Template revised April 12, 2018.
COMMISSION
AGENDA MEMORANDUM
Item No.
8a
ACTION ITEM
Date of Meeting
September 11, 2018
DATE: August 24, 2018
TO: Stephen P. Metruck, Executive Director
FROM: Sandra Kilroy, Director, Maritime Environment & Sustainability
Jon Sloan, Sr. Environmental Program Manager
SUBJECT: Smith Cove Blue Carbon Pilot Project Performance Monitoring
Amount of this request:
$200,000 (Energy & Sustainability Funds)
Total estimated project
cost:
$200,000
ACTION REQUESTED
Request Commission authorization for the Executive Director to commit previously approved
Environment and Sustainability Center of Expertise funds to analyze and evaluate the ecological
performance of the Smith Cove Blue Carbon Pilot Project, in an amount not to exceed
$200,000.
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
This expenditure furthers the Century Agenda Strategy 4: Be the greenest, most energy efficient
Port in North America. In the 2018 budget the Commission directed the Executive Director to
“Allocate no less than $1,000,000 to the Environment and Sustainability Center of Expertise to
implement the Energy and Sustainability Committee Policy Directives as adopted in the first
quarter of 2017 by the Port of Seattle Commission.”
The Committee, in its oversight role, has reviewed the project and recommends the use of the
Energy & Sustainability Funds for the Smith Cove Blue Carbon project. While this authorization
is below the $300,000 threshold required for Commission consideration, the Committee has
requested that these funds be explicitly authorized to provide visibility to the Commission and
public.
The objective of the Smith Cove Blue Carbon Pilot Project is to increase kelp, eelgrass, and
shellfish abundance within an approximately 25-acre area at Smith Cove in northeast Elliott
Bay, west of Pier 91. With successful restoration, the project aims to achieve an increase in
aquatic habitat, improved water quality, and carbon sequestration – storing carbon in the kelp
and eelgrass. The project underway and is planned to be completed in 2019.
COMMISSION AGENDA – Action Item No. 8a Page 2 of 6
Meeting Date: September 11, 2018
Template revised September 22, 2016; format updates October 19, 2016.
The Smith Cove Blue Carbon Pilot Project does not include biological and water quality
monitoring as part of the project budget. This request is for commission authorization to
commit existing Energy and Sustainability Committee funds to analyze and evaluate the
ecological performance of the Smith Cove Blue Carbon Pilot Project. The evaluation would
include measuring improvements in carbon sequestration, water quality, and habitat.
The proposed monitoring, data collection, and analysis project is designed to determine site-
specific results due to kelp, eelgrass, and shellfish improvements in Smith Cove. Data and
analysis may confirm that restoration efforts counteract marine water acidification, increase
carbon sequestration capacity, add beneficial bio-mass in an urban waterway, and enhance
resident and migratory fish and wildlife habitat.
Although the $200,000 request is within the expenditure limits normally delegated to the
Executive Director by virtue of the port’s General Delegation of Authority, direct commission
authorization was recommended by the Energy and Sustainability Committee.
JUSTIFICATION
The Energy and Sustainability Committee, in coordination with staff, agreed upon two
attributes to guide distribution of these funds: 1) that the project leverage matching funds and
in-kind support and 2) to increase partnership opportunities with government, non-
governmental and/or educational institutions. The expenditure of these funds will create a
unique partnership with regional entities that are experienced in managing and measuring
these types of projects. The outcomes of the monitoring, data collection, and analysis of the
Smith Cove project will enable the Port of Seattle to leverage future grant opportunities. The
Committee, in its oversight role, has reviewed the project and recommends the use of the
Energy & Sustainability Funds for the study.
Kelp canopies and eelgrass beds are identified in Puget Sound as keystone habitats providing
critical resources for reproduction, rearing, and migration of numerous fish and wildlife species.
Emerging research has established kelp and eelgrass communities as important “carbon sinks,”
storing as much as a third of a ton of carbon per acre per year. The Smith Cove Blue Carbon
Pilot Project was planned and designed to test the ability to boost carbon sequestration and
related water chemistry benefits, as an initiative to make progress on Long Range Plan
Objective 15, Priority Action 4, “Optimize PORTfolio park and habitat restoration sites to
sequester greenhouse gases (GHGs)”; and, Objective 17, “Restore, create, and enhance 40
additional acres of habitat in the Green/Duwamish Watershed and Elliott Bay.”
The degree to which the project can contribute towards either of these two objectives,
however, is based on research from other regions, with little information particular to Puget
Sound, and no data applicable to urban marine environments. The present proposal for a five-
year data collection and analysis effort is to measure the site-specific project effects. The effort
will contribute to knowledge and expertise applicable to kelp, eelgrass, and shellfish restoration
in disturbed urban environments, and confirm the ability to make important water quality and
COMMISSION AGENDA – Action Item No. 8a Page 3 of 6
Meeting Date: September 11, 2018
Template revised September 22, 2016; format updates October 19, 2016.
habitat improvements in Elliott Bay. The Smith Cove project will demonstrate the port’s
regional leadership in achieving balanced economic and environmental benefits, while
providing a template for other agencies and interests to implement similar blue carbon
projects.
DETAILS
Data collection under this new funding at the Smith Cove site would occur over a five-year
period to evaluate the success of the Blue Carbon Pilot Project components implemented in
2019. Data collection would occur in years 1, 3, and 5 following project implementation, and
would include analysis of changes in carbon sequestration, water chemistry, kelp, eelgrass, and
shellfish abundance, and fish and wildlife habitat.
Specifically, data collection will include:
• Diver, remotely-operated vehicle (ROV), and aerial drone surveys to assess changes in
physical extent of kelp, eelgrass, and shellfish enhancement areas;
• Sonographic surveys to assess changes in height and density of kelp and eelgrass;
• Sediment cores to measure increases in total organic carbon sequestered in expanded
eelgrass areas; and,
• Continuous water quality data-loggers to measure on-site changes in pH, temperature,
salinity, conductivity, and dissolved oxygen.
The results of each year’s data collection event will be summarized in a technical memo with
interim analysis, conclusions, and recommendations. A final report will be produced that
summarizes the results of the five-year study and makes recommendations for future blue
carbon projects.
Schedule
The majority of pre-project baseline data collection occurred in 2017-2018. The development
of a five-year study plan is currently underway and will be complete by October 1, 2018. The
proposed study will include limited additional baseline data collection, followed by three
monitoring events in years 1, 3, and 5 after restoration is complete in 2019.
Activity
Commission approval
Additional baseline data collection
Year 1 monitoring
Year 3 monitoring
Year 5 monitoring
Final report
COMMISSION AGENDA – Action Item No. 8a Page 4 of 6
Meeting Date: September 11, 2018
Template revised September 22, 2016; format updates October 19, 2016.
Cost Breakdown
This Request
Total Project
Study Plan/Design
$0
Study implementation
$200,000
Total
$200,000
ALTERNATIVES AND IMPLICATIONS CONSIDERED
Alternative 1 – Do not undertake long term monitoring study as part of the Smith Cove Blue
Carbon Pilot Project.
Cost Implications: $0
Pros:
(1) Cost savings. Conserves staff resources for other work.
Cons:
(1) Site-specific comprehensive monitoring and analysis will not be available to confirm
project benefits and demonstrate application of ‘blue carbon’ capability in Elliott Bay.
(2) Would be a lost opportunity to create a template for future larger scale projects.
This is not the recommended alternative.
Alternative 2 – Reduce scope and/or duration of the study.
Cost Implications: $100,000
Pros:
(1) Limiting the scope and/or duration would lower costs.
Cons:
(1) Many of the restoration elements will take up to five years to mature, so a reduced
schedule may result in inaccurate findings.
(2) Reducing scope would not address the three principal research questions of interest; (a)
whether the project has improved carbon sequestration; (b) water quality
improvements; and, (c) increase fish and wildlife habitat resources. We would need to
limit the scope of the study.
This is not the recommended alternative.
Alternative 3 – Undertake long term study with data collection and analysis necessary to
answer three principle research questions, including whether the project has improved carbon
sequestration, water quality and aquatic habitat functions, over a period of time sufficient to
detect changes.
Cost Implications: $200,000
Pros:
(1) This alternative allows for analysis and evaluation of sufficient scope and duration to
answer the three principle research questions.
COMMISSION AGENDA – Action Item No. 8a Page 5 of 6
Meeting Date: September 11, 2018
Template revised September 22, 2016; format updates October 19, 2016.
(2) Provides information that allows us to understand applicability of this to other sites.
(3) May allow us to include graduate student and/or non-profit involvement.
Cons:
(1) Higher cost and effort for project.
This is the recommended alternative.
FINANCIAL IMPLICATIONS
The Smith Cove Blue Carbon Pilot Project to plant kelp, shellfish, and eelgrass was funded in the
2018 Maritime Division expense budget. Work to date has included experimental design,
permitting, and test plots. Full project implementation will be undertaken in 2019, including
substantial restoration of kelp, eelgrass, and shellfish bed areas. This request for $200,000 is
specific to the monitoring and is to fully realize project benefits for a five-year data collection,
monitoring, and analysis effort to measure beneficial changes at the project site over time.
Cost Estimate/Authorization Summary
Capital
Expense
Total
COST ESTIMATE
Original estimate
$0
$0
$0
AUTHORIZATION
Previous authorizations for project
construction
0
$275,000
1
$275,000
Current request for authorization for
monitoring
0
0
$200,000
2
Total authorizations, including this request
0
0
$475,000
Remaining amount to be authorized
$0
$0
$0
1
Authorized in 2018 Maritime Division expense budget (with expectation of inclusion of balance in 2019)
2
Included in Energy and Sustainability Committee funding authorization ($1 million)
Annual Budget Status and Source of Funds
Commission directed that money be made available in the 2018 Environment and Sustainability
Center of Excellence expense funds to support and promote innovative projects that foster
efforts to reduce greenhouse gases, advance sustainability efforts and promote regional
collaboration. This request will use those already budgeted funds.
Financial Analysis and Summary
Construction and monitoring of the Smith Cove Project will demonstrate the port’s regional
leadership in achieving balanced economic and environmental benefits, while providing a
template for other agencies and interests to implement similar blue carbon projects. The port is
providing this effort to meet Century Agenda goals and invest in a sustainable future, using our
aquatic resources that are not required for active industrial maritime use.
COMMISSION AGENDA – Action Item No. 8a Page 6 of 6
Meeting Date: September 11, 2018
Template revised September 22, 2016; format updates October 19, 2016.
Future Revenues and Expenses (Total cost of ownership)
Following monitoring, the project is expected to be self-sustaining and will not require
maintenance and repair funds in the future.
ATTACHMENTS TO THIS REQUEST
(1) Smith Cove Blue Carbon Pilot Project 1-page information sheet
(2) Presentation slides
PREVIOUS COMMISSION ACTIONS OR BRIEFINGS
February 28, 2017 – The Commission were briefed on adding Energy & Sustainability
Committee funding in the amount of $1,000,000.
November 28, 2018 – The Commission authorized the Smith Cove Blue Carbon Pilot Project
as a component of the 2018 Maritime Division expense budget.