Pickering, N., Baker, E. S.

Watershed scale planning to reduce the Land-Based Sources of Pollution (LBSP) for the protection of coral reefs in Southeast Florida. An overview and data gap assessment

2015

Sandwich, MA

Horsley Witten Group, Inc.

121

Final Report

"This project provides an assessment framework for evaluating the impacts of land-based sources of pollution (LBSP) on the coral reef ecosystem in southeast coastal waters of Martin, Palm Beach, Broward, and Miami-Dade counties. Rapid population growth and intense increases in land development in this region over the past 50-100 years have put the coral reef ecosystem and supporting estuarine habitats under significant stress. Pollutants from these land-based human activities include nutrients (e.g. nitrogen and phosphorus), sediments, pathogens pharmaceutical and personal care products, and other LBSPs. These pollutants are discharged to the southeast Florida coastal ecosystem in large part in stormwater runoff (both urban and agricultural) and wastewater effluent and the management of stormwater and wastewater in southeast Florida affects the pollutants loads and ecosystem impacts. The purpose of this document is to assist the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and other Southeast Florida Coral Reef Initiative (SEFCRI) partners in tackling the problems associated with LBSP by identifying sources of pollution, data availability and gaps, and sources of information from past planning and management activities in southeastern Florida. This report creates a watershed-based framework for understanding and assessing the pollutant sources and loads, and uses nine coastal inlets in the region as the basis for defining the contributing watersheds. This report will provide a roadmap for future LBSP-related data collection and pollution reduction efforts in southeast Florida. This report includes Appendix A: Library of Information; and Appendix B: Relevant Planning and Management Documents in Each ICA."

FY2014 CRCP Project ID: 807; Project Title: Coordinating Watershed Scale Planning and LBSP Reduction for the Southeast Florida Reef Tract and Back Reef Systems; Principal Investigator: Rob Ferguson