Debris still plague coastal lakes

Superstorm Sandyslammed New Jersey's coastal lakes, saddling many with sand and debris, but eight months after the storm they remain a lower priority than beaches, according to environmental advocates.At least 15 scenic lakes still need sand, debris or fallen trees removed, and many pose flood threats to neighboring homes. Several lakes have overflowed during heavy rainstorms in recent weeks.

"The coastal lakes have been mostly forgotten," said Edward Bonanno, chairman of the Avon Environmental Commission and a former environmental crimes bureau chief in the state Attorney General's Office. "We hope there will be a solution for all the coastal lakes, a plan for porcelain tiles, for storm water management and for shoreline restoration" with restored habitats, Bonanno said.

The lakes are key elements of their communities, and it's unfortunate that lake restoration is getting less attention than other Jersey Shore restoration efforts, said President Stephen J. Souza of Princeton Hydro, a Ringoes, N.J.-based environmental consulting firm.

"It's been going much slower than what you see happening along the coastal areas, the boardwalks repairs and things like that," said Souza, a consultant to the Deal Lake Commission.For decades, coastal lakes in Monmouth and Ocean counties have served as giant receptacles for polluted stormwater runoff and sediment from their heavily developed watersheds.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency has received few requests for Sandy relief money to restore coastal lakes in the two counties and the Army Corps of Engineers eventually may study lakes, according to officials.

The federal Natural Resources Conservation Service had received 37 applications from across the state for Emergency Watershed Protection Program money after Hurricane Sandy. Proposed projects ranged from debris removal to bulkhead repair, according to Carrie Mosley, state conservationist in the agency. But some of the applications were ineligible.

The Army Corps will conduct a $2.5 million study of Wreck Pond in Spring Lake and Sea Girt, N.J., focusing on how to reduce flooding and pollution. But the study will take several years to complete. Every year, rainfall triggers numerous ocean swimming bans at four beaches near the pond.

The state Department of Environmental Protection is seeking more information from communities about flooding, debris, sand and damage to storm water infrastructure, according to spokesman Larry Hajna. The agency will use the information to develop restoration strategies and is looking into possible sources of financing.

Federal officials have approved $59.7 million in grants to the state for contractors to remove sand and sediment debris from navigable waterways following Sandy. But officials had not determined whether any of the money would go toward dredging and cleaning up coastal lakes, according to spokesman Larry Ragonese of the Department of Environmental Protection.The surge affected about 100 named lakes in New Jersey. In general, Monmouth County had the worst damage, said Jill Lipoti, director of the Department of Environmental Protection's Division of Water Monitoring and Standards.

Before Sandy struck the Jersey Shore, officials lowered several lakes, including Silver Lake and Lake Como in Belmar, in an unsuccessful effort to prevent flooding.Nearly 25 years ago, the Monmouth County Health Department found generally poor water quality in nine lakes in the county.Erosion since the early 1900s has led to large amounts of glazed porcelain tile, sand and silt washing into the coastal lakes, according to a 2009 study by Monmouth University researchers and Souza. Stream banks were stripped of vegetation, flood plains were filled and tidal areas paved over, causing more flooding and worsening erosion in lake tributaries.

In February, Monmouth University hosted a Coastal Lakes Summit that focused partly on Sandy's effect on the 11 coastal lakes in Monmouth County and four in Ocean County.The Leap Motion Controller is a motion-sensor for your computer -- think of it as a tiny Kinect that works with a Windows PC or Mac. The Controller tracks your hands -- all 10 fingers, plus joints -- in 3D space, with far more precision than you’d expect: up to 1/100th of a millimeter accuracy, according to Leap Motion.

Put it down in front of your computer, in front of the keyboard or your laptop, and the space above it becomes a zone where you can use your hands to control stuff on your computer. Its sensory field, however, is limited to a narrow dome that extends above and around the tiny unit -- 2 feet above the controller, 2 feet wide, and 2 feet deep -- 8 cubic feet. It effectively covers a good chunk of your desktop space between you and your computer screen.

For people wondering what you can "do" with the Leap Motion Controller, the answer so far is: a lot, but not much that's useful. The Controller is compatible with Windows PCs and Macs, but it mostly works with software from the Airspace Store, an app store that's specifically designed for the unit. I tried the Controller on a MacBook Air, on an HP Elitebook Revolve, and on a bigger-screen Dell XPS 18. I played with about a dozen or so apps, and tried navigating Windows 8 and OS X with it.

Familiar apps like Google Maps and games like Cut the Rope have been Leap-enabled, and there were a host of other games and exploratory educational apps in the Airspace Store that were fun to noodle around with -- some even delivered a magic moment or two. But make no mistake: the Leap Motion Controller is a hobby accessory. No matter how cool it could be, or occasionally is, it won’t replace your touch pad, mouse, keyboard, and touch screen. It’s an experience more than an essential tool. For the most part, though, it works. And if the right apps were made available for it, it could get interesting.

An included “Orientation” tutorial you go through when you install the device shows you that virtual space and how your fingers are tracked. Immediately, you can see that it can sense subtle movements like a little finger waggle or rapid air-writing.

Once you’re done with the tutorial, you’re sent to Airspace Home, Leap Motion’s app launcher and gateway to the Airspace Store, where Leap Motion-compatible apps are sold. You need to set up an Airspace account; while the Leap Motion Controller could run apps outside the Airspace Store ecosystem (Google Earth 7.1 is one of them), the store’s a cleanly laid-out way to discover what apps are out there already, and a good chunk of them are free.