Environmental Investment (ENVVEST) Studies to Improve the Environmental Quality of Sinclair and Dyes Inlets, Puget Sound, WA

	Puget Sound Naval Shipyard & Intermediate Maintenance Facility.

The Puget Sound Naval Shipyard & Intermediate Maintenance Facility (PSNSY & IMF), the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the Washington State Department of Ecology (Ecology), and other technical stakeholders are cooperating in an ENVironmental inVESTment (ENVVEST) project to develop and demonstrate alternative strategies for protecting and improving the ecological integrity of Sinclair and Dyes Inlets and their surrounding watershed in the Puget Sound, WA. Project ENVVEST is helping improve environmental quality in Sinclair and Dyes Inlets, WA by developing and demonstrating alternative, long-term, cost-effective strategies for protecting and improving the health of Sinclair and Dyes Inlets and the adjacent watershed.

SSC Pacific is providing technical support and assistance for Project ENVVEST through the Marine Environmental Support Office - Northwest Detachment (MESO-NW) in Bremerton, WA. SSC Pacific environmental scientists are conducting cooperative studies with watershed partners and stakeholders to develop Total Maximum Daily Loads (TMDLs), assess watershed-scale risks, and provide technical data and information to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of the Shipyard's environmental compliance program.

Sampling stations and watershed boundaries used during the bacterial TMDL study for Sinclair and Dyes Inlets. The watershed scale is the appropriate scale to address environmental issues and engage stakeholders (larger view).		Ambient monitoring in Sinclair and Dyes Inlets.

Significant progress has been made on the technical study of fecal coliform bacteria in Sinclair and Dyes Inlets, which has benefited from the collaboration and cooperation of many stakeholders in the watershed. An integrated model consisting of Hydrologic Simulation Program Fortran (HSPF) models for the watershed and Curvilinear Hydrodynamics in 3-Dimensions (CH3D) model for the marine waters was develeped to simulate inputs of bacteria from streams, stormwater outfalls, and combined sewer overflows (CSOs) into the Inlets. Progress has also been achieved sampling stormwater and streams during storm events, determing sources of contamination from the watershed, evaluating copper toxicity in marine waters, and assessing contamination in the sediments of the inlets. In addition, the accumulation of contaminants in the food chain is being assessed by analyzing species of fish and invertebrates from Sinclair Inlet and reference areas in the Puget Sound for metals, polychlorinated biphenyls, and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons. 

	Contents of demersal fish trawl in Sinclair Inlet.
	The watershed (HSPF) and receiving water model (CH3D) for Sinclair and Dyes Inlets, WA.

Applications:

• Puget Sound Naval Shipyard & Intermediate Maintenance Facility Project ENVVEST
• Total Maximum Daily Load Study of Bacteria for Sinclair and Dyes Inlets, WA
• Water and Sediment Quality Data for State of Washington's 303(d) list
  • Fecal Coliform TMDL Study Data set
  • Sinclair Inlet Water Quality Assessment
  • Sinclair-Dyes Metals Verification Study
• Community Advisory Committee

Capabilities:

• Marine Environmental Survey Capability
• Rapid Sediment Characterization
• Benthic Flux Sampling Device
• SSC San Diego Bioassay Laboratory 
• Watershed Modeling 
  • Harbor Estuary Transport Models 
  • Integrated TMDL modeling 
• Database Models/Design 
• Data Management Systems 
• Web Services 
• Comet Assay
• Comprehensive Environmental Assessments

More Information:

• An Integrated Watershed and Receiving Water Model for Fecal Coliform Fate and Transport in Sinclair and Dyes Inlets, Puget Sound, WA, SSC Technical Report 1977 [12.2 MB PDF file]
• SSC Technical Report 1977 Supplemental Documentation
• ENVVEST Spatial Viewer (requires Microsoft® Internet Explorer®)
• ENVVEST 2006 Community Update
• Sinclair/Dyes Inlets Water Quality Improvement Project
• An analysis of microbial pollution in the Sinclair-Dyes Inlet Watershed
• Hydrological Simulation Program-Fortran Modeling of the Sinclair-Dyes Inlet Watershed for the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard and Intermediate Maintenance Facility Environmental Investment Project
• ENVVEST Program Addresses Nonpoint Source Pollution in Watersheds