Water Resources Research Act Program

Principal Investigators: John Barimo, Stanley Latesky

Abstract: The St. Thomas East End Reserve (STEER) is designated as an Areas of Particular Concern by the USVI territorial government due to its proximity to the Turpentine Run watershed and the Bavoni Landfill. STEER was designed to provide refuge to mangrove, seagrass and coral reef resources which include fish nurseries, seabird rookeries and the federally listed elkhorn coral (Acropora palmata). Water quality has been determined to be an overarching issue in the 2010 STEER Management Plan. Our proposed study will examine the contaminant load in stream water and sediments as they approach the estuarine water of the Mangrove Lagoon and Benner Bay. Mass Spectrometer detector (GC/MS) and Inductively Coupled Plasma Spectrometer equipped with a Mass Spectrometer Detector (ICP/MS), housed at UVI, will be utilized to quantify organic (hydrocarbons and pesticides) and inorganic (metals) concentrations in water and sediment samples. This project will provide training for graduate and undergraduate students effectively increasing the territory’s pool of technical personnel capable of water quality analysis. This project would complement efforts by colleagues at the NOAA Center for Coastal Monitoring & Assessment and help foster collaborative efforts between our organizations. Further, all studies within STEER are currently being coordinated and with the STEER Core Planning Team Group whose members are affiliated with the USVI Coastal Zone Management Program, the USVI Division of Fish & Wildlife, The Nature Conservancy and UVI. All data collected in this proposed study will be openly shared with these stakeholders.