Florida’s Integrated Water Resource Monitoring Strategy

Florida’s Integrated Water Resource Monitoring Strategy for  Fiscal Years 2025 - 2029

The Florida Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) is committed to protecting and restoring Florida’s waters and to providing sound, scientific water quality monitoring information. Florida’s Integrated Water Resource Monitoring Strategy for  Fiscal Years 2025 - 2029 articulates the overall goals, objectives, strategy, and design of DEP’s Integrated Water Resources Monitoring Network (IWRMN) to meet CWA and Florida’s statutory and regulatory requirements. Water resources cannot be managed without comprehensive water quality monitoring and assessment. The purpose of DEP’s monitoring activities are to: 

(1) Determine the overall quality of the state’s surface waters and groundwaters, 
(2) Determine how they are changing over time, 
(3) Identify impaired waters, and; 
(4) Determine the effectiveness of protection and restoration programs. 

These monitoring activities, laboratory analyses, and assessments are implemented through DEP’s Division of Environmental Assessment and Restoration (DEAR), which consists of eight programs and includes staff located throughout the state that cover each of the DEP’s six district offices and Tallahassee. Meeting these monitoring objectives includes coordination and collaboration with contractors and stakeholders.

Under the CWA, states are required to determine whether surface waters meet applicable water quality standards (i.e., attain their designated uses, or applicable criteria based on the classification); identify impaired waters; identify the causes and sources of water quality impairments; support the implementation of water management programs; establish, review, and revise water quality standards; establish special monitoring for unique resources; and support the evaluation of program effectiveness. Under Florida’s statutes and rules, DEP is also required to carry out various types of monitoring, including groundwater monitoring, and to coordinate monitoring activities statewide.