Integrated Water Quality Assessment for Florida: 2012 305(B) Report and 303(D) List Update
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Integrated Water Quality Assessment for Florida: 2012 305(b) Report and 303(d) List Update May 2012 Florida Department of Environmental Protection Division of Environmental Assessment and Restoration Tallahassee, Florida 2012 Integrated Water Quality Assessment for Florida, May 2012 This page intentionally left blank. ii Florida Department of Environmental Protection 2012 Integrated Water Quality Assessment for Florida, May 2012 iii Florida Department of Environmental Protection 2012 Integrated Water Quality Assessment for Florida, May 2012 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS This document was prepared by staff in the following bureaus of the Division of Environmental Assessment and Restoration, and the Division of Water Resource Management, within the Florida Department of Environmental Protection: • Bureau of Assessment and Restoration Support: o Standards and Assessment Section o Watershed Assessment Section o Watershed Monitoring Section • Bureau of Watershed Restoration: o Ground Water Management Section o Nonpoint Source Management Section o Watershed Evaluation and Total Management of Daily Loads (TMDL) Section o Watershed Planning and Coordination Section • Bureau of Laboratories: o Biology Section • Bureau of Water Facilities Regulation: o Domestic Wastewater Section o Drinking Water Section o National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) Stormwater Section o Wastewater Compliance and Evaluation Section Many thanks to staff at the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) for their valuable help in updating the section on cyanobacteria in Chapter 3. iv Florida Department of Environmental Protection 2012 Integrated Water Quality Assessment for Florida, May 2012 TABLE OF CONTENTS LIST OF ACRONYMS AND ABBREVIATIONS ......................................................... XVI EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ............................................................................................ XXI CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION ..................................................................................... 1 Purpose ................................................................................................................... 1 Federal Assessment and Reporting Requirements ............................................. 1 Integrating the Federal Requirements into Florida’s Watershed Management Approach .......................................................................................... 3 CHAPTER 2: BACKGROUND INFORMATION ............................................................ 5 Overview .................................................................................................................. 5 Population ................................................................................................................................. 7 Climate ....................................................................................................................................... 7 Surface Water and Ground Water Resources .................................................... 10 Streams and Rivers ................................................................................................................ 10 Lakes ........................................................................................................................................ 11 Estuaries and Coastal Waters ............................................................................................... 12 Wetlands .................................................................................................................................. 12 Aquifers and Springs.............................................................................................................. 13 Hydrogeology ........................................................................................................ 14 Surface Water .......................................................................................................................... 14 Ground Water .......................................................................................................................... 14 Surface Water–Ground Water Interactions .......................................................................... 15 CHAPTER 3: ISSUES OF ENVIRONMENTAL INTEREST AND INITIATIVES .......................................................................................... 17 Issues of Environmental Interest ........................................................................ 17 Drinking Water ........................................................................................................................ 17 Healthy Beaches Program ..................................................................................................... 20 Deepwater Horizon (MC252) Oil Spill .................................................................................... 21 Bacterial and Mercury Contamination .................................................................................. 22 Harmful Algal Blooms ............................................................................................................ 23 Initiatives ............................................................................................................... 27 CHAPTER 4: FLORIDA’S APPROACH TO MONITORING SURFACE WATER AND GROUND WATER .......................................................... 34 Background ........................................................................................................... 34 Florida’s Integrated Water Resources Monitoring Program ............................. 38 Element 1: Monitoring Objectives ........................................................................................ 40 Element 2: Monitoring Strategy ............................................................................................ 40 Element 5: Quality Assurance .............................................................................................. 41 v Florida Department of Environmental Protection 2012 Integrated Water Quality Assessment for Florida, May 2012 Element 6: Data Management ............................................................................................... 42 Element 9: Program Evaluation ............................................................................................ 42 Element 10: General Support and Infrastructure Planning ............................................... 43 Evolving Approaches to Monitoring ................................................................... 43 CHAPTER 5: DESIGN FOR THE STATUS AND TREND NETWORKS ..................... 45 Background ........................................................................................................... 45 Status Network Monitoring .................................................................................. 46 Water Resource Types ........................................................................................................... 47 Geographic Design and Site Selection ................................................................................. 48 Sampling and Frequency ....................................................................................................... 48 Status Network Core and Supplemental Indicators ............................................................ 49 Status Monitoring Network Design Changes ....................................................................... 52 Future Design and Reporting ................................................................................................ 52 Trend Network ....................................................................................................... 53 Surface Water Trend Network ............................................................................................... 55 Ground Water Trend Network ................................................................................................ 55 Trend Network Core and Supplemental Indicators ............................................................. 58 Data Evaluation ..................................................................................................... 58 CHAPTER 6: RESULTS OF THE STATUS AND TREND NETWORK ASSESSMENTS FOR 2009–10 ............................................................ 59 Summary of Status Network Surface Water Results ......................................... 59 Introduction ............................................................................................................................. 59 Rivers, Streams, Large Lakes, and Small Lakes ................................................................. 61 Sediment Quality Evaluation ................................................................................................. 70 Summary of Status Network Ground Water Results ......................................... 76 Summary of Surface and Ground Water Trend Network Results ..................... 82 Surface Water Trends ............................................................................................................. 82 Ground Water Trends ............................................................................................................. 94 CHAPTER 7: OVERVIEW OF STRATEGIC MONITORING AND ASSESSMENT METHODOLOGY FOR SURFACE WATER .............. 114 Historical Perspective on the Assessment Methodology ............................... 114 Assessment Methodology: The Impaired Surface Waters Rule ....................................