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Tampa Bay Estuary Program 2007 Accomplishments

PROGRAMMATIC ACCOMPLISHMENTS

  • The Tampa Bay Estuary Program and its partners documented that seagrasses in Tampa Bay are continuing to make a remarkable recovery. Seagrass acreage in 2006 reached 28,300 acres, the largest amount measured since 1950 and 6,700 acres more than the lowest coverage in 1982. The recovery is made possible by improving water clarity brought about by reduced nitrogen loading. The Estuary Program’s water clarity goals were met in all four major bay segments in 2006, the first time since measurements began in 1975.

  • The Tampa Bay Estuary Program joined the Urban Land Institute, the Tampa Bay Partnership, the Southwest Florida Water Management District, and the Tampa Bay Regional Planning Council as marquee sponsors of Reality Check Tampa Bay to envision Tampa Bay’s future. The kick-off event attracted more than 320 community leaders to a hands-on visioning session in which participants placed different colored Legos on maps of the 7-county Tampa Bay region to indicate where growth of population and jobs should best occur to preserve the region’s quality of life. The Estuary Program will use the information from this Smart Growth exercise to estimate pollutant loadings to the bay in the year 2050 and determine whether the goals for bay water clarity and seagrass recovery can be sustained.

  • The Tampa Bay Estuary Program’s Nitrogen Management Consortium has been collaborating with the Florida Department of Environmental Protection and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to continue the Reasonable Assurance for addressing nutrient impairments in Tampa Bay. The NMC has been a model nation-wide on how public and private entities can collectively meet water quality standards through proactive partnerships and voluntary nitrogen-reduction projects. The group will continue to discuss the best way forward for maintaining progress on meeting water quality requirements in Tampa Bay, including updating load allocations for point and non-point sources.

    TECHNICAL ACCOMPLISHMENTS

  • The Tampa Bay Estuary Program has been updating its habitat masterplan. The project includes prioritizing areas for habitat restoration and protection, calculating the changes in priority habitat acreages, including marsh and mangroves, oligohaline, freshwater wetlands, and salt barrens over several time periods, and suggestions for building resiliency to climate change and sea level rise into the restoration projects. A habitat restoration database was also developed, documenting more than 250 projects that restored, protected, or enhanced more than 5,000 acres of habitat in the Tampa Bay area.

  • The Tampa Bay Estuary Program assisted partners in developing Basin Management Action Plans (BMAP) for fecal coliforms in six waterbodies in northeastern Tampa Bay. A steering group met for 18 months to develop BMAPs and included innovative source tracking methods to determine causes of fecal impairment in the watershed.

  • The Tampa Bay Estuary Program and project partners completed the Feather Sound Seagrass Recovery Project. Feather Sound, located in western Old Tampa Bay, has been the focus of intensive research for more than five years due to slower rates of seagrass recovery than in other portions of Tampa Bay. The project team, with input from a four-person, expert scientific review committee, determined that there are multiple stressors to the area and recommended a broad-based management approach, including restoration of the fringing mangrove and marsh areas.

  • The Tampa Bay Tidal Tributaries project was completed in late 2007. This innovative project was developed to learn more about the role of tidal tributaries in fish production in Tampa Bay. Based on isotopic analysis of fish guts, benthic macroalgae is the basis of the food chain. Following data collection and analysis, the project team made management recommendations for improving productivity of these areas, such as reducing flashiness of the creeks.

  • The Tampa Bay Estuary Program’s Sediment Quality Advisory Group selected two areas in Tampa Bay with sediment impairment for continued research and development of management recommendations. The group utilized myriad data and information on the sites for prioritization, such as chemicals of concern, health of the benthic community, sources of pollutants, and previous dredging history. The advisory group will collaborate with other agencies to develop appropriate source control and/or remediation activities.

    PUBLIC OUTREACH ACCOMPLISHMENTS

  • TBEP helped coordinate and participated in EPA’s Open House aboard the research vessel R/V Bold. TBEP staff acted as tour guides guiding more than 100 visitors onto and off the vessel and through several information stations on board.

  • TBEP facilitated a Bay Mini-Grant writing workshop to aid interested parties in completing their grant application package.

  • TBEP awarded $160,000 in Bay Mini-Grants to community groups and civic organizations. Bay Mini-Grants are funded with revenue from the sale of the Tampa Bay Estuary specialty license plate.

  • Coordinated and facilitated the 4th annual Estuary Academy on October 28, 2007, an all-day event at Weedon Island Preserve featuring morning lectures by area scientists and afternoon hands-on workshops. Nearly 65 people attended the Academy, and CAC members assisted with planning, set-up and registration.

  • Sponsored and participated in the annual Regional Ocean Conference for students at The Florida Aquarium, including presentations at the pre-conference teacher workshop in November. The theme of this year’s conference was “Tampa Bay: Living Legacy.”

  • Completed the production of an Invasive Species Teaching Guide for middle-school students. This guide meets FCAT benchmarks for grades 6-8. The curriculum is available on CD and also can be downloaded from our website.

  • Produced a 30-second and 60-second broadcast-quality public service announcements promoting the Tampa Bay Estuary license tag.

  • TBEP’s documentary film “Tampa Bay: Living Legacy” received an award of Excellence in the 2007 Blue Pencil/Gold Screen awards competition sponsored by the National Association of Government Communicators.

  • Coordinated planning, on-site logistics and volunteer recruitment for 4 “Give A Day For The Bay” restoration workdays on February 24 at Mosaic Park in Riverview, March 31 at Fish Hawk Creek Preserve in Riverview, May 19 at Egmont Key in Hillsborough, and June 9 at Ridgecrest Park in Largo. More than 165 volunteers participated in the four workdays.

  • Continued to coordinate development of a week-long curriculum unit for 9th grade biology students in Hillsborough County based on key chapters of TBEP’s documentary film, “Tampa bay: Living Legacy.”

  • Completed production of the “Guardians of the Bay” comic book, highlighting elected officials, scientists and educators who have been bay advocates, and encouraging kids to do their part to protect the bay.

  • Facilitated, at the request of the Hillsborough Environmental Protection Commission, a public workshop on a proposed “Pole or Troll” zone through seagrass beds at the Cockroach Bay Aquatic Preserve in Ruskin in May.
    • The Tampa Bay Estuary Program ID