Current Issues inCoastal Ocean andEstuarine Science

TheCrest

Outgoing Virginia Gov. MarkWarner’s proposed budget for the 2006-2008 biennium includes $2.9 millionfor VIMS to monitor the Common-wealth’s progress in meeting the 2010Environmental Protection Agency dead-line for the clean up of the ChesapeakeBay and its tributaries.

The former Governor’s proposedbudget is now being debated in the Gen-eral Assembly. The amended budget willbe sent to newly-elected Governor TimKaine for his review and signature afterthe legislature adjourns in mid-March.

VIMS Dean and Director JohnWells says “We are very pleased to bepart of the commitment of public fundsthat will be directed towards clean-upefforts in Chesapeake Bay. As theCommonwealth’s scientific advisor onnatural-resource issues, VIMS has a sig-

nificant role to play in gauging the suc-cess of the expenditure of public fundsfor Bay clean-up.”

The VIMS funding was part of aproposed budget that includes $242.5million for drinking-water programs—the largest single investment in state his-tory. William and Mary President GeneR. Nichol applauded the governor’sbudget proposal as well as the biparti-san support in the Bay recovery effort.The VIMS funding would be used pri-marily for monitoring water quality us-ing state-of-the-art sensors and models.

“This is a tremendous commitmenttoward moving forward theCommonwealth’s obligation to cleaningup the Chesapeake Bay,” Nichol said.“We are delighted that VIMS will playa significant role in this recovery effort.”

Warner Proposes $2.9 M for VIMSto Monitor Bay Restoration Effort

Continued on page 12

General contractor W.M. Jordanand Company has begun constructionon VIMS’ Gloucester Point campus fortwo new buildings—Andrews Hall andthe Seawater Research Laboratory.

Funding for the buildings comesfrom a higher education bond passed byVirginia voters in 2002.

Andrews Hall, named after Cynthiaand the late Senator Hunter B.Andrews, is a 4-story research facilitysimilar to Chesapeake Bay Hall. The71,000-square-foot building will feature39 laboratories, 25 faculty offices, andspace for nearly 100 students, techni-cians, and visiting scientists.

The four-story structure will alsoinclude an electronics shop, distance-learning classroom, conference rooms,and the Aquaculture Genetics andBreeding Technology Center. It will con-solidate programs from Biological,Physical, and Fisheries sciences by re-placing three outdated laboratory build-

ings and numerous converted single-fam-ily dwellings.

The Seawater Research Laboratory(SRL) will provide approximately46,000 square feet of open, multi-pur-pose space for setting up flow-throughtanks for culturing fish, shellfish, andsea turtles. The plumbing system willprovide 900 gallons per minute of sea-water to support state-mandated researchon finfish and shellfish. A high bay witha retractable garage door and ceiling-mounted crane will permit handling oflarge oceanographic instruments.

The SRL will also include a dis-ease-challenge facility and a Level 2Biological Safety Laboratory that willallow VIMS scientists to study moder-ately dangerous pathogens, such as themycobacteriosis afflicting ChesapeakeBay striped bass. There will also be aLevel 3 Biological Safety Laboratory for

Construction Begins on New Buildings

Steel framing for VIMS’ new Seawater Laboratory is now in place.

Workers prepare the footers to be poured for Andrews Hall.

Continued on page 2

Volume 8, No.1Winter 2006www.vims.edu

&W MILLIAM ARY

V I M SIRGINIA NSTITUTE OF ARINE CIENCE

S M SCHOOL OF ARINE CIENCE

The CrestVol. 8, No. 1 Winter 2006

Dr. John T. WellsDean and Director

Virginia Institute of Marine ScienceSchool of Marine Science

Editorial BoardDr. Roger Mann

Director of Research andAdvisory Services

Dr. William DuPaulAssociate Director for

Advisory Services

Dr. William ReayManager, CBNERRVA

Dr. Mo LynchActing Director for Development

Science WriterDr. David Malmquist

Managing EditorDr. David Malmquist

ContributorsJoel HoffmanSusan Maples

Leslie McColloughBrian Whitson

Art DirectorSusan Stein

2

If you are receiving multiple copies ofThe Crest, or would like to change youraddress, please call (804) 684-7805or visit www.vims.edu/newsmedia/crest.html.

working with aquatic pathogens thatpose a more serious risk to human health.A toxics laboratory will permit analysisof the health impacts of waterborne pol-lutants. Benthic ecology and coral reeflabs, a radiation room, and an entrancesuite with offices and an exhibit /confer-ence space complete the facility.

VIMS Facilities Manager WendellGoodwin says that construction on thetwo buildings is progressing accordingto schedule.

“The underground utilities have allbeen installed for Andrews Hall, allow-ing construction to begin,” saysGoodwin. “Excavation for the first flooris now complete, and work on the wallfootings has started . Underground utili-ties within the building pad can then bescheduled for installation. Once the firstfloor walls are completed, constructionof the upper floors can go forward.”

“For the seawater lab, most of thepiping and electrical conduit has beeninstalled, and pouring of the trench wallsis in progress. The galvanized steel fram-

ing is in place, roof installationwill commence in the next weekor so, and then the first floor slabcan be poured and constructionof the walls and infrastructurewill commence.”

The project is scheduled forcompletion in March of 2007.

Virginia Secretary of Natural Re-sources W. Tayloe Murphy Jr.,Cynthia Andrews, and W&MPresident Gene Nichol breakground for VIMS’ new marineresearch complex during a Sep-tember 30th ceremony inGloucester Point. Numerousother dignitaries joined in the cer-emony. When completed, thecomplex will feature a 46,000square-foot seawater laboratory and the 71,000 square-foot Andrews Hall, named inhonor of Cynthia Andrews and her late husband Hunter B. Andrews, a long-timeVirginia senator and VIMS supporter.

New Constructioncontinued from page 1

In 1607, England’s Jamestown set-tlers made their first landing in Virginianear the mouth of a pristine Chesapeaketributary today known as the LynnhavenRiver.

Now, 400 years on, VIMS scien-tists have joined a multi-institution ef-fort to begin restoring the river’s health,just in time for the quadricentennial ofthe colonists’ landfall.

Modelers and ecologists at VIMSare partnering in the Lynnhaven resto-ration project with the U.S Army Corpsof Engineers and the Virginia BeachCity Government. VIMS oyster expertsare working with NOAA, the VirginiaMarine Resources Commission, the

VIMS Collaborates to Restore Lynnhaven

Continued on page 8

Chesapeake Bay Foundation, and thecitizens group Lynnhaven 2007.

The Lynnhaven, whose watershedcovers one-fourth the area of VirginiaBeach, provides vital services to the Cityand its 400,000 residents—includingboating, fishing, crabbing, andecotourism. However, the river has be-come increasingly stressed as its water-shed has urbanized.

As project lead, the Army Corps iscollaborating with its state and federalpartners to lessen these environmentalstresses through a 5-year, $3 million co-ordinated effort to identify and implementthe most effective strategies for improv-ing water quality, restoring oysters andbay grasses, and managing siltation.

VIMS’ role in the restoration effortis multifaceted. A key component is a 3-year, $600,000 grant from the Corps toresearchers Harry Wang, Jian Shen, MacSisson, Albert Kuo, and Yuepeng Li.Their task is to refine the Institute’s ex-isting state-of-the-art computer model sothat it can accurately simulate water flowand quality within the Lynnhaven’s shal-low waters. The Corps will use the modelto identify the areas of the river whererestoration efforts are most likely to suc-ceed.

A unique aspect of the modelingproject is a suite of related field studies(see sidebar on page 8) designed to iden-tify and measure the biological and

chemical processes that affect water qual-ity in the river. Data from these studieswill be used to both initiate and test thecomputer model.

Other VIMS teams, led by Drs.Stan Allen, Rom Lipcius, MarkLuckenbach, and Roger Mann, areworking to restore the river’s oyster popu-lations. Funding for these efforts comeslargely from NOAA.

ModelingOther than a few boating channels,

most of the Lynnhaven River is only ameter or two deep. The river’s shallow-ness, plus a convoluted shoreline thatsnakes more than 150 miles, makes mod-eling its circulation and water quality areal challenge.

VIMS’ state-of-the-art “UnTRIM”model takes full advantage of moderncomputing power to simulate conditionswithin shallow, complex estuaries like theLynnhaven. It does so by using a meshof grid cells that are small enough to

The Lynnhaven River’s three branches (Eastern, Western, and Broad Bay/LinkhornBay) cover about 65 square miles in the urbanized northern half of Virginia Beach,the commonwealth’s largest city.