Local implementation of a national program: The National Estuary Program response following the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico

Greening, Holly; Swann, Roberta; Pé, Kerry St.; Testroet-Bergeron, Susan; Allen, Ray; Alderson, Mark; Hecker, Jennifer; Bernhardt, Sarah P.

doi:10.1016/j.marpol.2017.10.011

Cited by 7 publications

(5 citation statements)

References 5 publications

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“…The PRE drains a 35 km 2 watershed, of which 35% is classified as developed, and it supports a variety of diverse estuarine habitats, including eelgrass beds, estuarine channels, tidal mudflats, and salt marsh. Water column salinity ranges from 24 to 27‰ ( Greening et al, 2018 ). Based on this study, we found the average diurnal range of tide to be 0.43 m at our research sites.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Runnels mitigate marsh drowning in microtidal salt marshes

Watson

Ferguson

Champlin

et al. 2022

Front. Environ. Sci.

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As a symptom of accelerated sea level rise and historic impacts to tidal hydrology from agricultural and mosquito control activities, coastal marshes in the Northeastern U.S. are experiencing conversion to open water through edge loss, widening and headward erosion of tidal channels, and the formation and expansion of interior ponds. These interior ponds often form in high elevation marsh, confounding the notion applied in predictive modeling that salt marshes convert to open water when elevation falls below a critical surface inundation threshold. The installation of tidal channel extension features, or runnels, is a technique that has been implemented to reduce water levels and permit vegetation reestablishment in drowning coastal marshes, although there are limited data available to recommend its advisability. We report on 5 years of vegetation and hydrologic monitoring of two locations where a total of 600-m of shallow (0.15–0.30-m in diameter and depth) runnels were installed in 2015 and 2016 to enhance drainage, in the Pettaquamscutt River Estuary, in southern Rhode Island, United States. Results from this Before-After Control-Impact (BACI) designed study found that runnel installation successfully promoted plant recolonization, although runnels did not consistently promote increases in high marsh species presence or diversity. Runnels reduced the groundwater table (by 0.07–0.12 m), and at one location, the groundwater table experienced a 2-fold increase in the fraction of the in-channel tidal range that was observed in the marsh water table. We suggest that restoration of tidal hydrology through runnel installation holds promise as a tool to encourage revegetation and extend the lifespan of drowning coastal marshes where interior ponds are expanding. In addition, our study highlights the importance of considering the rising groundwater table as an important factor in marsh drowning due to expanding interior ponds found on the marsh platform.

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Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Runnels mitigate marsh drowning in microtidal salt marshes

Watson

Ferguson

Champlin

et al. 2022

Front. Environ. Sci.

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“…The creation of linkages for cooperation and mutual accountability at both local and higher levels can support achieving appropriate governance models [12]. Leadership by a dedicated management agency and a bottom-up collaborative process are also seen as important factors [38,51].…”

Section: A Literature Review On Estuary Governancementioning

confidence: 99%

Governance for Sustainability of Estuarine Areas—Assessing Alternative Models Using the Case of Ria de Aveiro, Portugal

Fidélis

Teles

Roebeling

et al. 2019

Water

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Estuaries are one of the most productive and complex types of ecosystems supporting a wide range of economic activities. Departing from a set of governance problems and emergent goals, such as sustainability or climate change adaptation faced by an estuarine case study area, Ria de Aveiro, in Portugal, this article assesses the adequacy of alternative governance models under the existing water resources legal framework and traditional political culture. It shows that apart from the centrally-based compliance model, all other alternatives require high degrees of institutional reforms. Moreover, although the model based on a dedicated new agency, long preferred by many users of Ria de Aveiro, is the most understandable and focused, it does not assure the pursuance of adaptability or collaboration, which are considered essential for estuary governance. As it relies on collective action and multi-level and multi-agent contexts, estuarine governance may require a new institutional design. Where one begins a process of institutional change, however, is not a simple issue to address and demands a deeper analysis, particularly on the types of required institutional changes, as well as on their impacts on policy and decision-making outcomes over estuarine environments and associated socio-ecological networks.

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“…Modeled after the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's (USEPA) Great Lakes and Chesapeake Bay programs, the National Estuary Program (NEP) was designed to protect and restore the water quality and ecological integrity of the estuaries of national significance (Martin, 2014;DeAngelis et al, 2020). As called for in Section 320 of the Clean Water Act, the NEPs conduct long-term planning and management to address the complex factors that contribute to the deterioration of estuaries, such as increasing development along the coast (Greening et al, 2018). The EPA periodically calls for nominations into the NEP from state governors.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Along the Gulf of Mexico, there are seven NEPs located in the following states: Texas, Louisiana, Alabama, and Florida (Greening et al, 2018). The Laguna Madre is located on the Texas coast, and it is the largest estuary and the southernmost.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Collaborative Environmental Approach for Development of the Lower Laguna Madre Estuary Program Strategic Plan in South Texas

Guerrero¹,

Mahmoud²,

Alam³

et al. 2022

J ENVIRON INFORM LET

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The National Estuary Program (NEP) is a promising eco-system based approach to improve the water quality and ecological integrity of estuaries of national importance in the United States. Due to population growth and concomitant development pressure in South Texas, the future of the Lower Laguna Madre (LLM) without an estuary program is problematic. The development of a management plan for the LLM will enable the region to develop local solutions to local problems. The fundamental purpose of this research was to develop a strategic plan for the foundation of the Laguna Madre Estuary Program of the Gulf Coast of Texas. The comprehensive plan provided local communities with information to restore water quality, conversing habitat, and protecting coastal resources along the Gulf coast. The strategic plan was organized along the lines of the NEP program focused on the three most important foundational elements to establish a NEP for the LLM. The three primary Thrust Areas are as follows: (1) the national significance of the Laguna Madre estuary system, (2) the needs and goals for a proposed program, and finally (3) the plan for the sustainability and support to operate and maintain such a NEP. The outcomes of the strategic plan can be used as a model by the decision-makers to promote community resilience and establish integrated local water quality and ecosystem management plans for their respective communities and jurisdictions. Ultimately, the main objective of this project is to assess the ability to integrate science and public policy development for the common good.

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Local implementation of a national program: The National Estuary Program response following the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico

Cited by 7 publications

References 5 publications

Runnels mitigate marsh drowning in microtidal salt marshes

Runnels mitigate marsh drowning in microtidal salt marshes

Governance for Sustainability of Estuarine Areas—Assessing Alternative Models Using the Case of Ria de Aveiro, Portugal

Collaborative Environmental Approach for Development of the Lower Laguna Madre Estuary Program Strategic Plan in South Texas

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