毗鄰美國紐約市的牙買加灣,為美國東北部最大、最富生產力的海岸生態之一,範圍涵蓋了紐約大都會區內最大的感潮溼地。美國牙買加灣水域保護計畫諮詢委員會(Jamaica Bay Watershed Protection Plan Advisory Committee)近期對於改善牙買加灣水質與生態的初步建議中,提出了減少並控制該區溼地土壤流失及暴雨逕流的最佳管理方式。
牙買加灣溼地的功用包括防洪和控制海岸線侵蝕,保護海灣周邊布魯克林區和皇后區的住家與商家──有50多萬名紐約人以此為家。但牙買加灣目前卻面臨危機,海灣數千英畝的溼地正不知不覺中逐漸消失。科學家預測以目前的速率,溼地將會在不到20年內完全消失。水質惡劣(這在某些地區仍繼續惡化)對該海灣來說仍是個持續面臨的問題,而且甚至可能導致沼澤的消失。
爲了阻止這些情勢惡化,牙買加灣水域保護計畫諮詢委員會提出最佳管理策略建議方案,以便將土壤流失降到最低,並減少點源與非點源(nonpoint)污染源。
初步的各項建議已在6月29日按照第71號地方自治法(Local Law 71)的規定,送達紐約市議會發言人以及紐約市環境保護局委員會,Local Law 71管轄牙買加灣「河川流域/下水道流域」的流域保護計畫發展。紐約州環境保育局自從1998年起,因為病原體、氮和氧需求等相關水質標準不符,已將牙買加灣列入其303條款的水受損名單中。
紐約州環境保育局的名單將污水溢流(combined sewage overflows,CSOs)、廢水視為損害水體的主要原因。特別是污水溢流被當作牙買加灣下水道在暴雨期間和之後,病菌超過地區標準値的原因。
紐約市環境保護局已針對CSO問題提出一項長期的解決方案,其中還包括降低某些水質檢驗標準的做法。但委員會強烈反對這種「移動球門門柱」的解決方法。
牙買加灣的水域及其支流「可漁可游」的目標不應該改變。該灣値得也需要這樣的實行標準,仰賴、享用這些水資源的社區也是如此。
Best management practices to minimize and control soil erosion and stormwater runoff are at the core of a set of preliminary recommendations for improving the water quality and ecology of Jamaica Bay newly issued by the Jamaica Bay Watershed Protection Plan Advisory Committee. Adjacent to New York City, the bay is one of the largest and most productive coastal ecosystems in the northeastern United States, and includes the largest tidal wetland complex in the New York metropolitan area.
Jamaica Bay's wetlands serve as flood protection and shoreline erosion control for the homes and businesses of the encircling neighborhoods of Brooklyn and Queens, home to more than 500,000 New Yorkers.
But Jamaica Bay is jeopardy. Thousands of acres of the bay's marshlands are mysteriously disappearing. Scientists predict that, at the current rate, the marsh islands will completely vanish in less than 20 years. Poor, and in some places deteriorating, water quality remains a continuing problem for the bay, and may even be spurring the marsh loss.
To stem these losses, the Jamaica Bay Watershed Protection Plan Advisory Committee recommends best management practices to minimize and control soil erosion, and reduce both point and nonpoint source pollution.
These preliminary recommendations were submitted on June 29 to the Speaker of the New York City Council and the Commissioner of the New York City Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) under Local Law 71, which mandates development of a watershed protection plan for the "watershed/sewershed" of Jamaica Bay.
The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) has included Jamaica Bay on its Section 303(d) impaired water list since 1998 because of violations of water quality standards relating to pathogens, nitrogen, and oxygen demand.
DEC's list cites combined sewage overflows (CSOs) and wastewater as the primary causes of the impairment. Specifically, CSOs have been documented as causing localized exceedances of bacterial standards in Jamaica Bay tributaries during and after storm events.
DEP has suggested that a long-term solution to the CSO problem include a weakening of water quality standards for certain waterbodies. The committee strongly discourages this "move the goalposts" approach.
The goal of "fishable and swimmable" water for Jamaica Bay and its tributaries should not be changed. The bay deserves and requires this standard of performance, as do the communities that rely on and enjoy these waterbodies.