Estuario Weekly Update
An estuarine greeting! Below, you’ll find opportunities for collaboration, volunteering, and training through initiatives and actions scheduled to benefit the ecosystems and communities of the San Juan Bay.
Water Quality Day of Puerto Rico Returns
The largest participatory science event on the island is back! The sixteenth Water Quality Day of Puerto Ricowill be on Saturday, April 15, 2024, from 9:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m.
Water Quality Day participants will collect simple water quality parameters across the island. The information collected will be part of a global database and will provide a snapshot of the state of the island’s waters.
Let your family and friends know, choose a body of water that is important to you, and enroll your group in: estuario.org/diadecalidaddeagua
Family Day at the Condado Lagoon
Starting the morning of Saturday, March 2nd, 36 volunteers conducted a cleanup at the Reserve, removing 253 pounds of solid waste. We thank all the participants, the community group Los Tsunamis, and the administrator of the Jaime Benítez Park, José Ramos, for their support.
Later, about 12 people participated in an outdoor yoga session, with instructor Victoria Bermudez. Thank you, Victoria!
After the yoga session, Coral Avilés and Eliezer Nieves, from our education team, led a group of 43 people on an interpretive tour of the Reserve. During the tour, the group chatted about the ecosystem, its biodiversity and the importance of ensuring the good quality of its waters.
Employment and contract opportunities
Internship Opportunity—Stakeholder Education & Awareness – The San Juan Bay Estuary Partnership (Estuario) seeks university-level interns to raise awareness within municipalities and educate about the importance of correct management of solid/liquid waste, including the impact of incorrect disposal of used oil and other materials on gray infrastructure and the environment.
Request for Proposal—Capacity Building and Facilitation Services – The Capacity Building Services supports Estuario’s role as a regional convener, catalyst, and facilitator to restore and maintain clean waters that support a thriving ecosystem, healthy communities, and vibrant ecosystem in the San Juan Bay Estuary and its urbanized watershed.
Request for Proposals—Recruiting Services – The San Juan Bay Estuary Partnership, or Estuario, requests proposals from qualified individual or firms to provide recruiting services for various open positions (contractor and staff). The selected firm will be responsible for sourcing, screening, and presenting qualified candidates to fill positions in accordance with the Estuario’s internal policies and procedures and other grant requirements.
See more at: estuario.org/empleos
Certification for citizen scientists
Below are the upcoming events. We add more activities regularly. See more at estuario.org/ccc.
March 19 – Field Trip: Ecological Assessment of Coral Reefs; with Coastal Resilience Coordinator, Daritzel Cintrón, from 7:00 a.m. to 10:00 a.m. at Balneario El Escambrón
March 23 – Field trip: planting coastal vegetation with arborist Andreína Alexatos, from 8:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. at Corredor Ecológico del Noreste, Luquillo
March 28 – Introduction to Coastal Resilience Workshop; with Coral Avilés, from 7:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. via Zoom
March 31 – Field Trip: Ecological Assessment of Coral Reefs and Seagrasses; with Daritzel Cintron, from 8:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. at Laguna del Condado
Other activities
On Saturday, February 24th, 22 volunteers, together with collaborators EcoCulture, planted over 900 roosterwood trees (Pterocarpus officinalis) in Corredor Ecológico del Noreste, as part of the coastal resilience module of Estuario’s certification for citizen scientists. We thank all the volunteers who joined us, EcoCulture, Reforesta and the Coalición Pro-Corredor Ecológico del Noreste.
Media coverage
March 1, 2024. Estuario de la Bahía de San Juan exhorta a los contribuyentes a donar a través de su reintegro. Ciencia y Ambiente. El Nuevo Día. Web. https://www.elnuevodia.com/ciencia-ambiente/otros/notas/estuario-de-la-bahia-de-san-juan-exhorta-a-los-contribuyentes-a-donar-a-traves-de-su-reintegro/
Brenda Torres Barreto. March 6, 2024. Acción para proteger nuestras costas. Opinión. El Nuevo Día. p.44.
Support us with your tax refund
By making your individual contribution in 2024, support the Estuary with the refund of your tax return. Look for the option “Contribution to the Special Fund for the San Juan Bay Estuary“, on line 1B of the “Refund” box. Read more, here.
Weekly water quality monitoring
Assessment conducted on Thursday, March 7, 2024. We have a GREEN flag for the Condado Lagoon. However, we recommend avoiding areas that exceeded the Beach Action Value water quality parameter for enterococci of 70 CFU/100 ML. Have a nice weekend!
