2024 Florida Legislative Priorities

Science-based Decision Making, Data Needs and Monitoring Programs

The task force recognizes that renewed investment in a state-wide comprehensive water quality monitoring strategy will be a key part of its water quality protection efforts moving forward. Appropriately scaled monitoring data allow water resource managers to evaluate the effectiveness of specific actions/projects intended to provide environmental benefit and are expected to be an essential part of the Department of Environmental Protection’s science-based decision-making process. Accordingly, the task force recommends that monitoring programs be designed to address status and trends for key water quality parameters. Monitoring efforts should also be employed to answer specific questions, address unknowns, allow for improved design and adaptive management of agricultural and urban BMPs, edge of field and regional projects and BMAPs. Greater investments in research will be required to inform monitoring efforts.

Given the current focus on blue-green algal blooms in Lake Okeechobee and northern estuaries, i.e. Caloosahatchee and St. Lucie, the task force recommends an expanded water quality monitoring program in each of the relevant BMAP areas to identify priority areas for project implementation and for subsequent evaluation of project effectiveness in achieving nutrient load reductions. Comparable monitoring and assessment programs should be established in other BMAP areas across the state.

The task force recommends that additional environmental parameters, e.g., multiple nitrogen species and algal toxins, be incorporated where appropriate into monitoring programs to aid our collective understanding of the factors that lead to the development, maintenance and senescence of harmful algal blooms and toxin production.