Press Release: Florida Bay Report

[WebMaster]

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             Press Release: Florida Bay Report

An Evaluation of the Scientific Basis for "Restoring" Florida
Bay by Increasing Freshwater Runoff from the Everglades.


                   by Larry E. Brand, Ph.D.
     Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science
                     University of Miami

                      October 17, 2000
                http://www.reefrelief.org

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Items:

1) Press Release: Florida Bay Report
2) View the entire report and supporting graphics online!
3) Join our grassroots efforts to save the coral reefs.

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1) Press Release: Florida Bay Report

   An Evaluation of the Scientific Basis for "Restoring"
   Florida Bay by Increasing Freshwater Runoff from the
   Everglades.

Within the past 20 years, major ecological changes have
occurred in South Florida coastal waters. In Florida Bay,
large algal blooms have developed and persisted, the water
has become more turbid, large areas of seagasses and sponges
have died, and major changes have occurred in fish populations.
In the Florida Keys, algae have overgrown many coral reefs,
coral diseases have increased, and many corals have died.
Many of these changes are classical indicators of excess
nutrients.

Our research has concluded that nutrients in runoff from the
Everglades Agricultural Area are the major source of the
nutrients generating the algal blooms, which in turn have
killed sponges, increased turbidity, reduced the light
available to seagrasses, and altered the entire food web
of Florida Bay. Our research has shown that this nutrient
and algae-rich water is transported into the Florida Keys
coral reef tract, where water quality has declined.

One of the stated goals of the Comprehensive Everglades
Restoration Plan is to restore the flow of freshwater into
Florida Bay as it was a century ago. If the water was the
same today as then, ecological benefits could be expected.
Unfortunately, the freshwater runoff from the Everglades is
now rich in agricultural nitrogen. Just as phosphate from
agricultural runoff has caused ecological changes in the
Everglades, the nitrogen has caused major ecological changes
in Florida Bay.

In fact, more freshwater began being pumped into Florida Bay
during the 1980's and 1990's to drain more land for the
expansion of agriculture and suburban developments along the
edge of the Everglades. This increased input of freshwater
which is now rich in nitrogen has been accompanied by a major
ecological decline in the ecosystems of Florida Bay and the
Florida Keys.

Another goal of the Comprehensive Everglades Restoration
Plan is to enlarge the passes between the Keys to increase
water exchange between Florida Bay and the coral reefs. This
will result in an increase in the flux of poor quality water
to the coral reefs. The relative benefits of increased
freshwater input and costs of increased nutrient inputs need
to be compared. The Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan
presently focuses on the restoration of water flow and
ignores the impact of nitrogen inputs.

Larry E. Brand
Division of Marine Biology and Fisheries
Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science
University of Miami
email: lbrand at rsmas.miami.edu

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2)  To view the complete report online, along with
    supporting graphical data, please goto:

http://www.reefrelief.org/FloridaBay/report.html

or simply visit our main page and follow the
appropriate headline link at:

http://www.reefrelief.org

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3)  Join our grassroots efforts to save the coral reefs!

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