Eye on the Estuary - by the Morro Bay National Estuary Program

 

2011, 2010, and 2009 Columns

 

 

January, 2011          National Estuary Program Welcomes New Director

 

JThe Morro Bay National Estuary Program welcomes Adrienne Harris as its new program director.  The Estuary Program is a collaborative partnership of local citizens, businesses, government agencies, and non-profits working together to protect and restore the Morro Bay Estuary and watershed.

 

December, 2010       Keeping a Finger on the Pulse

 

Whether slogging through the mud to study eelgrass beds, collecting data on local creeks, or a variety of other tasks around the Morro Bay estuary and its watershed, the volunteers of the Morro Bay National Estuary Program's monitoring program are a dedicated group. These volunteers come from many walks of life, but whether student or retiree, they make an important contribution to help protect a valuable resource.

 

May, 2010                 State of the Bay

 

The Morro Bay Estuary is a 2,300-acre expanse of sheltered waters, tidal marshes, mudflats and seagrass beds not seen again for hundreds of miles up and down the coast. California has lost more than 90% of these habitats, largely due to coastal development, leaving Morro Bay as the most significant wetland system remaining along the south central coast

 

April, 2010                 How Is the Bay?

 

Nearly 90% of California’s wetlands have been lost since 1850, largely due to coastal development. According to the EPA, more than half the nation’s population lives within 100 miles of our coasts. Yet, Morro Bay has remained as one of the last relatively undisturbed wetlands in central and southern California. This area supports a network of wetland habitats, eelgrass beds and freshwater streams, providing refuge for an assortment of plant and animal species ranging from microscopic plankton to the southern sea otter, many of which are endangered species who still survive here.

 

March 2010                 Life Under Water in Morro Bay

 

Estuaries are among the most productive places on earth, providing shelter and food for a surprising number of species. Roughly 80% of the fish we eat spend part of their lives in the sheltered water of an estuary, earning them the nickname ‘Nurseries of the sea.’

 

February, 2010             The Threatened Steelhead Trout

 

The Morro Bay watershed and estuary supported a thriving population of threatened steelhead trout in years past. Restoring the local population of this magnificent ocean-going fish is one of the goals of the Estuary Program as well as a measure of a healthy watershed. It requires work on many fronts including designing bridges and culverts to allow fish to move freely; ensuring healthy riparian, or streamside, vegetation that keeps the creeks cool and supports the aquatic food chain; preventing excess sediment in our streams, which harms juveniles and buries clean spawning gravels; and maintaining the flow of freshwater itself.

 

January, 2010             Riparian Fencing

 

Streams and rivers support a unique and important community of plants that grow along their banks, and those plants in turn provide food and shelter for many animals. This narrow corridor of habitat is called the riparian zone, from the Latin ripa for river bank. Riparian vegetation depends on the water of the stream to sustain it, but it also helps protect the stream in several ways.

 

December, 2009         Rains, the Watershed and Pollution -- Part 2

 

Last month, part one of this article explored watersheds and how geography plays a role in the unfortunate potential for rain to compound water quality problems.

 

This month, in part two, we'll dig deeper into what those pollution threats are and some opportunities to help solve them.

 

November, 2009         Rains, the Watershed and Pollution -- Part 1

 

This rainy season has begun with a real downpour, and it's not even winter yet. The rainfall brought the dusty, dry lower reaches of Chorro Creek back to life, and is more than welcome after back to back drought years. But it's a mixed blessing for everyone concerned with clean water: while the rain falls as pure water, it doesn't stay that way for long after reaching the ground. The clean look and feel of our towns after a good rain comes at a price.

 

October, 2009            Morro Bay's Eelgrass Beds Are Home to a Variety of Local Residents

 

Spread out like grassy meadows on the mudflats at low tide, eelgrass beds comprise approximately 15% of the substrate of the bay. This submerged flowering plant grows throughout the protected shallow sub-tidal areas on the Pacific and Atlantic coasts of the United States and provides a valuable habitat. Eelgrass beds provide shelter and food for juvenile fish, mooring for fish eggs and the primary food source for black brant geese.

 

September, 2009       Marine Debris

 

It's that time again . . . summer is drawing to a close and our beaches and coastline are quieting down after a very busy season. I love the quiet, but I'm always saddened by the high volume of trash left behind. If you've walked the beaches lately, or even just watched the tidal flow in and out of the bay, you're sure to have seen the increase in cans, bottles, and plastics that should have made their way into recycling bins.