Florida's Coral Reef Water Quality Data Compilation, Analysis, and Decision Support Year 4

Executive Summary
Florida’s Coral Reef (FCR) has been facing a range of anthropogenic and biophysical stressors over the last several decades that have led to widespread declines in coral cover. One of the key concerns for FCR has been the impact of water quality, which is affected by a number of factors that include pollution, land-use change, weather events, and water diversions. However, the large geographic extent of FCR leads to diverse localized and regional pressures that cause significant variation and hotspots in water quality. As a result, efforts to monitor water quality on FCR are made up of a series of discrete regional field sampling programs, continuous sampling with autonomous instruments, and remotely-sensed and satellite-derived analyses. Thus, it is challenging to combine these disparate sources of water quality data to create a comprehensive picture of historical and current water quality trends across FCR. The water quality monitoring data aggregation and analysis project addressed this challenge by developing a unified water quality database ranging from Martin County in the northeast to the Dry Tortugas in the southwest of FCR. During year 4 of this project, the water quality team added an 8th program meeting the compatibility criteria, updated the database and trend analyses, developed new and updated visualization tools and maps, contributed to statewide water quality management teams, and identified a long-term solution for the database and associated products.
 

The unified water quality database is now updated with data through 2023 for 8 programs that meet the inclusion criteria developed in previous years of the project, with the addition of Palm Beach County for the first time this year. Trend analyses were completed for all of the nutrients monitored by the program, and web maps and applications depicting the data and trends were updated to include the 2023 results. While the existing maps show the spatial patterns of trends well, the need to more clearly visualize temporal trends led the water quality team to develop an open-source data visualization tool (DVT) that allows users to view the time-series data at each individual sampling location. The large number of products associated with the unified database has led to a need for a single ‘one-stop-shop’ for users to access data and maps. The water quality team identified the Statewide Ecosystem Assessment of Coastal and Aquatic Resources (SEACAR) Data Discovery Interface as a long-term solution. Adding the unified database to SEACAR will allow for a streamlined and automated yearly update of the database while integrating the more rigorous QA/QC processes developed for the water quality project into SEACAR.
 

The expertise collected during the development of the unified database allowed the team to provide technical advisory support to Florida’s Coral Reef Coordination Team (FCRCT) and FCRRP Water Quality team throughout the year. The FCRCT outlined priorities and actions necessary to develop a comprehensive water quality monitoring program to determine the effects of Everglades restoration on FCR. The project team worked with the FCRRP Water Quality team to accomplish action 1, inventorying existing monitoring programs; and supply a framework to accomplish actions 2 and 3, inventorying existing biological and ecological monitoring programs and establishing a list of parameters of interest. In summary, the FCR water quality aggregation project has made it easier for scientists to integrate water quality data into their research, provided critical information to address FCRCT and FCRRP priorities and actions, and developed products for scientists, managers, and the public to visualize spatial and temporal water quality trends across Florida’s Coral Reef.