MANASOTA & PEACE RIVER BBDs Meeting Notebook 10-21-09.docx

W521
Charlotte Harbor Water Quality Monitoring
Project Type SWIM
AOR(s)
Water Quality
Basin(s) Peace River, Manasota
Cooperator(s)
Project Manager SZAFRANIEC, MARY
Task Manager(s)
Status Ongoing
Charlotte County, Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission
KAUFMAN, KRIS
Description
This project is an ongoing SWIM Initiative to monitor water quality in Charlotte Harbor, a SWIM priority waterbody and
designated estuary of national significance. The purpose of the water quality monitoring is to establish a long-term
database of water quality conditions within the estuary to provide essential data for planning and management
purposes, such as implementation of the Charlotte Harbor SWIM Plan. The District began collecting and analyzing
monthly water quality samples from Charlotte Harbor in 1993. In 2000, the District worked with staff from Charlotte
County (County) and the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FFWCC) to develop an implementation
plan for long-term water quality monitoring. As a result of these discussions, the District, County, and FFWCC agreed
to cooperatively monitor water quality in Charlotte Harbor. The District and the FFWCC are responsible for collection of
25 samples per month. The County is responsible for analyzing each sample for 11 water quality parameters, including
nutrients, color and turbidity. The District is responsible for estuarine water quality data compilation, quality
assurance/quality control, updates to a District approved database and upload of the data to the State's STOrage and
RETrieval (STORET) database. Internet publication of the data for this project are completed under W547.
Benefits
The project created a multi-agency cooperative effort that provides a long-term water quality dataset to assist in
establishing the health of the Charlotte Harbor study area and provide information on changes in water quality.
Costs
Water quality sampling task: At their April 2009 meetings, the Peace River Basin and Manasota Basin Boards
approved amending its FY2009 budget to include reallocated State SWIM funds to cover 50 percent ($19,125) of the
FY2010 costs. The remaining costs ($19,125) are funded by the Peace River Basin and the Manasota Basin Boards.
Additional Information
Charlotte Harbor is generally viewed as one of the most productive estuarine systems in southwest Florida. Although it
is appropriately considered a healthy system, problems exist in the areas of hydrologic alterations, water quality
degradation, and habitat loss. The SWIM Plan for Charlotte Harbor focus on management strategies for the Peace
and Myakka Rivers, in addition to Charlotte Harbor proper, to reduce point and non-point source pollution and to
preserve and restore habitat. The objectives of this project are consistent with these strategies. This coordinated effort
involves two separate agreements: 1) an agreement between the District and the County outlining responsibilities of
both parties but does not involve the transfer of funds, and 2) an agreement between the District and the FFWCC
outlining sampling services and reimbursement rates for water quality monitoring.
Prior
FY 2009 FY2010
Funding Funding Funding
District Budgeted - Ad Valorem Based
Revenue
020 Peace River Basin 136,865 17,846 23,915
0 178,626
021 Manasota Basin 45,623 5,949 8,979
0 60,551
District Budgeted - Outside Revenue
State Trust Funds (SWIM) 66,371 23,794
0
0 90,165
State Trust Funds (SWIM) - Prior 2006 174,171 0
0
0 193,296
WMLTF (SWIM) - Prior Year Funds 0 0 3,768
0 3,768
021 - Manasota Basin 63
Total:
Future
Funding
Total
Funding
$526,406