I am an environmental science major at Wesleyan University. As part of my Introduction to Environmental Studies class, I am writing to you with regards to the state of the Great Bay estuary.
I have seen the decline of the Great Bay first hand. Mud flats have replaced my childhood memories of boating through eelgrass.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has identified nitrogen as a primary culprit for the decline of the estuary's ecosystem. The ripple effect of nitrogen on marine ecosystems is well documented, but successful remediation efforts are hard to achieve. Nitrogen is not the sole contributor to the decline of Great Bay. Decreasing levels of nitrogen inflow would help, but it would not by itself bring the Great Bay back to its previous level of health. It is important to try to revive Great Bay through a holistic approach.
A balanced approach with improvements to the way we handle wastewater, storm water and human-produced contaminants is needed. The EPA can only influence the health of Great Bay through the permitting of wastewater treatment plants, but town incentives such as a rebate for decreased treatment demand could be equally effective. It is also important that there be a consensus among the towns in the watershed to try and mitigate this problem.
Storm water management is critically......CONTINUED
