New Tidal Stream Assessment Project Results

The Water Atlases for Florida’s three Gulf Coast National Estuary Programs have a new feature. Each Atlas has a new page that shows tidal stream assessments from sixteen tidal streams along the west coast of Florida; from the northern extent of Tampa Bay to the southern extent of Charlotte Harbor. The primary focus of the project was to help characterize nutrient regimes along the tidal portion of coastal creeks as they relate to the Numeric Nutrient Criteria (NNC) for impairment. The assessment methods used were bathymetric mapping, vegetation surveys, and habitat assessments. Vegetation surveys were collected in approximately 200-meter regions beginning at the downstream extent and continuing to the upstream extent.

The website features an interactive map that allows you to look at the data collected from the individual tidal stream assessments. The map gives information such as: when each creek was assessed, the surface area of the creek, bottom hardness, and the average depth.

Another great feature on the Tidal Stream Assessment website is the opportunity to view and download the individual assessments of each creek. In each assessment there is a description of the study area with an aerial map, habitat description, a vegetation analysis and a bathymetric map. Users may also view/download the entire project report, which includes assessments of all creeks.

This project was led by the Sarasota Bay Estuary Program (SBEP) in collaboration with the Charlotte Harbor National Estuary Program (CHNEP) and the Tampa Bay Estuary Program (TBEP), with funding from the United States Environmental Protection Agency.