Estuario Weekly Update
An estuarine greeting! Below, we share the collaboration, volunteering and capacity building opportunities for this week, in benefit of the ecosystems and communitites of the San Juan Bay Estuary.
Family Day at the Condado Lagoon
Come to the Estuario Family Day! Join us at the Jaime Benitez Park of the Condado Lagoon Natural Estuarine Reserve on Saturday, October 5, 2024, starting at 3:00 p.m. We will have the following activities:
[3:00 p.m.] Sports activity
[4:30 p.m.] Interpretive hike through the Reserve (with Contacto Verde hours)
[5:30 p.m.] Trivia: the bats of Puerto Rico (with Contacto Verde hours)
[6:30 p.m.] Reading the story: Canito, el murciélago pescador (with Contacto Verde hours)
[7:00 p.m.] Cine del Estuario Presents: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem
See more information at: estuario.org/eventos.
Closing of the Internship of education and awareness in the management of resources and waste of the SJBE
We thank students Camila Rodriguez, Ailani Ocasio, Jeremy Torres, and Sean Duclerc, who recently completed an internship in the San Juan Bay Estuary Partnershis’s Aquatic Debris area. As part of this effort, they supported the development of a regional platform for education and action with the municipalities of the basin, focused on recycling, reduction and correct disposal of materials.
The students offered 9 workshops throughout the basin (Bayamón, Canóvanas, Cataño, Guaynabo, Loíza, San Juan, Toa Baja and Trujillo Alto and one virtual one during the Estuaries Week). They also supported SJBEP events and activities, such as the most recent International Coastal Cleanup, the Annual Meeting of the Intermunicipal Network of Resources and Waste Management of the basin and activities in celebration of National Estuaries Week. A total of 108 people were impacted, including municipal employees, youth, children and citizens of various estuarine communities. We thank the representatives of the Intermunicipal Network for the management of resources and waste of the basin, who supported the coordination of these workshops in their municipalities.
Below is a note written by a student:
“My name is Camila Rodríguez, participated in the last Education and Awareness Internship. I want to express my deep appreciation for the opportunity to have participated in this internship with the San Juan Bay Estuary, where I specialized in waste management, particularly in the management of used vegetable oil in the municipalities of the Intermunicipal Network and the watershed. This experience not only allowed me to acquire practical knowledge about the environmental challenges in our region, but also gave me the opportunity to directly contribute to sustainable solutions in the management of this waste.
I encourage those interested in environmental issues to consider internship opportunities at this and other nonprofits focused on conservation and sustainability. I thank the Estuario team again for their support, trust and opportunity.”
Documenting biodiversity in the Condado Lagoon
To close National Estuaries Week, on Saturday, September 28, 2024, we conducted a series of biodiversity documentation tours in the Condado Lagoon Natural Estuarine Reserve. The tours included documentation of birds, marine life, vegetation, and land life. We conclude with a tour of documentation of nightlife in the Reserve.
We were accompanied by about 32 participants, who recorded more than 173 different species in about 630 observations. See the catalog of sighted and documented species, HERE.
We thank all those who were part of this celebration, our estuarine citizen scientists and especially the Coquí Project and the Puerto Rico Bat Conservation Program, for their support and validation of the data obtained. Until next time!
The White House and USACE visit the SJBE
On the morning of October 3, Estuario offered a boat tour of the San Jose Lagoon to White House Environmental Quality Council Chair Brenda Mallory, Colonel Charles “Chuck” Decker, of the Caribbean District of the U.S. Corps of Engineers and their respective task forces, accompanied by Corporación Proyecto Enlace.
At the Buena Vista Community Center in Santurce, we were greeted by community leaders to hear about Colonel Decker’s perspective on the importance of involving the community in infrastructure improvement processes and he shared that he sees Puerto Rico as a model of resilience applicable to other tropical regions. Proyecto Enlace presented the efforts of the Caño, Fideicomiso de la Tierra and the G8 to achieve the ecological restoration of the Caño Martin Peña.
The executive director of the Estuario, for her part, reported on its mission and trajectory to achieve resilience in the region. This gave way to the new SJBEP’s Resilience Infrastructure Manager, Lourdes Pérez Medina, to present the canalization reversal project in the Quebrada Juan Mendez and the importance of addressing the problems using nature as a solution.
President Mallory closed the meeting by highlighting that the Caño Martín Peña project is an exemplary effort of integration and citizen participation and congratulated the staff of the Corporación del Caño for the achievements achieved with the communities.
Ecological assessment of seagrasses
On Sunday, September 29, we carried out the most recent field experience of the Coastal Resilience module of the Estuario Certification for Citizen Scientists. The coordinators, Daritzel Cintrón and Agnes Pagán, led 6 citizen scientists in the ecological evaluation of seagrasses in the Condado Lagoon.
We appreciate the environmental commitment of the students, who received certification of Contacto Verde hours for their participation. See the next activities of the Coastal Resilience module, in estuario.org/ccc.
Certification for Citizen Scientists
Below are the upcoming scheduled events.
Water Quality Monitoring Module:
Participatory Bird Census Module:
Coastal Resilience Module:
Employment Opportunities
Technical Support Consultant—The San Juan Bay Estuary Partnership seeks qualified applicants to provide services as a Technical Support Consultant to support Estuario’s water quality monitoring and related efforts through technical support, data management, and visualization.
Communications Consultant (Support)—The San Juan Bay Estuary Partnership is seeking a qualified applicant to support the Communications team and execute the Estuario’s social media strategy by creating graphic design, video, and written content that can be used for other digital platforms.
Part-Time Faculty—The San Juan Bay Estuary Partnership is seeking qualified applications for a part-time faculty contract with a background in civil engineering for the graduate course “Innovative Approaches for a Sustainable Water Infrastructure”.
Green Infrastructure Coordinator (full time staff position)—The Green Infrastructure Coordinator will be responsible for overseeing all projects related to green infrastructure and coastal resilience to support the implementation of the Estuario Plan, also known as the Comprehensive Conservation Management Plan (CCMP).
Community Liaison—The San Juan Bay Estuary Partnership seeks qualified applicants to work as a Community Liaison under the Juan Méndez Creek (JMC) Restoration Project.
Community Facilitator (RFP)—The San Juan Bay Estuary Partnership seeks qualified applicants to provide services as a Community Facilitator in the Juan Méndez Creek (JMC) Restoration Project.
ARTISTA RESIDENTE DEL ESTUARIO—El Artista Residente del Estuario enfocará su propuesta a lo largo de la quebrada Juan Méndez en San Juan, Puerto Rico. Por Artista Residente del Estuario nos referimos a cualquier persona que contenga facultades artísticas y que pueda llevar a cabo el proyecto descrito. El periodo de duración del proyecto es por un año comenzando el 1 de marzo de 2025. Esta solicitud está abierta a todo tipo de expresión artística.
Media coverage
Lumarhi J. Rivera. September 29, 2024. Presentan ideas para proteger las costas. Ambiente hoy. El Nuevo Día. p.38.
Download Your Free Copy—San Juan Bay Estuary: Research History and Opportunities
The San Juan Bay Estuary Partnership is pleased to share the recent publication, San Juan Bay Estuary: Research History and Opportunities; by Ariel E. Lugo and Jorge F. Bauzá Ortega.
This comprehensive document includes valuable information on research conducted in the estuarine system, calling for adding to these observations, findings, and conclusions in potential future research.
To arrange for a paperback pickup, please contact us at 787-725-8165.
Prepare for this Hurricane Season
Get ready for this hurricane season. Download the Estuario Community Hurricane Preparedness Guide and follow its recommendations. The strength and resilience of your community starts at home.
Also visit the Estuario Virtual Community Hub, where you’ll find vital information such as relevant emergency number information and instructions for preparing emergency backpacks.
Don’t get scared! Get prepared.
Weekly Water Quality Monitoring
Evaluation conducted Thursday, October 3, 2024. We have a RED flag for the Condado Lagoon. We recommend avoiding all the regions which exceeded the water quality standard for enterococci of 70CFU/100ML. Remember to avoid the water during rain events.
