Developing a Water Quality Assessment Framework for Southwest Florida Tidal Creeks

Abstract

The three contiguous National Estuary Programs of southwest Florida, along with partners from six coastal counties, have developed a tidal creek water quality assessment framework to help prioritize natural resource investigations across a large population of tidal creeks between Tampa Bay and Estero Bay, Florida. The assessment framework is based on outcomes of a multidisciplinary study and includes a nutrient based report card that characterizes nutrient conditions relative to regional numeric nutrient criteria developed for contributing freshwater streams, identification of site-specific water quality indicators of tidal creek condition, and an online open science dashboard to display the assessment framework and provide access to all information relevant to its implementation. Application of the assessment framework has provided an actionable list of southwest Florida tidal creeks prioritized for further research and potential management action along with a host of site-specific indicator results that provide insights into drivers of tidal creek condition. The open science dashboard provides a platform for dissemination of this information in a readily accessible and reproducible format and a means to incorporate new data and indicators as they become available. Local resource managers are in need of tools to help prioritize natural resource investigations and management actions that achieve the greatest resource benefit with limited available resources. This assessment framework informs these efforts and builds capacity for future research to identify and refine management tools for these creeks where management resources, data, and sentinel biological response endpoints are limited.