Florida's Freshwater Condition: Lessons Learned from Rotation 1, and "Recycling" with a New Design

Gail M. Sloane 1, James Silvanima 1, Paul Hansard 1,
Rick Copeland 1, Kimberly D. Jackson 1, Debra Harrington 1, and Margaret Murray 1

1 Florida Department of Environmental Protection (FDEP) Tallahassee, Fla.

December 2003 marked the completion of statewide sampling for the first cycle of Florida's rotating-basin probabilistic monitoring design. The primary goal of this monitoring effort is to estimate the condition of surface and ground water resources. Summary results from the statewide sampling will be presented. The initial monitoring design called for statewide sampling to be completed in four years and for resampling to occur in the fifth year. Due to changes mandated by the advent of the state's need to address Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) basin monitoring design, and logistical difficulties, the fifth year resample was dropped and a major redesign ensued. Florida began sampling for the redesigned second 5-year cycle in January 2004.

In concert with the USEPA 2003 guidance; Elements of State Water Monitoring and Assessment Program, the "recycle" is designed to estimate condition of freshwater resources using new basin boundaries, re-defined resource types, more integrative and ecologically significant indicators, and the Generalized Random Tessellation Stratified (GRTS) design authored at the USEPA National Health and Environmental Effects Laboratory (NHEERL) Western Ecology Division. Discussion will include changes to core and supplemental indicators from the first cycle to use of biological indicators in rivers, streams, and lakes, and metrics to estimate sediment quality in freshwater lakes.

Keywords: surface water, ground water, freshwater, water quality, biological indicators, sediment quality, probabilistic monitoring, network redesign, GRTS, TMDL