The San Juan Bay Estuary (Estuario de la Bahía de San Juan), a nonprofit, has received a $6.7 million grant to begin studies, design and permitting for a hybrid construction project aimed at stopping continued erosion along the southern shore of the Condado Lagoon. The wall running along the coast next to Parque Nacional Jaime Benitez is threatened by wave action.
Executive director Brenda Torres Barreto said boats and scientists will be working in the lagoon and adjacent areas collecting data needed to prepare the design, and asked residents to greet them and wish them luck. During a walk on Thursday, attended by Natural and Environmental Resources Department, Transportation and Public Works Department (DTOP), San Juan Municipality and Central Office of Recovery, Reconstruction and Resiliency officials, the Estuary showed several points along the shoreline where the ground has collapsed.
As a temporary measure, the Municipality filled collapsed areas with rocks to prevent pedestrian accidents, according to Tamara González, director of the municipal Office of Planning and Land Use. The Estuary and its citizen scientists planted red mangroves to help absorb wave impact. The initial segment of the park's Paseo Lineal also has drainage problems causing minor flooding on the frontage road beside the Baldorioty de Castro expressway.
Torres Barreto said the project began May 28 with a meeting with Condado residents, who described problems the shoreline has faced since Hurricane María in 2017.