News & Announcements
Notice of Final Assessment Determination for One Impaired Water in the Ochlockonee-St. Marks Basin
(November 6, 2024)
The department announces the revised final assessment determination for one waterbody, Lake Overstreet Drain (WBID 689) in the Ochlockonee - St. Marks basin. Lake Overstreet Drain was initially proposed for addition to the Verified List of Impaired Waters for Escherichia coli; however, the City of Tallahassee, stakeholders that are located within the basin, timely requested and was granted an extension of time on the proposed listing, which kept the proposed agency action from becoming final. This waterbody is being placed on the Study List for Escherichia coli as the final assessment determination for the Biennial Assessment 2022 - 2024. A final order revising the final assessment determination of Lake Overstreet Drain was adopted by Secretarial Order on November 4, 2024.
Notice of Biennial Assessment 2022-2024 Final Assessment Lists
(August 19, 2024)
The department announces the Biennial Assessment 2022-2024 final assessment lists of waterbodies and water segments. The FINAL assessment lists were developed pursuant to Chapter 62-303, Florida Administrative Code (F.A.C.), to include all 29 basins in the state and were adopted by Secretarial Order on August 16, 2024. The Final Verified Lists include those waters that are additions to the State's Verified List of Impaired Waters and are proposed for addition to the Clean Water Act (CWA) section 303(d) list. The Final Delist Lists include those waters that are removals from the State's Verified List and are proposed for removal from the CWA section 303(d) list. The Final Study Lists include those waters that do not attain water quality standards and additional information is needed to confirm attainment; an alternative restoration plan is in place; have an adverse trend in nutrients or nutrient response variables; or exceedances of stream nutrient thresholds, but the department does not have enough information to fully assess nonattainment of the stream nutrient water quality standard. The Final Study List Removals include those waters that no longer meet the listing requirements for the Study List, as identified in Rule 62-303.390, F.A.C., and are submitted to EPA for removal from the CWA section 303(d) list. The final Master Lists (which contain all assessments for all waterbodies in each basin) are available here.
Assessing the condition of waterbodies in the 29 basins involved the evaluation of over 12.4 million data results for 6,763 waterbodies. Over 95,200 individual pollutant assessments were conducted for these waterbodies, which resulted in 559 new verified impairments. Of the individual pollutant assessments, 32,584 were not impaired last assessment cycle (2022) and remain not impaired today. There were 6,439 parameters newly assessed as not impaired this cycle. Additionally, the assessments resulted in the removal (delisting) of 204 previous impairments from the Verified List for various reasons. One reason a water can be delisted is that a TMDL has been completed. Another reason for delisting is that the water quality conditions have improved and the water is no longer impaired.
Of the 559 additions to the Verified List, approximately 44 percent are due to impairments for dissolved oxygen or a nutrient related parameter (biology, chlorophyll a, total nitrogen, total phosphorus or a floral imbalance); 40 percent are due to fecal indicator bacteria; 15 percent are due to impairments for metals; 1 percent is due to turbidity; and 1 percent is due to pesticides in fish tissue.
There are several reasons that a waterbody has become impaired over this assessment period that can be summarized into five main categories: additional data were collected since the 2022 assessment cycle, an assessment correction was made from the last cycle, areas with restoration projects no longer in progress were identified, there was a change in the assessment methodology, or the data shows that water quality has declined since the 2022 update. Waters added to the Verified List due to additional data were either previously assessed on the Study List, Planning List, or had no data last assessment cycle and were prioritized for additional monitoring and now there is sufficient information to add waters to the Verified List as impaired.
In addition to the final assessment lists in spreadsheet format, an interactive map titled "Biennial Assessment 2022-2024 Final Lists" is available that shows the geographic location of the waterbodies and waterbody segments by WBID that are proposed for addition to the Verified List, Delist List, Study List or Study List Removals. For help using the interactive map features, please review this help file or alternatively, you may download the final list GIS shapefiles as a geodatabase.
These assessment lists were produced with water quality and biological data included in the IWR Run 64 Database that have been received by the department as of July 13, 2022. They also incorporate station-WBID assignment updates, WBID classification updates and/or data exclusions based on a preliminary evaluation by department staff.
Availability of the 2024 Strategic Monitoring Plans
(January 31, 2024)
The department announces the availability of the 2024 Strategic Monitoring Plans here. These plans represent the water quality and biological monitoring needs identified by the department in preparation for basin assessments as part of the watershed management approach. The Watershed Assessment Section developed the 2024 Strategic Monitoring Plans to assist in assessing the health of Florida's surface waters by conducting biological assessments and water quality sampling. These activities are carried out by seven Regional Operation Centers (ROCs) located throughout the department's six District offices and by staff in Tallahassee. The extensive monitoring effort is accomplished through coordination with local stakeholders, water management districts, city and county governments.
Notice of Biennial Assessment Outreach Public Meetings
(February 18, 2021)
The Watershed Assessment Section held two public meetings on February 25 and March 4 to present updates on the implementation of a streamlined approach to assessing water quality statewide on a biennial (two-year) assessment cycle. These meetings provided stakeholders with an overview of the statewide biennial assessment process, schedule for publishing draft basin assessments lists and supporting documentation for the development of impaired waters lists. Under the previous process, the department operated on a five-year cycle, assessing roughly 20 percent of the state's waters each year. The new biennial assessment approach provides Floridians with a more up-to-date picture of Florida's overall water quality conditions. Stakeholders across the state will have current, actionable information that will promote more effective and timely water quality restoration.
Meeting materials are available online. Also available is additional information on the biennial assessment here, including a Process Document and Frequently Asked Questions.
