The City project has constructed an alternate outfall for the Post Point Pollution Control Plant (PDF) off of Marine Park to allow proper plant operation during high flows. The new outfall pipe impacts a healthy, well-established bed of marine eelgrass that provides habitat for many species of marine fish, crustaceans, and invertebrates. To mitigate this impact some of the eelgrass was transplanted to the Post Point Lagoon.
Post
Point Lagoon is an ideal site in Bellingham Bay to transplant the eelgrass
because the primary factors controlling eelgrass success (e.g. light
availability, temperature, substrate, salinity) at this site closely matched
the conditions of the donor stock (located in Marine Park). To provide the
best chance of eelgrass survival and establishment, the entire lagoon is
temporarily closed to all water use until the transplanted eelgrass is
healthy and well established (estimated to be 3 years).
The temporary lagoon closure will increase the success rate of the eelgrass transplant, reduce ongoing mitigation costs to the city, and will create more habitat for fish, invertebrates, and birds within this unique pocket estuary (PDF).
Post Point Lagoon is one of seven remaining pocket estuaries in Bellingham Bay. The ecological importance of estuarine habitat and its scarcity locally is widely recognized. Features that make pocket estuaries most functional for salmonids include the presence of eelgrass/algae beds, saltwater marsh (including the presence of pickleweed (PDF)), overhanging terrestrial vegetation, the presence of large woody debris, connectivity to other productive nearshore habitats, and a source of freshwater (NES 2006).
Post
Point Lagoon provides current and potential habitat for three species listed
under the federal
Endangered Species Act (chinook, bull trout, steelhead), and for the
recently de-listed Bald Eagle. It is designated as Critical Habitat for
chinook salmon and bull trout by NOAA Fisheries and USFW. It is also home to
the only great Blue Heron Colony (recognized as a Priority Species by WDFW)
within the City of Bellingham.
The City wishes to do its part in protecting and enhancing the remaining natural habitat within city limits. Restoration efforts, completed in early 2008, include improving the shoreline riparian corridor, upper inter-tidal salt marsh, intertidal mud flat, and eelgrass, combining to form a complex interacting mosaic of marine habitats that provide critical rearing and refuge functions for migrating juvenile fish and wildlife.
Phase II of the project will be implemented in the winter of 2008 and involves five elements:
Before (left) and after (right) the installation of large wood debris along
the shoreline.
