Estuario Weekly Update
Estuarine greetings! Below, we share the opportunities for collaboration, volunteering and training for this week, through initiatives and actions in benefit of the ecosystems and communities of the San Juan Bay Estuary.
Collaboration Agreement in benefit of the San Juan Bay Estuary
On Friday, April 12, 2024, the Governor of Puerto Rico, Honorable Pedro Pierluisi, received Estuario in La Fortaleza to sign a Collaboration Agreement between the Government of Puerto Rico and the San Juan Bay Estuary Partnership.
With this agreement, the Government of Puerto Rico ratifies its commitment to the execution of the actions established in the Comprehensive Conservation and Management Plan for the San Juan Bay Estuary, to achieve the restoration of this estuarine system of national importance. Together we will achieve the sustainability of the San Juan metropolitan region and Estuario’s mission to restore and conserve the water quality of the San Juan Bay Estuary ecosystem as a sustainable axis of social and economic development.
We are grateful for the presence of the Secretary of the Department of Natural and Environmental Resources, Honorable Anaís Rodríguez, Secretary of the Department of Transportation and Public Works, Honorable Eileen Vélez, the Director of the EPA Caribbean Region, Carmen Guerrero, the President of the San Juan Bay Estuary Management Conference, Jorge San Miguel, and the members of the Corporation for the Conservation of the San Juan Bay Estuary Board of Directors, specially Friedel Stubbe and Blas Fonalledas, and the team at La Fortaleza. Here’s to thirty more years with collaborative results!
Changes to the Family Day at the Condado Lagoon Natural Estuarine Reserve
Due to the weather forecast for Saturday, May 4 in the Condado area, changes have been made to the itinerary of activities for this month’s Family Day. We will have the following activities:
[3:00] The macramé workshop will now be indoors, at Blue Lagoon, in Jaime Benítez Park (building next to the gazebo).
[4:00] We will now have a yoga class, indoors at Blue Lagoon.
[5:00] Workshop about endemic birds (with Green Contact hours), indoors at Blue Lagoon. The birding tour of the Reserve has been cancelled.
Cine del Estuario Cancelled
Due to the weather forecast for Saturday, May 4, the Cine del Estuario function of Trolls, scheduled for 7:00 p.m. at the Jaime Benitez Park, has been canceled. We will announce a new date for Cine del Estuario soon.
Calling for new Resident Artists
We are excited to announce a new season of Resident Artists at Estuario, for this year 2024, which will be focused on the restoration efforts of the Juan Méndez Creek, in San Juan!
View the call here and apply today. The call is open until May 15, 2024.
Employment Opportunities
Senior Project Lead (Juan Méndez Creek Restoration) – The San Juan Bay Estuary Partnership is seeking qualified applicants for the Senior Project Lead- Juan Méndez Creek position to lead project efforts in coordination with Estuario’s work and its team.
Stakeholder and Engagement Manager – The Stakeholder and Engagement Manager assists the Executive Director and the Management Conference with engagement, educational, and outreach activities.
Accountant – The San Juan Bay Estuary Partnership is seeking qualified applications for an Accountant to join our highly skilled team for projects receiving funding from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.
Economic Valuation Study – Request for Proposals – The San Juan Bay Estuary Partnership is looking to engage a professional consultant(s) to conduct an economic valuation study to determine the current economic value of the natural resources and services in the San Juan Bay Estuary watershed.
Video Production Services—Request for Quote – The San Juan Bay Estuary Partnership, Estuario, is looking to engage a professional consultant(s) to provide video production services to produce a video for the Estuario’s 30th anniversary.
Certification for Citizen Scientists
We continue with the introductory workshops for the modules of Water Quality, Characterization and Reduction of Microplastics, and Coastal Resilience in the next few weeks. See the scheduled events below:
Other activities
Educational tour in the Condado Lagoon
As part of the educational activities at Estuario, on Monday, April 29th, we received the group An Adventure called Homeschool in the Condado Lagoon Natural Estuarine Reserve.
Between an interpretive tour and educational stations, participants and their parents rediscovered the importance of urban forests, water quality monitoring, the responsibility that comes with living in an urbanized watershed, and secrets of our terrestrial and aquatic biodiversity.
Thank you to our estuarine education team: Coral Avilés, Daritzel Cintrón and Eliezer Nieves, for connecting minds and hearts with our estuarine resources.
Weekly water quality monitoring
Evaluation carried out on Thursday, May 2, 2024. We have a RED flag for the Condado Lagoon. Although the geometric mean did not exceed the Beach Action Value Enterococcus parameter of 70 CFU/100 mL, we recommend avoiding water due to the precipitation events that are occurring and approaching for this weekend.
