consumed very large amounts of accumulated algal scum from along shorelines.

Direct contact or breathing airborne droplets containing high levels of blue-green algal toxins during swimming or showering can cause irritation of the skin, eyes, nose and throat and inflammation in the respiratory tract.  Recreational contact, such as swimming, and household contact, such as bathing or showering, with water not visibly affected by a bluegreen algae bloom is not expected to cause health effects. However, some individuals could be especially sensitive to even low levels of algal toxins and might experience mild symptoms such as skin, eye or throat irritation or allergic reactions." -- -- posted by Barbara

http://www.health.ny.gov/environmental/water/drinking/bluegreenalgae.htm

'a great imbalance' from Turtle Lodge

Photography Barbara Carder

Turtle Lodge . . . . message  from Winnipeg, Manitoba Sagkeeng First Nation 

Seven Sacred Laws

Planting native species Viburnum trilobum

High Bush Cranberry in bloom ~ early June

Photography Barbara Carder 

Braddock Point Light

Oh to have seen Braddock Point Light in its heyday.  On 'Bogus Point' notwithstanding, once the highest on L. Ontario. 




http://www.lighthousefriends.com/light.asp?ID=303

Rochester harbor on L. Ontario on Federal Watch List

From The Center for Environmental Information:  

The Problems

• Algae
• Sediment
• Stressed fisheries
• Threatened drinking water
• Beach closings
• Over 30 streams listed as impaired by the NYS DEC
• Genesee River under-used by public
• Few river-based businesses
• No users = No interest

The Causes

The biggest threats to our region's waters are excess nutrients coming from fertilizer, manure, home septic systems, food processing by-products and discharges from older wastewater plants.  The Rochester Embayment of Lake Ontario is a federally designated Area of Concern because of a range of concerns including pollution, contaminated sediments, fish consumption advisories and impairment of beneficial use such as beach closings. Many area tributaries to Lake Ontario and the Genesee River do not meet state water quality standards.

The beaches of Lake Ontario are closed typically for 30 to 50% of the bathing season because of high bacteria levels and contamination with algae.  Development of our lakeshore assets, including the Port of Rochester, is dependent upon a sustained improvement in the near-shore water quality.  The challenge to the community is how to reduce contamination of the Lake Ontario and Finger Lakes watersheds from agricultural activities, municipal and industrial wastewater discharges, urban stormwater runoff, and septic systems in a cost-effective manner. Improving the water quality in the region's waters will make a vital contribution to improving the quality of life in the area and to the economic and environmental revitalization of the region's lakeshore assets.

In the News:  The port of Rochester, where the Genesee River flows into Lake Ontario has been identified as one of 43 areas of concern on the Great Lakes.  Phosphorus loads from fertilizers farms on the river use create deadly algae blooms.  It kills fish and can make people and animals sick. Experts say 80% of the lake's pollution comes from things we put in the sewer.  A $308,000 grant should help.  

"Wish you were here . . . ." by Greg

Feathers dust Rochester NY

On Friday, July 26, 2013, there was an amazing confluence of feathers in the Rochester NY sky.  

This photo was taken on Jefferson Rd. looking east, but others saw them all over the entire sky. 

It was so startling, I thought of all the rough edges of this city that need dusting. 

Really?

Can we finally get it together?  http://www.innovationtrail.org/post/great-lakes-protection-bill-edge-passing-says-schumer 

New York Senator Chuck Schumer says the water quality along the Great Lakes continues to worsen.  Schumer is co-sponsoring a bill that would remediate contaminated sediment, help clean up toxic pollutions, combat invasive species and keep watersheds clean.  He is also pushing to reinstate $10 million in federal dollars to the BEACH Act, which was recently cut from the 2014 budget, to help keep polluted beach water safe for swimmers.  "We finally have a comprehensive program that wouldn't just deal with one issue at a time while the beach is closed because of another issue, but look at the whole program,” Schumer says.  And, he adds, the bill’s success might not be far off.

“We have a broad bi-partisan coalition democrats and republicans and it seems to be on the edge of passing."  Schumer stopped in Rochester Tuesday to announce two programs which aim to keep beaches in the Monroe County area in western New York off the EPA’s Area of Concern list.  Ontario Beach has been rated one of the worst beaches in the country because of its problems with bacteria.  He says Monroe County could stand to receive tens of millions of dollars from his $475 million-a-year plan.  The senator says it’s high time the problem of contaminated water in the Great Lakes was addressed.  "These beaches are beautiful. They are a great resource, they attract people from far away to come eat in restaurants, walk around the waterfront and go to the shops. We need the money and we're going to fight to get it."  Monroe's County executive says they haven't had access to this type of money to fix Ontario Beach's algae problem.  The bill was introduced in the Senate by Senator Carl Levin of Michigan.

Bills 113s571is known as the 'Great Lakes Water Protection Act'. UPDATE: Bill is stalled in committee: https://www.govtrack.us/congress/bills/113/s571

BV7 ~ fighting with or working with nature?

The body regulating water levels on Lake Ontario, the International Joint Commission (IJC), has released a proposal for a new management plan. Lake levels have a significant impact on the economic and environmental viability of harbors in upstate New York and Canada.  The last proposal, known commonly as plan BV7, was highly controversial and received such backlash during the public comment period that the commission re-drafted it.  The IJC’s, new proposal aims to strike a compromise between the concerns of environmental groups and harbor residents.  For years management plans have focused on maintaining levels conducive to maximum economic benefit and minimal damage to shoreline property.  However, losses of ecosystem diversity and drops in bird and fish populations have raised concerns about the environmental impact of unnatural water levels.  Plan BV7 tried to correct this issue by introducing more extreme highs and lows to water levels more frequently.  But, residents argued this plan would come at the price of recreational boating revenue and damage to shoreline property.  READ MORE: http://innovationtrail.org/post/new-water-management-plan-lake-ontario 

Yang 24 Form

Double-Crested Cormorants on L. Ontario

The rise and fall of cormorant populations has been linked in the last decade to the reduction of DDT, the rise of round goby as a food, and the pressure from fishermen.  Only a few islands in eastern L. Ontario and the north shore of Canada support the breeding colonies with hundreds of pairs, but both DEC and Wildlife Management in Canada have killed or removed nests to reduce population.

Because I see the cormorants on Braddock Bay and and other areas along the shore, I have been fascinated watching them.  Sometimes they create long, single-file lines, flying just on top of the waves.

Their twig nests are high in trees inland, but they fish and dry wings on old branches sticking up in the water.

I would not like to see these amazing birds be 'culled' or nests removed.  Photo from Univ. of Oregon.  For more on the EPA's concern about Double-Crested Cormorants: http://www.epa.gov/med/grosseile_site/indicators/cormorants.html

IJC Hearing June 6, 2012 - 7 pm - Quest School Hilton NY

NOTE: The University of Illinois "Carbon Capture Report" [a website that tracks perceptions in climate change, carbon capture and more] picked up this post: http://hydro.carboncapturereport.org/cgi-bin//profiler?key=westspit.blogspot.com&pt=4

The International Joint Commission (IJC) was established by the Boundary Waters Treaty of 1909 to help manage the use of shared waters between Canada and the United States. In the 1950s, it approved construction and operation of a hydroelectric power project in the St. Lawrence River near Cornwall, Ontario and Massena, New York for the purpose of producing hydroelectricity, enabling seaway navigation, and providing flood protection to Lake Ontario.

The IJC invites stakeholders to participate in this dialogue about a new approach, currently under development, to regulating the flows through the Lake Ontario-St. Lawrence River (LOSLR) system. The new approach would take a step toward more natural water levels and flows in order to improve environmental conditions in the system, particularly on Lake Ontario, and would maintain most of the economic benefits of the current regulation regime. The IJC will consider the comments made during this dialogue before finalizing a formal proposal and scheduling public hearings on the new approach.

Overall Objective for the Dialogue
The Lake Ontario-St. Lawrence River (LOSLR) system is home to nearly 12 million people, and a variety of interests, including shoreline communities, recreational boating, commercial navigation, hydroelectric power, municipal and industrial water uses, and the environment. While fluctuations in water levels and flows are mainly determined by mother nature, regulating the flows through an international hydropower project also has an influence. Dialogue participants are invited to discuss how a new approach to regulation would affect water levels and flows, and each of the various interests on the lake and river.

To discuss issues regarding the draft new approach with experts and stakeholders throughout the LOSLR system. The desired outcomes include: Resolution of outstanding questions to the greatest extent possible; Deeper understanding of the issues by all participants, including the IJC, governments and stakeholders throughout the LOSLR system.

Wake up New Yorkers ~ fresh water under threat by fracking

Extend the moratorium on issuing fracking permits until June 1, 2013, A7400-A/S.6261 -- Contact this link to send message to Governor and Legislature: Riverkeepers Action Alert on Fracking.

Immense water coming into L. Ontario

This is October 8, 2011 -- incredible water flow over both Horseshoe Falls and the American Falls.

Paddle-to-the-Sea ~ a Great Lakes Treasure

Holling Clancy Holling's 1941 classic, "Paddle-to-the-Sea" about a boy and his carved canoe, begins at Lake Nipigon, Ontario Canada. A First Nation boy carves a wooden model of an man in a canoe and sets it free to travel the Great Lakes to the Atlantic ocean. The story follows the progress of the little wooden Indian on its journey through all five Great Lakes and the St. Lawrence River, finally arriving at the Atlantic Ocean. Read about the incredible adventures on L. Superior all the way through each Great Lake. An incredible tale! See what teachers are doing.

sweet smell

Milkweed is in full bloom ~ July 1.