PHILIPSBURG – The St. Maarten Nature Foundation has been cooperating with Government, Marinas and Dredging Companies on a Dredge Hole Remediation Project in the Simpson Bay Lagoon.
Dredging can have significant environmental impacts on the environmental health of the Simpson Bay Lagoon, resulting in siltation, sedimentation and the removal of important seagrass beds critical to the already severely damaged health of the Lagoon.
There are various areas in the Simpson Bay Lagoon where large amount of sand and seagrass was removed for various projects over the years. The areas have formed deep holes where very little grows and where there is significant sedimentation occurring, affecting nearby seagrass beds.
The Foundation has been partnering with Government, Marinas and Dredging Companies to reintroduce dredge spoils into the so-called dredge holes, filling back the bed of the Simpson Bay Lagoon with sufficient habitat for seagrass to again establish and seed the area.
Over the next few weeks various holes in the Lagoon will be filled to remediate the damages done over the past decade.
Caption: Dredge in the Simpson Bay Lagoon.
