In April, a series of photos circulated via email by environmental activist Kerry Horek caused a stir in Grand Cayman. They pictured some mysterious green blobs floating in the waters of the North Sound.

But rather than being raw sewage from Water Authority sewage treatment plant, the blobs were revealed to be algae blooms. The incident gave the Water Authority and the Department of Environment a chance, via a joint press release, to discuss some of the major problems affecting water quality in the North Sound.

They revealed that data collected from their joint North Sound water quality monitoring programme which kicked off in 2003 based on water samples taken from 13 North Sound locations.  The data are being used to build a long-term database that will allow researchers to track trends and signs of pollution.

The data available in April showed that the quality of the North Sound in areas away from the shoreline was excellent. However, water quality in areas closer to land, especially in the western part of the Sound and around  the mouths of canals, showed signs of pollution as indicated by elevated levels of bacteria, nutrients and chlorophyll-a.

These three pollution indicators tell scientists a lot.

Bacteria in the water is a sign wastewater, otherwise known as sewage, is present. While the Seven Mile Beach corridor is hooked up to the sewage system, much of West Bay, George Town and Bodden Town depend on septic systems to handle wastewater. Many of these aging systems may be leaking their contents into the ground. DoE Deputy Director Tim Austin has commented that due to Cayman’s water table, whatever goes into the ground eventually makes its way into the marine environment.

Nutrients like phosphates and nitrates signal pollution from fertilizers used in landscaping. And when scientists talk about measuring chlorophyll-a in the water, they are measuring the green pigment that is found in algae.

Nutrients and algae are connected, as high nutrient levels in the water foster algae growth. While algae may seem like a good thing to have in the water, too much of it causes major problems for marine ecosystems. It blocks sunlight from travelling to the plants and marine creatures that live on the seabed, and when algae dies and sinks to the bottom, its decaying process starves the water of oxygen, disrupting the ecosystem.

Development has its drawbacks

The Water Authority and the DoE say that rather than placing the blame on a single source, the North Sound’s water quality problems relate to the way Grand Cayman has grown and developed over the past 50 years.

They note pollution leaching from the George Town landfill, the way the Island handles its sewage, poorly planned canal developments, fertiliser-enriched run-off from golf courses and other landscaping, and the effects of recreational use all contribute to the North Sound’s pollution.

In their joint statement, the DoE and Water Authority also pointed to large-scale removal of mangrove wetlands and seagrass on the western side of the North Sound to accommodate development. Removing these natural filters, they said, has hurt the natural ability of the local environment to lessen the impact of pollutants. 

A battle that can still be won

However, the study data also revealed that things aren’t that bad - yet. Study data found that even in the worst affected areas, the levels of bacteria seldom exceed the international standards for bathing water.

Scott Slaybaugh, the Department of Environment’s deputy director for operations and enforcement says the DoE now has pages and pages of additional raw data from those monitoring sites. However, to identify any more recent trends it needs to be analysed and transformed into report documents, which will still take several weeks.

With no conservation law in place, and to date no change in the status of the George Town landfill, the North Sound is in no better shape than it was in April.

However, one change may be around the corner, as the Cayman Islands Government has decided to sell the Water Authority’s public sewage system. The double objective is to generate government revenues, and to kick-start much-needed improvements to Cayman’s sewage management systems.

The undertaking will include expanding and improving the wastewater collection system and construction of a new biological wastewater treatment plant.

As for the other pieces of the puzzle?

Slaybaugh says the April statement continues to be relevant.

“Modification to the natural systems that protect the health of North Sound such as the removal of coastal mangrove, removal of seagrass for channels, excessively deep canals, and sedimentation from excavating channels will all contribute to the further decline of water quality.”