2008 Annual Monitoring Report (pdf 10.9MB) - Bolsa Chica ...
2008 Annual Monitoring Report (pdf 10.9MB) - Bolsa Chica ...
2008 Annual Monitoring Report (pdf 10.9MB) - Bolsa Chica ...
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<strong>Bolsa</strong> <strong>Chica</strong> Lowlands Restoration <strong>Monitoring</strong><br />
<strong>2008</strong> <strong>Annual</strong> <strong>Report</strong><br />
The <strong>Monitoring</strong> Plan calls for benthic monitoring to occur again in Years 5 and 10 post-restoration,<br />
with sampling events scheduled for January and July of 2011 and 2016.<br />
WATER QUALITY<br />
Water quality monitoring was conducted in January, April, and July <strong>2008</strong> using both tended and<br />
untended continuous recording instrumentation. The deployed units were programmed to log water<br />
depth, temperature, dissolved oxygen (DO), turbidity, and salinity at 20-minute intervals at two<br />
stations within the FTB, one in at the north end and other at the south end of the basin. Unfortunately,<br />
water quality monitoring in <strong>2008</strong> was severely impacted by repeated instrument failures, which limited<br />
comparisons between stations in several cases.<br />
The water quality conditions observed in the FTB in <strong>2008</strong> showed the tidal marine influence that exists<br />
in the basin, reflecting the daily and monthly tidal fluctuations seen in the open ocean. All parameters<br />
were well within acceptable ranges to support the developing fish, invertebrate, and vegetation<br />
communities, and are indicative of a well-flushed marine environment. On-going physical monitoring<br />
of the condition of the inlet and the flood shoal is important to ensure proper circulation of the basin<br />
and maintenance of good water quality.<br />
In the April and July months, the slow-circulating waters at the northern end of the basin had higher<br />
water temperatures because of increased solar heating. The better circulated waters of the southern<br />
portion of the basin were more influenced by cooler oceanic water, maintaining lower temperatures<br />
during the warmer months. Very little difference in temperature was seen between the two stations<br />
during the January sampling. The FTB closely matched sea surface temperatures in the ocean in the<br />
winter, and had higher temperatures than the ocean in the summer months, a condition typically seen in<br />
other coastal embayments in the region.<br />
Dissolved oxygen levels were within the expected range and reflected the strong influence of diurnal<br />
tidal flow, with DO levels rising and falling with tides as water masses with differing physical and<br />
biotic conditions were exchanged. The condition of the FTB inlet remained suitable to provide enough<br />
tidal circulation throughout the basin to maintain DO levels generally well above 5.5 mg/L, with daily<br />
tidal peaks in the 7.5 to 8.5 mg/L range, even during the warm July month when unhealthy drops in<br />
DO can be observed in poorly circulated systems.<br />
Large gaps in the salinity datasets limited the amount of interpretation that could be done, however the<br />
data available reflected the absence of significant freshwater input into the FTB, with salinities similar<br />
to typical oceanic salinities for most of the year. Turbidity generally ranged between 0 and 15 NTU at<br />
both stations, though interference with the sensor by passing octopus, opisthobranchs, and algae, as<br />
well as laid egg masses, affected the acceptability of some of the data.<br />
The next monitoring is scheduled to occur in Year 5, with sampling events in October 2010, and<br />
January, April, and July 2011.<br />
AVIAN COMMUNITY<br />
Saturation surveys of the avian surveys were conducted in February, April, June, August, October, and<br />
December in <strong>2008</strong>. Diversity ranged from 82 to 114 species per survey and was highest during<br />
December and February. A total of 135 species was observed in <strong>2008</strong>, for a grand total of 145 species<br />
observed since the start of the monitoring period (October 2007 to December <strong>2008</strong>). The number of<br />
Merkel & Associates, Inc. 4