The dredging projects associated with port expansion in the Western Basin were identified as potentially posing a high level of environmental risk to the marine habitats of the area, particularly to seagrass meadows. A detailed seagrass and light assessment program has been established for the Western Basin project to assist in management of the project to ensure seagrass meadows are appropriately managed during dredging. This program includes a requirement for continued assessment of seagrasses and Benthic Photosynthetically Active Radiation (BPAR) following the end of dredging activities to assess seagrass recovery. These post dredge seagrass and BPAR monitoring requirements are outlined in several conditions and plans connected with the Western Basin Dredging and Disposal Project (WBDDP) and a strategy to meet them was developed and endorsed by the Dredge Technical Reference Panel. This report presents results of the third quarter (May to July 2014) of post dredge monitoring to address BPAR requirements outlined in the "Western Basin Dredging & Disposal Projec t: Water Quality and Seagrass Monitoring Strategy – Post TSHD & completion of dredging in 2013."
In May 2014, BPAR monitoring equipment was also established at additional sites to expand the seagrass and light assessment program to areas most likely to be impacted by dredging associated with the proposed Channel Duplication project. In order to put any changes to seagrasses that occur during the project into perspective it is critical to collect pr e-dredge background information on the natural seasonal and inter annual changes in seagrasses in relation to benthic irradiance at the intended sensitive receptor monitoring sites for as long a period as possible
