_Lead image of the May 18, 2014 Flushing Bay annual cleanup is by Christina Santucci and copyright [Times Ledger](http://www.timesledger.com/stories/2014/20/flushingmarinacleanup_all_2014_05_16_q.html)_ ###Media Coverage http://www.timesledger.com/stories/2014/21/flushingbaysewage_2014_05_23_q.html [](https://i.publiclab.org/system/images/photos/000/007/273/original/Eymund_pointing_to_flushing_bay_sewage_2014_05_23_Queens_Ledger_photo_by_santucci.jpg) ###The women of Empire Dragon Boat **The women of [Empire Dragon Boat](http://www.empiredragonboat.com/) paddle in Class I waters, defined as "barely acceptable for Fishing and Boating."** [](https://i.publiclab.org/system/images/photos/000/004/166/original/09.JPG) We are interested in lobbying our politicians to support infrastructure to get Flushing Bay waters to Class SC (Fishing Boating and Bathing). We will start by collecting pictures of people boating (kids touching water, etc) and aerial photography of the area as these will help media campaigns for getting the water quality standards to match our uses. _This map gives an overview of the water quality standards mandated by each class:_ [](https://i.publiclab.org/system/images/photos/000/004/163/original/2011_NYC_Water_Quality_Standards_Map_NYC_CWP.jpg) The good news is that NYCDEP does maintain [water quality stations](http://www.nyc.gov/html/dep/html/harborwater/harbor_water_sampling_results.shtml) within Flushing Creek and near our dock. (See map for attached station codes you want) For this year's [Citizens water quality testing](http://www.nycwatertrail.org/CWQT_2012.html), we may want to locate our testing station relative to the DEP E15 station, so as to not duplicate their data, and fill in parts of the shoreline that matter to us - eg closer to CSO BB-06. We need to review this water quality data to see if there are fluctuations in sewer nutrient loading along the shoreline which would guide Empire Dragon Boat's position on where new constructed wetlands or new boating facilities should go. ###Workplan **SHORT TERM:** * 1) Gather water samples of Flushing Bay for quality analysis. We discussed the possibility of changing the sites to be sampled (if possible) to be closer to the 2 large CSOs in the Bay; * 2) take photographs of people involved in using the Bay for recreation- dragon boating, fishing, etc. We already have some good shots from last Saturday's clean up day. Then put the pictures together with an article and send it to the press and politicians. Specific names? * 3) Oyster project, which we did not talk about, but which members of the Empire Dragon Boat team have been working on for 4 years. We first started working on this with the NY/NJ Baykeeper Assn. and now the NY Harbor School has taken over management of the project. **LONG TERM:** * 1) Balloon mapping: * a) of Flushing Bay-inject dye into sewer system and then photograph the outflow from the CSO in the Bay; * b) of Flushing Bay/Creek Estuary, in order to determine and map where the fresh water springs are entering the sewer system. * 2) Write up a plan of action to present to urban planners. the DEP, politicians etc. ###supporting data investigations The GNOME current modeling software is available [here](http://response.restoration.noaa.gov/gnome). We are looking for a student to use it to understand how the sewage from BB-06 disperses relative to your dock facility....