Bernardo Vargas-Angel

Culebra LBSP Ridge to Reef Monitoring Program

2024

NOAA Coral Reef Conservation Program; Puerto Rico Department of Natural and Environmental Resources

"This document provides coastal resource managers and practitioners with a suite of recommended metrics and techniques to support the collection of robust monitoring data of land-based sources of pollution (LBSP) stressors, exposure, and habitat responses to assess changes in LBSP impacts on Culebra. It also serves as an anchoring document, linking to a number of monitoring activity and work plan documents related to the project. The NOAA Restoration Center's Strategy for LBSP management addresses the following evaluation questions: (Q1) Did restoration actions reduce the amount of target pollutants (i.e., sediment, nutrients, and/or contaminants) discharged from a restoration site after 1, 3, and/or 5 years after implementation? (Q2) Did restoration actions reduce target pollutant loads into the marine environment after 1, 3, and/or 5 years post- implementation (depending on the site this would be best measured at a stream mouth before entering coastal waters)? This Monitoring Program implements a ridge to reef approach to evaluate performance of LBSP management actions using a Multiple Lines of Evidence approach consisting of: 1.) Monitoring of LBSP stressors that are being managed through NOAA funding including sediment accumulation at unpaved road stabilization projects, water quality monitoring at key points throughout the watershed, and watershed modeling to estimate pollutant loads into the nearshore coastal environment. 2.) Monitoring of LBSP exposure through nearshore water quality and sediment trap monitoring at nearshore fixed stations. 3.) Monitoring of nearshore habitat response that is co-located with the aforementioned nearshore water quality fixed stations and includes data collection via seagrass monitoring transects. These studies are spatially and temporally coordinated and represent the basis of Culebra's Integrated LBSP Monitoring and Evaluation Framework with which to assess changes in LBSP stressors, LBSP exposures, and coastal habitat response. These are key elements to successfully evaluate progress and effectiveness toward achieving NOAA LBSP management goals and outcomes on Culebra."

Puerto Rico, Culebra, watershed, land-based sources of pollution, LBSP, coral reef

NMFS

OHC

FY2024 CRCP Project ID 30033; Project Title: Reducing LBSP threats from unpaved roads on Culebra Island; Principal Investigator: Lisa Vandiver