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Stewardship at Padilla Bay NERR, WA
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Mission
The stewardship program at Padilla Bay strives to protect natural resources within the Reserve and to work with others to track and protect natural resources within the watershed. SWMP data, GIS, and research results help us track changes in the Reserve. Education, whether offered through our education or stewardship sectors or the Coastal Training Program, informs citizens and helps to change behaviors impacting natural resources.
Priority Topics
Water Quality
As development continues in this once rural area, the Reserve faces possible impacts to water quality. One of the impacts is demonstrated by the closure of a shellfish bed at Bay View State Park due to bacterial contamination, thought to be a result of failing septic systems in Bay View. The failure is due to aging systems and/or poor maintenance. The Skagit County Health Department has been educating rural communities deemed to be the source of high fecal coliform counts through a program that teaches residents about septic systems, how they function, and how to keep them in good working order. They have also offered incentives, such as a discount on septic tank pumping and discounts on installation of risers, so it’s easier to maintain and pump the tanks.
Part of Bay View Ridge is an Urban Growth Area and development continues on other parts of the ridge as well. New business and industrial development continues at the Port of Skagit County and new homes tend to be built in higher densities than in the past. With these changes, we may see an increase in pesticides and nutrients in the bay. GIS can help us track land use changes in Padilla Bay’s watershed and the Samish and Skagit River watersheds. A group of volunteers (Storm Team) collected water samples from stormwater culverts and tested those samples for fecal coliform last winter. More sampling of these storm events and point discharge locations will help us track problem source locations. SWMP monitors nutrients and helps us track change.
Tracking Change
Diking in the Skagit Valley destroyed 80-90 percent of the marshes in the Skagit and Samish River deltas. Only a small amount of fringing salt marsh remains and Padilla Bay appears to be an erosional environment, so we continue to lose salt marsh habitat. GIS can help us track changes in areal extent of salt marshes. Annual documentation of salt marsh plants and percent cover of those plants can also help us track change, whether it is due to changing climate, rising sea level or other factors.
Invasive Species and Biodiversity
Biodiversity helps ecological systems remain stable. Species introductions have occurred throughout history, whether by animals, ocean currents, or humans. It is when a species becomes invasive and dominant that biodiversity is threatened.
Most of the marine invasive species that we have were introduced with oyster culture (both Atlantic and Pacific oysters), starting in the 1930s before shell was certified. We have Japanese eelgrass (Zostera japonica), a Japanese mud snail (Batillaria attramentaria), oyster drills, the Atlantic soft-shell clam (Mya arenaria), and a slipper shell (Crepidula spp.) among others. Our native oyster populations (Ostrea lurida) collapsed due to over harvesting in the early 1900s. A non-profit organization is pushing to re-establish native populations throughout Puget Sound as is the local Skagit Marine Resources Committee (through the Northwest Straits Commission).
Two species of Spartina (salt marsh grass) were introduced here. Spartina alterniflora was planted at the south end of the bay in the 1940s and Spartina anglica was planted about 30 miles south along Camano Island and has since spread to areas north and south of that original planting. We survey for and do control of both species every year. They are Class A noxious weeds in this state and county and as such, must be eradicated.
We monitor six months a year for invasive crabs. The two most likely invaders here are thought to be the European green crab (Carcinus maenas) and the Chinese mitten crab (Eriocheir sinensis). The program commenced in 2001 and no invasive crab have been found to date. Newer arrivals include the purple varnish clam (Nutallia obscurata), thought to have been a ballast water introduction and, in the uplands, Waxy geranium (Geranium lucidum) is making its presence known.
Last Updated on: Friday, October 16, 2009
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