Tampa Bay governments and industries are working together to hammer out new allocations for nitrogen loadings to Tampa Bay to comply with new regulatory requirements.

The agreement will determine what share of the nitrogen loads needed to meet the new limits, called Total Maximum Daily Loads or TMDLs, will be assumed by each local government surrounding the bay as well as key industries such as fertilizer manufacturers and electric utilities.

This complex process is being coordinated by the Tampa Bay Estuary Program through its Nitrogen Management Consortium, an innovative public-private partnership whose members include Hillsborough, Manatee and Pinellas counties, along with private sector entities such as Tampa Electric Co., Mosaic and Kinder Morgan Bulk Terminals, Inc.

Over the past decade, the landmark efforts of the Nitrogen Management Consortium have reduced nitrogen flowing into the bay by more than 400 tons even as the region’s population grew by nearly a million people. This “hold the line” strategy was accomplished through the completion of more than 250 projects to reduce nitrogen discharges to the bay, from sweeping streets to constructing regional stormwater treatment facilities to restoring wetlands that filter pollutants naturally.

As a result, water quality in Tampa Bay has steadily improved. For the past two years, water clarity goals were met in all major bay segments for the first time since record-keeping began in 1974. Life-sustaining seagrasses, a key barometer of the bay’s health, continue to recover at an average rate of 400 acres a year.

Prior to now, the Consortium’s initiatives have been voluntary, but meeting the new state and federal nitrogen limits will require firm commitments from the Consortium partners.

A major focus of the new nitrogen management strategy will be allocating nitrogen loads for major point and non-point sources. TBEP and the consortium have traditionally focused on overall loadings and worked as a partnership to ensure that nitrogen loadings in each bay segment do not exceed average levels measured in 1992-1994. Under federal regulations, however, cumulative permitted point source loads cannot exceed maximum allowed levels.

The Consortium is working now to reallocate those permitted loads in a fair and equitable manner so that they meet the state and federal standards. Basin-wide allocations are scheduled to be complete by summer 2008. The final allocation, including new permitted levels for individual sources that comply with EPA limits, must be completed by July 2009.