This Topic: What Happened to the Eel Grass ?

[Gerry Rawlings]

A lot of discussion has gone on about testing the waters of Holmes Harbor for the possible sources of pollution with no definite results stated to date by the Island County Authorities, however I thought you all might be interested to know that the Eel Grass at the Southern End of Holmes Harbor is now completely gone.

In the past many years and until now the grass was thick on the southwest side of the harbor. While kayaking the past two days I could see all the way to the bottom, 30 feet or so, with nothing but silt to look at. What has eliminated the eel grass?

It used to be a problem to cast a fishing line from the shore and not get caught up in the eel grass. Now there is none to contend with. I wonder what other sea life has disappeared ? I haven't examined the buoys but mine doesn't appear to have the mussels that it used to have in the past years.

I hope the departments of ecology and fisheries can answer my question of "where has the eel grass gone"?

Gerry Rawlings

[Nancy Bartlett]

Hi Gerry,

Earlier this summer I posted this in another spot on the forum. This is a huge hot button issue for me and I'm glad others are interested too.

You know that lovely red stuff that floats on the harbor and stinks to high heaven? That's a big part of the problem and it needs to be addressed or it's going to get worse. After the smell this last week I've begun to wonder if the fumes will become toxic to breathe, it's happened on an island in Florida where residents have to evacuate at certain times. I've done some research, some of which appears below. I'd like to get together with others and discuss what can be done.
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An interesting note - my son went snorkeling the other day and came back saying all the eel grass is gone. He also said he saw 3 dead kelp crabs - 3 in one day - while he used to go months without seeing any, alive or dead, perhaps because they had eel grass to hide in. We used to have kelp too. Now nothing.

I looked up what's going on with eel grass replanting projects and found that some appear to be successful and some not, but all eel grass is susceptible to smothering by algae blooms. The blooms here have gotten worse and worse over the last few years. Apparently it's fed by "eutrophication" or chemicals in our runoff.

"Eutrophication is a process whereby water bodies, such as lakes, estuaries, or slow-moving streams receive excess nutrients that stimulate excessive plant growth (algae, periphyton attached algae, and nuisance plants weeds). This enhanced plant growth, often called an algal bloom, reduces dissolved oxygen in the water when dead plant material decomposes and can cause other organisms to die. Nutrients can come from many sources, such as fertilizers applied to agricultural fields, golf courses, and suburban lawns; deposition of nitrogen from the atmosphere; erosion of soil containing nutrients; and sewage treatment plant discharges. "
http://toxics.usgs.gov/definitions/eutrophication.html

"There is a growing awareness that eutrophication may play a major role in producing macroalgal blooms that have significant negative impacts on eelgrass. (Thom and others 1998; Frankenstein 2000). Concerns focus on the increasing fragmentation of eelgrass beds due to macroalgal smothering of eelgrass. This concern is global in nature (Short and Echeverria 2000)"
http://www.psat.wa.gov/Publications/01_proceedings/sessions/oral/7b_thom.pdf
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Nancy Bartlett

[Gerry Rawlings]

Thanks for the info Nancy, we have certainly had our share of bloom this year, and substantially worse than previous years. It used to come earlier also, like in July around the 4th, but not so concentrated. This year it was really thick and came much later.

I'll talk about the bloom and the smothering of the eel grass, but it could be that the continuous warm weather we've had thus far this summer has something to do with it also.

Gerry

[Gerry Rawlings]

After thinking about this bloom vs the dissapearance of the eel grass, I disagree. We've had the eel grass ever since we moved here in 1978 and we've had bloom every year since and the eel grass certainly survived all that time. I think something else has happened that has poisoned the eel grass. Perhaps unfiltered runoff from the storm sewers that have been installed around the southend of the harbor. I don't know, but perhaps the ecology department at the state can throw some light on the answer?

Gerry

[Nancy Bartlett]

Hi Gerry,

It's all related I think. The nutrients that feed the bloom come from run off which is worse and worse as more people put in gardens and fertilize them etc etc. The eel grass has been dwindling for years and now we've reached crisis point.

As the wind blows from the north all summer I think we get the most bloom here at the south end because it drifts down but I think the whole harbor is affected.

I'm hoping to find an agency that can either conduct some testing of areas of the harbor or give guidance to a citizen science group to do it. I'm a member of Beach Watchers and am looking into starting a project to do so.

A related problem is the lack of birds. Remember how they used to line up all the way across the harbor? The looked like a dotted line, something from a Gary Larson cartoon with God saying "tear here." Remember that squeaky sound as flocks of them took off from the surface of the water? It used to be constant, I haven't heard it once this year. I think that too is due to no eel grass, which is where their food used to live.

Whatever the reason I think HH is close to becoming a dead zone if we don't do something.

Nancy

[Jerry Hill]

Hi Gerry & Nancy,

I am also concerned about Holmes Harbor and the health off our sound.
I noticed a new program, announced in a article of the Sunday paper, the state has a fund to help home owners with failing septic systems in critical areas like this. They will help to pay to replace the home owners system to eliminate the pollution source.

I had also wondered why the map designated as the area in Freeland to watch for contributing pollution in Holmes Harbor incircled but did not include the land with the horses on East Harbor Rd.

It also seems to me that besides taking water samples for testing that sediment samples should also be tested, but aren't.

Thanks, Jerry Hill

[Nancy Bartlett]

Hi Gerry and Jerry,

I've contacted interested parties at both Beach Watchers and Shore Stewards and they were both very encouraging. They've given me a bunch of contacts at the county, the University of Washington and the state.

There's a study going on in Penn Cove about this issue, and there may be some data available from the Shellfish district efforts as well. I'll be calling these folks in the next few days.

[Anne Pringle]

There has been a vessel moving about the lower end of Holmes Harbor for a couple of days, staying in one spot for awhile, with a float off the stern. I presume they are doing some kind of testing, and it will be interesting to know what they are learning about the health of these waters.
Of course runoff from fertilizers does increase algae bloom, but there are other factors at work here - the increase in intense development along both sides of Holmes Harbor, (in addition to the stormwater drains from Freeland Village, and the increased traffic there), has surely hastened the deterioration of the habitat in lower Holmes Harbor.
It is important that we prevail upon our commissioners to change the new zoning present in the Freeland SubArea Plan as regards the Freeland Ridge, 40 or so acres of which, according to The Plan if it is adopted, will allow up to ninety homes along that ridge (all the way from uphill behind the library to the back of Whispering Firs, an area already developing rapidly. Imagine ninety homes up there, all draining into Holmes Harbor.
With the forested land now up there (which absorbs moisture) denuded to allow building, the storm run off would be horrendous.
I believe the deteriorating health of lower Holmes Harbor is directly related to the dense development now taking place here.
(Certainly not the two horses on East Harbor Road, who have been here for almost twenty years!)
Anne Pringle

[Michael Dolan]

Anne is correct that the current zoning in the Freeland Sub Area Plan for the two ten acre parcels above the library could add another 90 dwelling units.

One point to remember though, none of the changes in zoning can be implemented unless the development is served by sewers. Without sewer service to those two parcels they can only develop at current density zoning which is still Rural Residential or one house per five acres or an additional four houses.

I signed Mitch Streichers petition because there are other issues that need to be addressed such as appropriate ingress and egress, traffic congestion, emergency vehicle access, surface water runnoff, management of the steep slopes surrounding the properties and protection of properties below the parcels in question.

In and of itself, the 90 potential units that could be developed is not the issue - the issue is addressing all the impacts of that level of development so that the needs and concerns of all affected people are addressed to mutual satisfaction. After all some of the units could be low income apartments dedicated to affordable housing for sevice employees and that is a potential benefit to the community. There could be clustered development along with condos to reduce the development footprint while retaining more open space for community enjoyment. I'm not advocating, merely pointing out that the issue is more complex than just another 90 houses.

One last question, does anyone really expect the county to provide adequate implementation and management of the Freeland Sub Area Plan with their currently limited personnel resources? Or will issues like these be better addressed through local input to a local city government?

Think about it.

[Lou Malzone]

Mike is the President of the Vision 2025 Committee and if this is part of his personal vision for Freeland then he should say so. I do not share that view and I do not believe that it is shared by the majority of the people on the Vision 2025 Committee. His statement cannot be made as a statement representing the Vision 2025 Committee as a body. By a majority of 2.5 to 1, the members of the Freeland Sub Area Planning Committee signed the petition to reduce the zoning on Freeland Hill to Rural Estate. Over 130 people have signed the petition. There is no room in the petition for grey-area arguments such as Mike presented for developing the Hill. It is a black and white petition. It was a major mistake to zone the Hill as Medium Density. I respect the work Mike has done for the Committee, but he is way off base on this.

The parcels Mike refers to are to be zoned Medium Density. Apartments are defined in the Goals and Policies for High Density. Medium Density is defined for single family and duplex, triplex, and clustered housing. Only High Density is designated for apartments in the Freeland Sub Area Plan.

As a matter of fact, there is no GMA reason to develop the Hill at all. No GMA requirement dictates that the Hill needs Medium or even Low density to meet GMA population requirements. Even the County consultant says so in the documents they prepared. Developing Freeland Hill will dramatically and adversely alter Freeland character. The 90 potential units that could be developed on the Hill ARE THE ISSUE. Addressing the "impacts" is akin to saying that we can grow ourselves out of problems we introduce. This never happens. We are talking about the quality of life of the people directly in the path of the impacts of developing Freeland Hill.

Before we start a discussion on apartments, low income apartments, and "mutual satisfaction" let's understand the goals and policies of the Sub Area Plan. I live below Feeland Hill, as do Ann and Mitch, and none of us will ever achieve "mutual satisfaction" with 60-90 units on Freeland Hill. Mutual satisfaction is not a term in the County code nor will it be a term in any Freeland city code. There already drainage issues, etc. etc. etc.

Mike's "one last question" can apply equally to a new government in an incorporated Freeland. There are no guarantees that a Freeland government will be any improvement over the County government. Mike lives outside the NMUGA boundary and will not be part of the Freeland government as a city. The most important item he stated is that we need plenty of local input. That input needs to be delivered to the County, on August 28th.

Please attend the meeting on the 28th and let the County know what you are thinking.

[Jerry Hill]

Gee Ann,
Kind of sensitive about talking about all possibilities. I had just wondered why all possible contributors to the pollution problem weren't being looked into. It did seem odd to me that the study area just circled around that land, but it might not have anything to do with run off from surface water, maybe it's failing septic systems, like in Hood Canal?
What ever it is isn't as important as finding out and coming together and fixing it.

Thanks for listening, Jerry Hill

[Gus Parlier]

I agree with Jerry. The tax parcels that lie south of the closure boundary and east of Honeymoon Bay Rd or west of East Harbor should certainly be looked at as potential sources of eutrophication or septic failure. Certainly they are part of the drainage into the closure area.
As noted by other writers, the problems with our harbor go way beyond just the fecal coliform shellfish closure problem. There is a very noticeable red algae bloom occurring in the harbor adjacent to the Holmes Harbor Golf Course and development at the present time. Is there perhaps also a fecal coliform problem there that hasn't been detected?

[leanne finlay]

Hasn't there been studies nationally as well as locally regarding pollution improvements with sewer systems in place, vs. septic systems?

We certainly learned a lot in the 1960's when Lake Washington was so polluted we were not allowed to swim there.

Are there studies correlating whether there are any modern septic systems that are as good at preventative maintenance ie: not causing groundwater pollution as a sewer system can be?

I'm curious. With the news finally out about the cost of sewers, it seems that data that already exists must have come into play regarding the decision to investigate sewers. I just haven't seen all of it.

And, it's also my opinion, both as a property owner in Freeland, and as someone who demands we move faster in cleaning up both Holmes Harbor and Puget Sound, that sewers are better, but I'd like to see some type of studies/evidence of same.

I also am not too worried about the costs of sewer, $15 million sounds like a ton of money, and it is, but if we join together, we can find a way to find more funding so that sewers can be affordable if they really are as key as I believe likely.