Water Management District (SWFWMD) and locally to the Tampa Bay Estuary ...... found locally and support the large phosphate mining and fertilizer industry in ...
Surface Water Quality 2001-2010
Hillsborough County, Florida
Surface Water Quality 2001-2010
Preface
Surface Water Quality 2001-2010 Hillsborough County, Florida
David J. Karlen, Ph.D. Environmental Protection Commission of Hillsborough County 3629 Queen Palm Drive Tampa, Florida 33619 (813) 627-2600 http://www.epchc.org
August 2014 Environmental Protection Commission of Hillsborough County
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Surface Water Quality 2001-2010
Preface
Environmental Protection Commission of Hillsborough County WATER MANAGEMENT DIVISION
Sam Elrabi, P.E. Director
Richard Garrity, Ph.D. Executive Director
Marsha Reese, Administrative Specialist
Tom Ash, Assistant Director, Environmental Monitoring and Restoration Kevin Campbell Tom Dix
Barbara Goetting
Eric Lesnett
Sara Markham
Michael Schuman
Joette Jernigan
Ethan Mathiak
Laura Thorne
David Karlen
Chris Pratt
Brett Ursin
Joe Barron, Environmental Manager, Laboratory Services Samantha Ashley Shanin Shapiro
Dawn Jaspard Amanda Stewart
Diana Mesa Lukasz Talalaj
Noel Mesa Alesia Voss
Paula Noblitt, General Manager III, Compliance Assurance Byron Bartlett
Daniel Moore
Michael Newman
Jeffery Sklut
Water Engineering Department Tony Alhomsi
Rafah Alkhatib
Woodrow Batchelor
Environmental Protection Commission of Hillsborough County
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Ed Coppock
Lora Woodard
Surface Water Quality 2001-2010
Preface
Table of Contents
Table of Contents .......................................................................................................................................... ii List of Figures ............................................................................................................................................... iv List of Tables ............................................................................................................................................... vii List of Abbreviations .................................................................................................................................. viii Chapter 1....................................................................................................................................................... 1 INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................................................................. 1 History ....................................................................................................................................................... 1 Classification of Surface Waters ............................................................................................................... 2 Impaired Waters and Total Maximum Daily Loads................................................................................. 12 Freshwater Inflows, Water Resources and Minimum Flows and Levels ................................................ 18 Chapter 2..................................................................................................................................................... 19 PHYSICAL PARAMETERS .............................................................................................................................. 19 Introduction ............................................................................................................................................ 19 Depth ...................................................................................................................................................... 19 Temperature ........................................................................................................................................... 20 Salinity and Conductivity......................................................................................................................... 27 pH ............................................................................................................................................................ 31 Dissolved Oxygen .................................................................................................................................... 35 Chapter 3..................................................................................................................................................... 43 WATER CLARITY .......................................................................................................................................... 43 Introduction ............................................................................................................................................ 43 Color ........................................................................................................................................................ 43 Turbidity .................................................................................................................................................. 48 Total Suspended Solids ........................................................................................................................... 50 Effective Light Penetration ..................................................................................................................... 53 Chapter 4..................................................................................................................................................... 56 NUTRIENTS .................................................................................................................................................. 56 Introduction ............................................................................................................................................ 56
Environmental Protection Commission of Hillsborough County
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Surface Water Quality 2001-2010
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Phosphorus ............................................................................................................................................. 56 Nitrogen .................................................................................................................................................. 66 Ammonia ............................................................................................................................................. 66 Total Kjeldahl Nitrogen ....................................................................................................................... 70 Organic Nitrogen ................................................................................................................................ 73 Nitrate + Nitrite (NOx)......................................................................................................................... 76 Total Nitrogen ..................................................................................................................................... 79 Silica ........................................................................................................................................................ 82 Chapter 5..................................................................................................................................................... 85 CHLOROPHYLL AND PHYTOPLANKTON ....................................................................................................... 85 Chlorophyll a ........................................................................................................................................... 85 Phytoplankton......................................................................................................................................... 90 Chapter 6................................................................................................................................................... 107 BACTERIA .................................................................................................................................................. 107 Fecal Coliform ....................................................................................................................................... 108 Biochemical Oxygen Demand ............................................................................................................... 111 Chapter 7................................................................................................................................................... 113 Summary and Synthesis ............................................................................................................................ 113 Water Quality Index .............................................................................................................................. 113 Water Quality Index Formulation ..................................................................................................... 113 Water Quality Index Trends .................................................................................................................. 125 Conclusions ........................................................................................................................................... 132 References ................................................................................................................................................ 133
Environmental Protection Commission of Hillsborough County
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Surface Water Quality 2001-2010
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List of Figures FIGURE 1 EPCHC MONTHLY SURFACE WATER QUALITY MONITORING STATIONS. ............................................................................3 FIGURE 2 EPCHC QUARTERLY WATER QUALITY MONITORING STATIONS. .......................................................................................8 FIGURE 3. SURFACE WATER CLASSIFICATIONS FOR TAMPA BAY AND HILLSBOROUGH COUNTY WATERS. ............................................11 FIGURE 4. IMPAIRED WATERS WITHIN TAMPA BAY AND HILLSBOROUGH COUNTY: A. ALL IMPAIRED WATERBODIES; B. NUTRIENT (CHLOROPHYLL A) IMPAIRMENTS; C. DISSOLVED OXYGEN IMPAIRMENTS; D. FECAL/COLIFORM BACTERIA IMPAIRMENTS...............13 FIGURE 5. ANNUAL AVERAGE WATER TEMPERATURE BY DEPTH STRATUM. ....................................................................................21 FIGURE 6. MONTHLY AVERAGE SURFACE WATER TEMPERATURES JANUARY 2001 – DECEMBER 2010 ..............................................22 FIGURE 7. TAMPA BAY ANNUAL AVERAGE SURFACE WATER TEMPERATURE 1972 – 2010. DASHED LINE = OVERALL BAY-WIDE AVERAGE. 23 FIGURE 8. ANNUAL AVERAGE BAY-WIDE SALINITY FOR SURFACE, MID-DEPTH AND BOTTOM. DASHED LINES REPRESENT LOWER SALINITY CUTOFFS FOR EUHALINE (30 PSU) AND POLYHALINE (18 PSU) SALINITY ZONES. ..................................................................... 29 FIGURE 9. AVERAGE MONTHLY SALINITY BY BAY SEGMENT 2001-2010. DASHED LINES INDICATE SALINITY ZONE CUTOFFS: OLIGOHALINE (< 5 PSU); LOW MESOHALINE (5-10 PSU); HIGH MESOHALINE (10-18 PSU); POLYHALINE (18-30 PSU) AND EUHALINE (>30 PSU). 30 FIGURE 10. ANNUAL AVERAGE SURFACE SALINITIES BY BAY SEGMENT 1972-2010. .......................................................................31 FIGURE 11. ANNUAL AVERAGE PH BY DEPTH STRATA. ..............................................................................................................33 FIGURE 12. MONTHLY AVERAGE SURFACE PH BY BAY SEGMENT FROM JANUARY 2001 – DECEMBER 2010 .......................................34 FIGURE 13. ANNUAL AVERAGE SURFACE PH BY BAY SEGMENT. DASHED LINE INDICATES OVERALL BAY-WIDE AVERAGE PH VALUE............35 FIGURE 14. TAMPA BAY ANNUAL AVERAGE DISSOLVED OXYGEN BY DEPTH STRATA.........................................................................36 FIGURE 15. MONTHLY AVERAGE SURFACE DISSOLVED OXYGEN BY BAY SEGMENT JANUARY 2001- DECEMBER 2010. DASHED LINE INDICATES FLORIDA STATE STANDARD FOR IMPAIRED MARINE WATER (4 MG/L). .................................................................. 38 FIGURE 16. MONTHLY AVERAGE BOTTOM DISSOLVED OXYGEN BY BAY SEGMENT JANUARY 2001- DECEMBER 2010. DASHED LINE INDICATES FLORIDA STATE STANDARD FOR IMPAIRED MARINE WATER (4 MG/L) AND FOR HYPOXIC CONDITIONS (
