Biscayne Bay Management Essay

There are numerous management plans in place for the upkeep and sustenance of the Biscayne Bay. The execution of these management strategies is undertaken by various agencies and groups. These plans are created through research and obtaining a full understanding on the issues at hand and how they must be addressed to prevent further problems. The main concerns that are managed relate to the biodiversity, water quality, the declining health and sustainability of ecosystems and the organisms and also improving public awareness.

The stormwater runoffs from the surrounding urban areas have increased the vulnerability of the bay to contaminants, however within the past 20 years, through good management practices, regulations and extended research

on the water quality, the bay has significantly developed and improved. Presently, Biscayne Bay waters meet all standards both federally and locally for fishing and recreational use.
The agencies and regulators involved with the environmental upkeep of the Bay include, the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP), Miami Dade County Department of Environmental Regulation (DERM), Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan (CERP), the Office of Coastal and Aquatic Managed Areas (CAMA) which is a partnered network encompassing 41 aquatic preserves, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Miami-Dade County (MDC) and South Florida Water Management District (SFWMD).
DERM has one hundred and five monitoring stations that provide water quality and epibenthic data. There are twenty-four parameters setup to measure and analyze grab samples collected. This monitoring effort was designed in 1979, to provide information and record data to evaluate estuarine restoration. With constant and consistent monitoring of water quality in the same parameters, changes in water quality become easier to identify and base management decisions (DEP). The epibenthic monitoring studies the sea grass and the bottom surface sediments. There are twelve permanent stations that monitor variations in seagrass species and their distribution. The Fisheries Habitat Assessment Program (FHAP) of the Fish and Wildlife Research Institute (FWRI) also observe and conduct monitoring on randomly selected sample sites for seagrass changes. A prime example of seagrass species includes, the turtle grass found predominantly in the southern part of the bay, whereas the manatee grass is found in the northern area of the bay.
The Florida Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) protects conserves and manages Florida’s natural resources and enforces the state’s environmental laws (DEP). The department works with other agencies to protect and restore water quality and manage cleanups and restoration. Recently, they have begun funding a project to reduce pollution and contaminants entering the northern portion of Biscayne Bay. The project sets out to install exfiltration trenches, which would diminish the pollutant and contamination content by infiltrating stormwater through the soil instead of having it flow downstream and into the bay. Stormwater runoff consists of many pollutants, such as fertilizers, pesticides, oil and atmospheric depositions. When the runoff reaches the bay it causes many complications to the water, for example, an excess of nutrients from atmospheric deposition can cause unsolicited growth of algae and aquatic weeds and water discoloration, oil and roadway runoff leads to toxicity for the aquatic life and adverse impacts on benthic communities (SFWMD). Exfiltration trenches will significantly reduce urban runoff, thereby improving water quality.
CERP has adopted an adaptive management to support the improvement of decision making and performance. It’s a ‘learn by doing’ approach that will integrate planning and design through ongoing monitoring and evaluation. This type of management uses multiple designs and field test about the hydrological, ecological and water quality response to different proposed management actions. CERP is currently working on a project to restore and redistribute the flow to Biscayne Bay wetlands. The problem that occurs is through point source discharges of fresh water, which result from a series of canals that flow directly into the southern part of the bay. This causes the salinity patterns to change because there is a lack of freshwater flowing into the wetlands. The wetlands originally being freshwater is now flooded with salt water in the mangroves.
With this adaptive management plan, it hopes to achieve re-established productive nursery habitat along the shoreline, redistribute the freshwater to improve estuarine habitat, restore and improve the quality, quantity and distribution of water into the bay and reestablish connectivity to the bay (Everglades.org).

With the adaptive management plan, uncertainties and cost are already evaluated, and decision matrices have been produced to plot the course of action. For example, the stressor metric is Salinity, the target has been listed as 10-25 PSU from shoreline to 100m offshore and there are three options for management: change operations to meet flow requirements to achieve salinity, increase flow from north Biscayne Bay Basin, evaluate additional factors affection flow

(evergladesplan.org).
Conceptual modeling is used as planning tools for the adaptive management. In CERP, conceptual ecological models link environmental stressors and their effects on major ecological attributes, for example, water quality, habitat alteration, etc. The conceptual models are used to develop a testable hypothesis, develop performance measures and identify predictive tools. The adaptive management process uses the hypothesis derived from the conceptual model to verify CERP’s progress, performance and recommend changes (Evergladesplan.org). The conceptual framework is performed to understand the issues and interest involved to develop agreed upon rules to guide the process. An example of conceptual ecological models assist in assessing and indication goals for CERP can be seen how water management (driver) can alter the freshwater inflow (stressor) to bays and wetlands affecting salinity (effect), which then affects oyster reef health (attribute) (CERP Adaptive Management Integration).
Weather and climate changes create several issues for the bay that has to be managed with the help of predictive tools and models.

When bad weather conditions exist, large amounts of water are released into the bay causing variations in the salinity and contributing to a decrease in water quality. Increased sediments and nutrients along with chemical pollution enter into the water at rapid rates. For example, after Hurricane Andrew, high turbidity, increased nutrients, pollutants such as, gas from damaged boats, along with dissolvable organic carbon, and persistent plankton blooms were observed within Biscayne Bay (Tilmant et al., 1994). Benthic communities also experienced high erosion, and burial and removal of organisms during Andrew and previous hurricanes (Thomas et al., 1962; Tilmant et al., 1994). When a natural catastrophe such as, a hurricane happens, the turbidity and surrounding damaged areas causes the bodies of water to move and mix. Large quantities of nutrients, pesticides, and bacteria from affected areas and other bodies of water alter the sediment movement. This variation causes an excessive amount of nutrients to enter into the bays, rivers and coastal areas which causes algal and plankton blooms. This threatens the life of organisms living in the bay, disrupts commercial fisheries and restricts recreational

activities.
The aftermath of a weather catastrophe is to assess the damage of the bay by monitoring and quantifying the chemical and biological contamination, in order to assess exposures and risks from toxics and contaminants. Agencies, such as, Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), collect environmental and water samples from the surrounding areas. Many smaller groups and agencies assisted with campaigns to clean debris and other pollutants out of the bay.
The cold weather experienced in January 2010 resulted in the death of 197 manatees along with large numbers of dead fishes and reptiles who were susceptible to the cold weather. Since then, both natural and artificial tributaries have been developed to serve as a habitat for manatees during times of struggle, and also flood gates have been modified. Consistent and effective management plans for weather and climate changes are essential in protecting the life of the bay.