Vaccarino Associates is the prime consultant for Paralanaturaleza.org in the planning and design effort. We propose a five-pronged approach:

1. Coastal reforestation using endemic and native species missing from the surviving existing trees. 

2. Rehabilitation of forest, dunes, and freshwater pond habitats at an ecological level in a highly accessible and visible area, while providing recreation and education for the community and visitors alike.

3. Creation of entrepreneurship opportunities in Culebra that support conservation of habitats while building resilience. 

4. Active participation of the community in the recovery, maintenance and conservation of the coastal forest, water, and dune systems, increasing community ownership and long-term monitoring and commitment. 

5. The adoption of a mitigation action plan, parallel to the recovery plan, which addresses both preparation and response for future climatic events, through adaptive planning and the development of guidelines for the benefit of visitors and residents.

WHEN THEY WERE THERE

The bay and beach are named after the flamingo birds that were once prevalent in its lagoon and salt flats. Today, due to egg collecting, hunting, habitat deterioration, and pollution/water contamination, it is now rare to see flamingos in Puerto Rico and nearby islands. Most people in Culebra say that the flamingos left in flocks during the bombing when both Culebra and Vieques were the “playground” of the US Military.

The last Greater Flamingo (Phoenicopterus ruber) was reported in Flamenco Lagoon in 2009, probably visiting us temporarily from a flock from Guana Island or Anegada. Another surprising visit was witnessed at the end of May 2019, by a beautiful long-legged juvenile that did not display the pink-orange color of its feathers, typically derived from carotenoid pigments found in crustaceans and algae that the bird eats. That bird is depicted in the two last images to the right.

If today flamingos seem to be only accidental visitors to this region, formerly they were apparently its residents, and have been reported from the geographic regions of Boquerón to the Rio Grande de Loíza, in Vieques, Culebra and in the Virgin Islands from St. Thomas, St Croix, to Anegada. A small population of birds were transported to Guana island but failed to reproduce, as it seems they only nest when they are in large enough colonies.

Culebra is a microcosm of what is happening to Earth as a whole. The period since the emergence of humans has displayed an ongoing biodiversity reduction and an accompanying loss of genetic diversity. The United Nations designated 2011-2020 as the United Nations Decade on Biodiversity, and 2021- 2030 as the United Nations Decade on Ecosystem Restoration. According to a 2019 report by IPBES, 25% of plant and animal species are threatened with extinction as the result of human activity—and the numbers worsen as the time progresses. We want to use our tropical flamingo as a symbol to bring awareness of habitat loss in Culebra and Flamenco Beach, due to human disturbance.

LAND IN TRANSITION TO WATER

Saltwater and freshwater areas prone to inundation surround Flamenco Beach. They are often interconnected and change in complex ways seasonally, tidally or through the shallow water table. The water table is usually near the land surface, or the land is covered by shallow water, as in fresh or salt ponds nearby.

Wetland plant communities are classified on the basis of their hydrology, vegetation, substrate and biological productivity. They support food webs, intricately linked to seagrass and coral reefs of the nearshore ocean waters, by providing nursery and feeding habitat for birds, marine fish, shellfish, and invertebrates.

On one side we have beaches, coral reefs and dunes that protect marshes and adjacent uplands from storms and flooding; on the other, we have fresh and saltponds, nature’s water pollution “liver” system for the ocean’s life survival. In fact, they keep our ocean water clean by filtering sediment from storm runoff and cleared land surrounding. There is therefore an important “correspondence” between coral reefs and everything that lives in the ocean, and wetlands. Furthermore, many species of animals depend on these ponds and salt flats for food and refuge. Without microalgae and invertebrates as food sources, many birds, including flamingos, cannot survive and disappear.

Until recently, some 50,000 seabirds have been seen visiting Culebra’s Flamenco Peninsula each summer to nest—mostly sooty terns and other migratory species. By September, the birds have gathered up their broods and flown out to sea only to return home the following summer. Occasionally, leatherback and hawksbill sea turtles may be seen, as the beaches of the Culebra archipelago are also a major breeding ground for them, and the adjacent sea grass beds provide shelter and food for green sea turtles.

EXISTING HYDROLOGY

Culebra is part of the Puerto Rico Northeastern Geological Platform Bank of the Greater Antilles Arc, also known as the “Puerto Rico Platform.” The Puerto Rico Platform extends from the western end of the island of Puerto Rico to the U.S. Virgin Islands (except St. Croix) and the British Virgin Islands to the east.

These islands share their volcanic origin, geomorphology, climate and even many native plant species, since they were once part of a larger contiguous piece of land later covered by the ocean. The scarcity of freshwater in these islands is due to the lack of large mountains, moist forests, and lack of watersheds carrying permanent bodies of water.

The existing salt pond and retention ponds at Flamenco are important reservoirs for an interconnected drainage and tidal system that protects the beach facilities from flooding and stormwater erosion. They trap terrestrial sediment and pollution, preventing them to enter the offshore reef system. Coral reefs die for many reasons: from warming ocean water temperatures, sediment clouding from cleared land, proliferation of algae, and the overfishing of parrot fish that bites and scrapes algae off coral, keeping them under control and producing tons of new white sand as excrement that rebuild relentlessly our beaches.

When coral dies, the total amount of sand available to replenish our depleted beaches inevitably decreases. Simply put, tropical beaches depend on live coral and parrot fish, coral and seagrass depend on clean waters, which in turn is filtered and produced in the “back beaches” watersheds and lagoons with the help of a complex food web of organisms and wildlife. Therefore, our forest and dune restoration projects cannot disregard the rehabilitation of the water infrastructure that sustains them if we want to save the beach and the sand dunes from disappearing.

AN INTEGRATED WATER SYSTEM

Freshwater is a precious resource in Culebra and in Flamenco. Currently, all water used in bathrooms and kiosks is conveyed to them and distributed from an existing infrastructure that has its point of origin in Puerto Rico’s moist forest resources.

This system is unsustainable, and needs to be integrated (if not substituted) by local on-site collection and reuse, considering the worsening impact of future climate change and the expectation of intensified storms that may cut off Culebra from the mainland of Puerto Rico. Similarly, stormwater and wastewater (both gray and black) are not managed properly in Flamenco to insure lack of contamination of the natural water system. The southern portion of the site, where land and water visibly meet in an interconnected drainage and tidal system, is the place of our concerns. With appropriate funding, it could be reprogrammed to create a new water infrastructure that

1. collects rainwater in cisterns for reuse

2. slows infiltration of stormwater and filters/cleans it in bio- retention beds

3. treats gray water coming from showers with biological filtration
4. treats black water from toilets in an alternative on-site self-contained sewage disposal system (OSDS) that may include a constructed wetland.

This approach is more cost-effective than conventional engineering solutions because it minimizes pipes and hard structures. Only one cistern has currently been included in the budget associated with building construction but another is needed for the western portion of the site where two additional bathrooms and one future restaurant building may generate enough freshwater from their roofs for their internal reuse. The on-site sewage treatment system we propose is a small, odorless, closed system of buried tanks that with the help of bacteria generates clean effluent.

Its performance does not depend on topography or soil characteristics. Should we take this path for the black water treatment, we will consult with the local agencies for regulation compliance and advice. All water produced will be reused in bathrooms or for irrigation. Four major existing periodically flooded areas from east to west will be interconnected with vegetated swales and are being designed as retention areas: the redesigned parking lot; the rehabilitated fresh pond with its wetland habitat; the infiltration basin in the depression under the plant propagation area; and the existing palm grove at the western end.

STORMWATER AT PARKING

We redesigned the parking lot as a large retention area able to capture, slow down, and infiltrate on site the stormwater runoff, rather than quickly channelling it away and disposing it as waste-water. We proposed a grading design for the paved surface that directs the stormwater towards the car parking spaces--which have porous, permeable paving--and then help water flow into concave curb-less planted medians where many trees will be planted.

This is the opposite of traditional parking lots designed with curbs all around planted medians that do not allow any stormwater to enter the planted areas. The roots of the plants in the medians will receive the runoff water as irrigation, and the tree roots will be able to expand into the soil under the un-compacted permeable paving of the lots since water will percolate in that zone as well, close to the source. On one hand this has the benefit of decreasing surface water runoff, preventing build-up of large, difficult to handle volumes; on the other, the plants in the medians will be able to get some water even during the smallest rainstorm developing a bigger canopy in shorter time.

The planted medians are engineered similarly to vegetated swales, which harvest stormwater along a densely planted shallow trench. They will be designed to have enough hydraulic capacity to safely handle the peak discharge rate of major storm events that may be occurring in Culebra. At the same time, the trench design (bottom longitudinal slope, bottom width) will be such that stormwater does not exceed a critical erosive velocity during peak discharge rate associated with small storm events. They may have an overflow system, if needed.There is considerable evidence that many pollutants are either degraded or contained by different species of vegetation. In temperate climate wetland plants are usually preferred for phytoremediation in vegetated swales or biofilters. However, in the hot/dry conditions at the edge of the roads in Flamenco Beach, other perennial plants, shrubs and trees capable of filtering and absorbing pollutants will be recommended.

POND HABITAT DECAY

The existing fresh pond at the site is an important ecological resource to protect. It has been used as the major drainage and collection area for the stormwater that comes from the parking lot. Its edge clearly demarks also the temporal fluctuation of water coming from the sloping terrain to the south of the boundary fence.

In fact, the property fence cannot prevent surface water, aquifers or tidal, and shallow waters, to be in communication and meet at the lowest point. The pond was a healthy habitat in the recent past but is currently in a state of disrepair. The sides have been cleared of vegetation damaged by the hurricanes, and the bottom has so much sediment that its holding capacity is jeopardized, while water reuse for irrigation cannot be engineered without costly filtration processes.

The pond water is contaminated by lack of proper treatment of the runoff coming from the bathroom showers, the added trash, and soil erosion from denudated pond banks that need urgent re-vegetation. There is currently no flushing, and the murky water breeds mosquitoes. Stumps and fallen trees from hurricane cleanup are still lying along the sides, while an invasion of seedlings of exotic species makes maintenance difficult.

POND REHABILITATION

No heavy equipment should start dredging the pond without professional supervision. A plan approved by all parties needs to be produced first. Careless digging and dredging could create more damage in a sensitive water environment like this one.

Firstly, a Hydrology Study will be commissioned to assess the water volumes that the pond receives during different storm events and from the newly designed parking lot, which will inform an approach toward its rehabilitation and water management design.

A careful plan, for protecting the existing vegetation and bare slopes from compaction and further erosion, will be devised in consultation with a wetland ecologist. A laboratory analysis of the structure and chemical composition of a sample of the sediment will be obtained to determine if the sediment can be reused as soil amendment, once dry, to produce new soil. The reconstructed pond will be an artifact of human design that emulates the functions and complexities of a wetland, without mimicking the form. It models an ecological system within a technologically engineered water garden. Its hydrology, soil, and vegetation design will address both conditions of flood and drought, which require drainage as well as retention of water.

It will be large enough to contain the anticipated volume of runoff water and will have overflow devices and natural swales in a retention network that helps stormwater percolate, slowly feeding, in the process, new water-loving plants. The challenge is to make the pond attractive year-round and during its seasonal extremes: both in the dry season when it is at half capacity, and in the rainy season when it overflows. We will choose different plants that withstand various levels of inundation and dryness. We will place a very long boardwalk, only two feet wide, to admire these plants. The boardwalk hides underneath the intake pipe that is operating with a floating valve to convey water from the pond to the plant propagation area.

We are proposing to keep the camping use with a setback of about 40 feet from the pond edge to protect the pond from sedimentation, pollution, and foot compaction. However, the design will be such that many glimpses will be possible of the wetland and wildlife that we hope will return. Plants will be specifically selected for different kinds of water levels, for periodic inundation, runoff erosion control, and wildlife habitat. Conceptually, the design calls for the creation of a fully functional fresh pond with scattered new trees and a low vegetation buffer at the edge, plus a knitted fabric of shrubs that ‘tread’ the biofiltration setback zone all together. These threads prevent erosion, capturing stormwater in all directions.

A field of grasses and sedges creates a soft, fluid backdrop to the treads, so that they are highlighted in their function and composition. Emergent plants mark the different levels of the changing water. All this is working in conjunction with the bioretention beds that have been allocated to filter and clean the effluent from the showers. Being a constructed wetland, we want to let our imagination fly in order to create an emotional impact. Indeed, even a dirty pond can become a garden. In this non-naturalistic design, the native vegetation acquires both artistic and didactic value, becoming a shifting environment to admire, treasure, and protect.

PRODUCING FROM WASTE

Our green stormwater infrastructure design is based on the principle that waste is an out-of-place resource and that nature turns all forms of waste into a resource. Therefore, the importance of establishing plant propagation, soil production, and wastewater reuse processing areas as an integral part of Flamenco Beach’s adaptation plan cannot be underestimated: they are the operational backbone and publicity foundation for the project’s success.

We believe this “production” activity needs to be located in a specific site inside Flamenco Beach where everyone meets and puts in their effort to guide or participate in this adaptation project. Here, the process of preparation, response, and recovery would be displayed, practiced, and culturally understood. Volunteers will be engaged and trained in the best planning and management practices to achieve resilience. In the end, this will become a community focal point and meeting place where research and monitoring activities will be undertaken. The plant nursery is proposed in an area that has good breezes from the ocean, plus good sun exposure.

These conditions allow seed germination and rooting cuttings without fungal infections or pest problems, thereby avoiding the use of insecticides. This low area of the site is useless for anything else because it is periodically flooded during storm events. It will receive a slight cut-fill regrading to create a bladder underneath, with a slightly sloping bottom. The sump bed will be filled with crushed stone before adding the ground cloth, in order to create a flat area to stage the potted plants and all the nursery wood structures. The terrace, with all the pots organized and regularly spaced, will be a beautiful exhibition area for visitors to enjoy. Simple wood structures covered with mesh will be designed and built, along with a pump house and filtration and irrigation system, as well as a cistern for the rainwater collected from the restaurant and bathrooms nearby.

By adapting small containers, simple and movable storage space will be made available. Three-gallon to fifteen-gallon pot-sized plants will be staged into the flat terrace. Irrigation will be provided with water produced from the fresh pond wastewater filtration and stored in tanks. Water coming out of the pots from this irrigation and the nearby site drainage can also be recuperated, if necessary, after percolating into the gravel sump underneath. The sump drainage is connected to the two vegetated swales siding the service drive. Excess stormwater will, at the end, reach the periodically flooded woodland existing at the back of the site’s natural drainage pattern. All this will allow use of the service drive and nursery facility year-round, while collecting runoff water from the nursery irrigation to decrease overflow volumes in the green swales and ponds nearby. We have added, to the east, a soil preparation yard that supports the nursery and planting operations. Here, soil mixing will occur along with the management of a composting area.

Organic matter will be primarily obtained from damaged trees that will be pruned, shredded, stockpiled, mixed with leaf litter, and composted to create the necessary soil for planting, in the nursery and on-site. The Sargasso seaweed collected periodically from the beach, if not used at the dunes, will be transported to dry out and decompose in the coconut grove area first, as it is a rich source of micronutrients. When dry, it will then be transported to the soil prep area to mix with other soil amendments. The use of peat moss or bagged soil material should be discouraged as it is unsustainable and costly to import to the island. Soil and water will be regularly produced by recycling in Flamenco from those same resources that were previously considered waste and were discarded.

Beside these planning studies, we produced project design in plans and details for construction of the "needle" deck platforms, wood bridges, bioretention beds, and re-planting for all phased areas of the site. The buildings have been reconstructed but the site recovery implementation is on hold until sufficient funds for construction are secured.