Manhattan College Among Organizations To Receive Grant For Projects Aimed At Improving New York And Connecticut Water Quality And Coasts

RIVERDALE, N.Y. – Manhattan College is among several organizations that received grant money that will fund 12 water quality and restoration projects in Long Island Sound and Jamaica Bay. The grants, which amount to nearly $1.6 million for projects and studies in the region over the next four years, were announced on Tuesday, June 5 at the Bronx Zoo.

The $1.6 million will be leveraged by $2.1 million raised by the grant recipients themselves towards the projects, providing a total of $3.6 million towards innovative conservation.

Dr. Michael Judge, associate professor of biology at Manhattan College, will lead the project entitled “Numerical Evaluation of Larval Survival in Long Island Sound as Influenced by Exposure to Varying Levels of Dissolved Oxygen.” Dr. Judge will be working in conjunction with HydroQual, Inc., which provides water resource consulting and pollution assessment

The College will receive more than $181,000, including $106,599 from the New York City Department of Environmental Protection, to conduct a study to develop a tool that will improve the long-term survival of fish, shellfish and crabs by allowing resource managers to better determine and manage the amount of nutrients allowed in the open waters of Long Island Sound. The research will look at the different amounts of dissolved oxygen required to sustain juvenile and adult fish and shellfish.

The project will draw upon the College’s expertise in biological sciences and environmental engineering to address the lingering problem of stressed oxygen levels in Long Island Sound attributable to excess nitrogen primarily from sewage treatment plants in New York City, Westchester and Connecticut. An engineering graduate student will work directly with Judge to determine how best to upgrade computer models of water quality in the Sound by adding information about how larval species move around areas of low dissolved oxygen.

“The dynamic nature of the tidal flows in Long Island Sound when coupled with the variations in dissolved oxygen levels call for added complexity of fishery models,” says Judge. “We expect to produce biologically realistic water quality criteria by including explicit larval behaviors into our simulations,” Judge says.

Among other benefits, the project will improve on the ability to pinpoint and protect important spawning habitat and to tailor nutrient reduction goals to improve propagation of fish and shellfish.

The source of the funds is the Dissolved Oxygen Environmental Benefit Fund for the Western Long Island Sound and Jamaica Bay, which is designed to support restoration and water quality projects that reduce pollution, particularly nitrogen, threatening the health and living resources of these estuaries.

“Long Island Sound and Jamaica Bay are two priority areas for ecosystem restoration and enhancement in New York State,” says Pete Grannis, commissioner of the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation. “While we have made great strides with our partners to improve these areas, there is still much more to accomplish. The 12 projects announced will incrementally improve the habitats and our knowledge base for these areas and for the future of these resources.”

In addition to Manhattan College, other organizations that received grants toward habitat restoration projects include the Westchester County Department of Planning, New York City Parks & Recreation, the Connecticut Fund for the Environment, and Columbia University.

Contributing to the funds for all 12 projects are the Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection, Long Island Soundkeeper, New York City Department of Environmental Protection, New York/New Jersey Baykeeper, New York State Department of Environmental Conservation, and the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey.

Founded in 1853, Manhattan College is an independent, Catholic, coeducational institution of higher learning offering more than 40 major programs of undergraduate study in the areas of arts, business, education, engineering and science, along with graduate programs in education and engineering. For more information about Manhattan College, visit www.manhattan.edu.