Va. Beach's Back Bay continues surprising rebound

VIRGINIA BEACH

Back Bay continued its remarkable recovery last year, according to research presented Wednesday, with more underwater grasses growing, fish stocks expanding, and ducks and other waterfowl returning in greater numbers.

Just five years ago, such news was almost unthinkable. Some local environmentalists worried that the shallow estuary wedged against the Atlantic Ocean in southern Virginia Beach might never recover.

But suddenly, conditions began to turn about 2005, experts say. Since then, they have slowly and steadily improved, resulting in more glowing reports Wednesday at the ninth annual Back Bay Forum, a daylong conference that used to be dominated by studies that showed the bay getting sicker and sicker.

The recent turnabout "directly demonstrates how Back Bay is capable of returning to its historic, pristine state," said Todd Barnes, president of the Back Bay Restoration Foundation, an environmental group that sponsors the forums.

Barnes recalled growing up on Back Bay in the 1970s, when fish were plentiful and the water clear, and how the system crashed in the 1980s.

"I caught more bass last year than when I was a kid," Barnes said. "It's just amazing to see the changes."

Scientists and officials cautioned that the bay remains a stressed resource. They said that three of its main tributaries - Nanney Creek, Milldam Creek and West Neck Creek - are polluted with bacteria and are on a state cleanup list.

The city of Virginia Beach has determined that "about 90 percent" of the bacteria comes from animals and pets, said Bill Johnston, an administrator with the city's Department of Public Works.

Johnston said a recovery plan has been drafted that includes outreach efforts to horse farms, public education about the benefits of picking up pet wastes and improving storm water runoff from homes and fields.

The plan, however, has been awaiting approval from state and federal officials for nearly a year. If adopted, Johnston said, the city is prepared to start spending money in pursuit of some of the strategies.

Officials attribute many factors for the recovery: conserving undeveloped lands on the edges of the bay, fewer hog farms, smarter farming practices, more public awareness.

One of the key ecological triggers in Back Bay is underwater grass, also known as submerged aquatic vegetation, or SAV. These plants breathe oxygen into the water, trap sediments, provide habitat for fish and are fodder for thousands of ducks and waterfowl that migrate to Virginia Beach each winter.

The state has tracked SAV trends in Back Bay since the 1950s - before running out of money for the program in the late 1990s. Last year, though, the surveys resumed, and the results echoed what other research had shown: massive recoveries, especially in the northern and southern parts of the bay.

Out of 258 samples taken last year, 58 percent indicated grass growth - the highest percentage since 1996, when SAV beds experienced a short-lived spike, and one of the top performances since the 1970s, said Gary Costanzo, a migratory bird manager at the state Department of Game and Inland Fisheries.

The increase in grass beds has meant an increase in ducks coming to Back Bay, Costanzo said, with more 5,800 birds counted this January. That number, too, was the highest since the 1996 spike.

Scott Harper, (757) 446-2340, scott.harper@pilotonline.com