Topics Overview
Water Quality
Puget Sound is unique in the lower 48 Unites States because of its fjord-like physiography, inland extent, wide range of depths, and urbanized watersheds and shorelines. Limited exchange of seawater between sub-basins within Puget Sound can result in long residence times, potentially increasing the susceptibility of biota to contamination introduced through human activities. The varied habitats within Puget Sound support multiple life history stages of many species, potentially exposing sensitive life stages to contamination. There are multiple water quality concerns in Puget Sound:
- Levels of toxic contaminants in biota that live or feed in Puget Sound.
- The eutrophication of marine waters, producing hypoxic and anoxic regions.
- Wastewater contamination, principally from combined sewer overflows or septic systems
- Harmful algal blooms, which introduce toxins that enter the food web
- Acidification of marine waters, and the adverse ecological effects that result.
Degradation of water quality in Puget Sound occurs through three primary mechanisms. The first is through the introduction of toxic contaminants, primarily comprising manufactured synthetic chemicals, but also including compounds that occur naturally that are concentrated in the local environment to toxic levels via human activities. The second is through human-caused changes in naturally occurring chemicals, compounds, or physical parameters (e.g., temperature, turbidity, nutrients, pH). The third is through introduction of new diseases or pathogens, or through other activities that cause an unnatural increase in disease organisms.
Sources:
Additional Links:
Washington State Department of Ecology: water quality monitoring
Puget Sound Marine Waters 2011 Overview
2012 Review of Available Science for Dissolved Oxygen Impacts in Hood Canal
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Table 30. Species indicators for which targets have been established in Puget Sound and/or Washington state.
|
Species Indicator |
Target |
Achieved |
Reference |
|
Bald eagle |
Equilibrium population abundance is ~6,000 individuals in WA state |
Yes |
[303] |
|
Harbor seal |
Carrying capacity of 10,000-13,000 individuals (WA inland waters) |
Yes |
This section provides a brief summary of existing targets for Puget Sound including those for species, habitats, water quality, and water quantity.
Recently the PSP listed several contaminants of concern for Puget Sound organized into four general categories including toxics, nutrients, pathogens, and other (i.e. deviations in physical/chemical state of a water body; Puget Sound Partnership 2008b). Specific issues related to these categories, including discussions on several chemicals of concern, have been detailed therein and elsewhere (Puget Sound Partnership 2009c). Nutrients and “other,” will be discussed as physical/chemical parameters; toxics as trace inorganic and organic chemicals; pathogens, under the goal Human Health.
In its broadest sense pollution is often thought of as the introduction of unwanted or undesirable substances or conditions into the natural environment. Virtually all pollution types described in this section are unintended consequences of the daily activities of humans – driving cars, heating homes, growing food, building shelter, generating waste, manufacturing goods and so on. A Driver-Pressure-State-Impacts-Response (DPSIR) conceptual model is used here to help organize the complex information that describes these human activities and the pressures they create on the ecosystem (i.e. “Threats”). In addition it can provide context for discussing pollution-harm in the ecosystem and to humans, and the range of possible strategies we might employ to mitigate the threat (Figure 4).
Editors
Scott F. Pearson1, Nathalie Hamel2, Steven Walters3, and John Marzluff3
Section Authors
Introduction: Scott F. Pearson1, Steven Walters3, and Nathalie Hamel2
Climate Change: Heather Cornell3
Residential, Commercial and Industrial Development: Steven Walters3
Shoreline Modification: Steven Walters3
Pollution: James West4
Invasive and Non-native Species: Heather Cornell3
Ecosystem Models and Their Evaluation: Scott F. Pearson1 and Steven Walters3
Conclusion: All authors contributed
Puget Sound is unique in the lower 48 Unites States because of its fjord-like physiography, inland extent, wide range of depths, and urbanized watersheds and shorelines. Limited exchange of seawater between sub-basins within Puget Sound can result in long residence times, potentially increasing the susceptibility of biota to contamination introduced through human activities. The varied habitats within Puget Sound support multiple life history stages of many species, potentially exposing sensitive life stages to contamination. There are multiple water quality concerns in Puget Sound:
Background
Eutrophication of water bodies occurs when high levels of nutrients fuel high rates of primary production and accumulation of algal biomass, either as macroalgae or phytoplankton. Some ecosystems are naturally eutrophic, but in others human activity causes ecosystems to undergo transformations into a eutrophic state. This is termed cultural eutrophication, and is the primary concern in evaluating the status of marine waters of Puget Sound.
Tim Essington1, Terrie Klinger2, Tish Conway-Cranos1,2, Joe Buchanan3, Andy James4, Jessi Kershner1, Ilon Logan2, and Jim West3
1School of Aquatic and Fisheries Science, University of Washington
2School of Marine Affairs, University of Washington
3Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife
4Department of Environmental and Civil Engineering, University of Washington
Phillip S. Levin1, Andy James2, Jessi Kershner3, Sandra O’Neill1, Tessa Francis1, Jameal Samhouri1, Chris Harvey1, Michael T. Brett2, and Daniel Schindler3
1 NOAA Fisheries, Northwest Fisheries Science Center, Seattle, WA.
2 University of Washington, Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering
3 University of Washington, School of Aquatic and Fishery Sciences, Seattle Washington
topical_article
Your daily coffee habit may someday help identify sources of bacterial pollution in Puget Sound. Researchers at the Puget Sound Institute (PSI) are developing a new tool for targeting leaky septic tanks that may have broader implications for studies of emerging contaminants.
A recent summary includes information compiled in Winter 2013 by the modeling workgroup of the Puget Sound Ecosystem Monitoring Program (PSEMP). It describes several ecosystem modeling efforts in the region.
This is the executive summary from a technical report produced for the Puget Sound Nearshore Partnership on Valued Ecosystem Components (VEC). The entire document is included as a PDF with this summary.
Harbor seal numbers were severely reduced in Puget Sound during the first half of the twentieth century by a state-financed population control program. This bounty program ceased in 1960, and in 1972, harbor seals became protected under the federal Marine Mammal Protection Act and by Washington State.
An independent review conducted by the Puget Sound Institute is featured in findings by the Environmental Protection Agency and the Washington State Department of Ecology that there is currently “no compelling evidence” that humans are the cause for recent trends in declines in dissolved oxygen in Hood Canal.
The Puget Sound Marine Waters 2011 report is now available. The report was produced by the Puget Sound Ecosystem Monitoring Program and assesses the condition and quality of the waters of Puget Sound.
Puget Sound Stream Benthos is a data management project which monitors benthic invertebrates in streams and rivers in the Puget Sound region. The system is maintained and operated by King County, and was the result of a joint effort between King, Pierce, and Snohomish Counties.
The following article was part of a pilot project at the Encyclopedia of Puget Sound in which University of Washington undergraduates working with the Burke Museum created localized accounts for two iconic amphibian species of the Puget Sound region: the Northern Red-legged Frog and the Pacific Chorus Frog. The Northern Red-legged Frog is described here relative to its local behavior, habitat, threats and morphology.