TROUBLED WATER OF CONDADO LAGOONS

by Lara López

TWO TEENAGERS ON BICYCLES cross the Dos Hermanos Bridge over the Condado Lagoon in San Juan. Just as they do every Sunday, they leave their bikes on the sidewalk, take off their sandals, and brace themselves for what they are about to do: dive from the bridge into the shallow waters below. They take a deep breath of the salty air and at the count of three shouted over the noise of traffic, take the plunge.

Puerto Rican youth have been jumping off this bridge for decades. Most of them know they must be careful to avoid the rocks; what they don't know, however, is that for years another danger has been threatening them.

Condado Lagoon was once too polluted to swim in. A study done by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in 1971 revealed that this lagoon was the highest in bacteriological pollution in the San Juan Bay Estuary. In addition, the lagoon violated dissolved oxygen standards, had almost three feet of contaminated sediment at its depths, and represented a health threat to Puerto Ricans and tourists who enjoyed swimming in it. Unfortunately, the lagoon continues to be troubled with fecal contamination problems.

In order to evaluate the effectiveness of environmental control programs that have been implemented in the area, University of Puerto Rico, Río Piedras students Mayrení Acevedo Class and Yesika Fernández García carried out a analysis of the water quality and management of Condado Lagoon. This research, presented as a bachelor's thesis for a degree in environmental science, demonstrates how the limnological characteristics of the lagoon have changed. The study revealed that government efforts since the 1940s, the implementation of environmental regulations, and construction of a public sewer system helped improve water quality of the lagoon. But pollution still threatens coastal ecosystems.

Although pollution related to the discharge of sewer water has been reduced and controlled, it is still generated by urban activities and by rain runoff that picks up pollutants on their way to the lagoon. According to Acevedo Class and Fernández García, the Condado Lagoon needs more green area surrounding it to function as a natural filter to reduce the drainage of pollutants.

"The study carried out by Acevedo Class and Fernández García is valuable because it reflects the quality of undergraduate environmental research at the Campus and enables the student body to develop the research skills necessary for graduate school," says Jorge R. Ortiz Zayas, the students' thesis advisor and limnologist from the Institute for Tropical Ecosystem Studies at UPR, RP.

jrortiz@sunites.upr.clu.edu