Natural and Engineered Ocean Inflow Projects to Improve Water Quality Through Increased Exchange
Globally, the health of coastal water bodies continues to be threatened by climate change and mounting anthropogenic pressures related to population increase and associated development. Land use changes have increased the direct runoff of freshwater, nutrients, and other contaminants from watersheds...
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MDPI AG
2024-11-01
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| Series: | Journal of Marine Science and Engineering |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2077-1312/12/11/2047 |
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| author | Benjamin Komita Robert Weaver Nicole McClain Austin Fox |
| author_facet | Benjamin Komita Robert Weaver Nicole McClain Austin Fox |
| author_sort | Benjamin Komita |
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| description | Globally, the health of coastal water bodies continues to be threatened by climate change and mounting anthropogenic pressures related to population increase and associated development. Land use changes have increased the direct runoff of freshwater, nutrients, and other contaminants from watersheds into coastal systems. Exacerbated by increased temperatures, these changes have contributed to a worldwide decline in seagrass coverage and losses of critical habitat and ecosystem functions. For restricted estuaries and lagoons, the influx of nutrients is particularly damaging due to high water residence times and impaired flushing. The result is eutrophication and associated declines in water quality and ecosystem function. To mitigate degraded water quality, engineered ocean–estuary exchanges have been carried out and studied with examples in Australia, New Zealand, India, Denmark, the Netherlands, Portugal, and the United States of America. Based on successes including decreased nutrient concentrations, turbidity, and chlorophyll and increased faunal abundance in some past studies, this option is considered as a management tool for combatting worsening water quality in other estuaries including the Indian River Lagoon, a subtropical, lagoon-type estuary on the central east coast of Florida, USA. Decreased residence times, lower nutrients, higher dissolved oxygen (DO), higher salinity, lower temperature, and lower turbidity all combine for improved ecosystem health. In this review, the successes and failures of past projects intended to increase ocean–estuary exchanges, including biological and geochemical processes that contributed to observed outcomes, are evaluated. The primary indicators of water quality considered in this review include nutrient contents (e.g., nitrogen and phosphorus) and dissolved oxygen levels. Secondary indicators include changes in temperature and salinity pre- and post- engineering as well as turbidity, which can also impact seagrass growth and overall ecosystem health. Each of the sites investigated recorded improvements in water quality, though some were more pronounced and occurred over shorter time scales. Overall, enhanced ocean exchange in restricted, impaired water bodies resulted in system-specific response trajectories, with many experiencing a net positive outcome with respect to water quality and ecosystem health. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-c7c8013ad2df4db3a154f10d4e961259 |
| institution | OA Journals |
| issn | 2077-1312 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2024-11-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
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| series | Journal of Marine Science and Engineering |
| spelling | doaj-art-c7c8013ad2df4db3a154f10d4e9612592025-08-20T01:54:02ZengMDPI AGJournal of Marine Science and Engineering2077-13122024-11-011211204710.3390/jmse12112047Natural and Engineered Ocean Inflow Projects to Improve Water Quality Through Increased ExchangeBenjamin Komita0Robert Weaver1Nicole McClain2Austin Fox3Department of Ocean Engineering & Marine Sciences, Florida Institute of Technology, Melbourne, FL 32901, USADepartment of Ocean Engineering & Marine Sciences, Florida Institute of Technology, Melbourne, FL 32901, USADepartment of Ocean Engineering & Marine Sciences, Florida Institute of Technology, Melbourne, FL 32901, USADepartment of Ocean Engineering & Marine Sciences, Florida Institute of Technology, Melbourne, FL 32901, USAGlobally, the health of coastal water bodies continues to be threatened by climate change and mounting anthropogenic pressures related to population increase and associated development. Land use changes have increased the direct runoff of freshwater, nutrients, and other contaminants from watersheds into coastal systems. Exacerbated by increased temperatures, these changes have contributed to a worldwide decline in seagrass coverage and losses of critical habitat and ecosystem functions. For restricted estuaries and lagoons, the influx of nutrients is particularly damaging due to high water residence times and impaired flushing. The result is eutrophication and associated declines in water quality and ecosystem function. To mitigate degraded water quality, engineered ocean–estuary exchanges have been carried out and studied with examples in Australia, New Zealand, India, Denmark, the Netherlands, Portugal, and the United States of America. Based on successes including decreased nutrient concentrations, turbidity, and chlorophyll and increased faunal abundance in some past studies, this option is considered as a management tool for combatting worsening water quality in other estuaries including the Indian River Lagoon, a subtropical, lagoon-type estuary on the central east coast of Florida, USA. Decreased residence times, lower nutrients, higher dissolved oxygen (DO), higher salinity, lower temperature, and lower turbidity all combine for improved ecosystem health. In this review, the successes and failures of past projects intended to increase ocean–estuary exchanges, including biological and geochemical processes that contributed to observed outcomes, are evaluated. The primary indicators of water quality considered in this review include nutrient contents (e.g., nitrogen and phosphorus) and dissolved oxygen levels. Secondary indicators include changes in temperature and salinity pre- and post- engineering as well as turbidity, which can also impact seagrass growth and overall ecosystem health. Each of the sites investigated recorded improvements in water quality, though some were more pronounced and occurred over shorter time scales. Overall, enhanced ocean exchange in restricted, impaired water bodies resulted in system-specific response trajectories, with many experiencing a net positive outcome with respect to water quality and ecosystem health.https://www.mdpi.com/2077-1312/12/11/2047eutrophicationinflowflushingresidence timesestuarylagoon |
| spellingShingle | Benjamin Komita Robert Weaver Nicole McClain Austin Fox Natural and Engineered Ocean Inflow Projects to Improve Water Quality Through Increased Exchange Journal of Marine Science and Engineering eutrophication inflow flushing residence times estuary lagoon |
| title | Natural and Engineered Ocean Inflow Projects to Improve Water Quality Through Increased Exchange |
| title_full | Natural and Engineered Ocean Inflow Projects to Improve Water Quality Through Increased Exchange |
| title_fullStr | Natural and Engineered Ocean Inflow Projects to Improve Water Quality Through Increased Exchange |
| title_full_unstemmed | Natural and Engineered Ocean Inflow Projects to Improve Water Quality Through Increased Exchange |
| title_short | Natural and Engineered Ocean Inflow Projects to Improve Water Quality Through Increased Exchange |
| title_sort | natural and engineered ocean inflow projects to improve water quality through increased exchange |
| topic | eutrophication inflow flushing residence times estuary lagoon |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2077-1312/12/11/2047 |
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