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

Summary Agenda
Joint Meeting and Workshop October 21, 2009
Manasota and Peace River Basin Boards Page 23 of 29
Program was established in 1991 to assist the region in developing a comprehensive
plan for the restoration and protection of Tampa Bay. The first Comprehensive
Conservation and Management Plan (CCMP) for Tampa Bay, entitled "Charting the
Course", was prepared in 1996 and updated in 2006. The Federal government
provided the majority of funding during the first five years. The members of the
original effort decided to continue with the program and in 1998, through an Interlocal
Agreement, formed the Tampa Bay Estuary Program (dropping the Federal
designation) as a partnership of federal, state, and local agencies and governments
including several private industries. These entities include the USEPA, Florida
Department of Environmental Protection, the District, Hillsborough, Manatee, and
Pinellas counties and the cities of St. Petersburg, Tampa, and Clearwater. In
accordance with the Interlocal Agreement, the District provides $138,335 to the
TBEP annually. The District's annual contribution has been funded by the Basin
Boards surrounding Tampa Bay and State SWIM funds. The District also provides a
representative for the Management and Policy Boards. Since 1998 the District and
other partners have completed numerous stormwater retrofit and habitat restoration
projects toward achieving the goals of the CCMP and the SWIM Plan.
Staff Recommendation:
This item is presented for the Board’s information; no action is required.
Presenters: Jennette Seachrist, SWIM Program Manager
Resource Data and Restoration
Holly Greening, Executive Director
Tampa Bay Estuary Program
5. Sarasota Bay Estuary Program (SBEP)
Purpose
This item is provided for Board information only and no Board action is required.
Mr. Mark Alderson, Executive Director of the Sarasota Bay Estuary Program (SBEP),
will provide an update of recent activities, the contributions local agencies have
made to Bay recovery, the benefits the SBEP provides to the region and the
challenges the partners face.
Background/History
In 1989, Sarasota Bay was designated by the United States Environmental
Protection Agency as an estuary of Federal Significance. As a result of this
designation, the Sarasota Bay National Estuary Program (SBNEP) was established
to develop a comprehensive plan for the restoration and protection of Sarasota Bay.
The SBNEP is a partnership of citizens, elected officials, resource managers,
commercial, and recreational resource users working to improve the ecological
integrity of Sarasota Bay and its watershed. In 1995, the District identified Sarasota
Bay as a Surface Water Improvement and Management (SWIM) priority water body.
In 2004, the partners in the SBNEP entered into an Interlocal Agreement which
established the SBEP as an independent special district. The District has provided
annual funding to the SBEP and provided a representative for the Management and
Policy Committees since 1990.
The partners of the SBEP jointly developed and approved a Comprehensive
Conservation and Management Plan to protect and restore Sarasota Bay in 1995.
Subsequently, the District approved the first Sarasota Bay SWIM Plan in 1997, and it