In February, the Tampa Bay National Estuary Program capped nearly six years of scientific research and community dialogue about the future of Tampa Bay with the signing of a landmark agreement that commits local governments and regulators to the bay's long-term restoration and protection.

This unique agreement -- the first of its kind in the nation -- was ratified on February 12 in a special ceremony at the Belleview Biltmore Hotel in Belleair. Attending the ceremony were representatives of 13 local and state governments and regulatory agencies, who committed to signing the agreement by the end of February.

As part of the agreement, the Tampa Bay National Estuary Program will become an independent entity responsible for overseeing implementation of Charting The Course, the far-reaching management plan for Tampa Bay adopted in April, 1997.

All six major local governments in the Tampa Bay area -- Pinellas, Manatee and Hillsborough counties and the cities of Tampa, St. Petersburg and Clearwater -- are parties to the agreement, along with such agencies as the Tampa Bay Regional Planning Council, Southwest Florida Water Management District, Tampa Port Authority and the Florida Department of Environmental Protection. Additionally, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers will enter into separate agreements with the new Tampa Bay Estuary Program that specify their contributions and responsibilities for achieving bay improvement goals.

Charting The Course presents strategies for addressing five of the bay's most pressing problems: water and sediment quality, bay habitats, fish and wildlife, dredging and dredged material management, and spill prevention and response. A cornerstone of the plan is the gradual recovery of more than 12,000 acres of vital underwater seagrasses by "holding the line" on anticipated increases in nitrogen loadings to the bay.

The Interlocal Agreement adopted in February is the glue that holds the plan together, by securing commitments from each NEP partner to achieve specific bay restoration and protection targets within an agreed-upon timetable. How those goals are met, however, is up to the individual governments, who may choose the most affordable and environmentally beneficial options for their community from among a variety of alternatives.

Key highlights of the agreement include:

• The adoption of measurable and achievable goals for nitrogen management and habitat restoration and protection. Progress in achieving these goals will be assessed every two years.
• Identification of specific projects, through detailed action plans, that each signatory pledges to undertake to achieve the goals of the management plan. These action plans must be submitted within 60 days of the effective date of the agreement.
• Incorporation of bay management goals into local government comprehensive plans and specific action plans into local Capital Improvement Programs.
• A commitment by regulatory agencies to allow permitting flexibility, when appropriate, to achieve maximum environmental gain for the bay in the most cost-effective manner.
• Reorganization of the Tampa Bay NEP as an independent alliance of governmental entities (under Chapter 163, Florida Statutes) charged with overseeing implementation of the bay management plan. A Policy Board comprised of the six local governments and three state regulatory agencies that now constitute the NEP's Policy Committee will direct the new organization.

The agreement's emphasis on intergovernmental cooperation, accountability and flexibility make it a model for similar ecosystem management efforts elsewhere in the United States, and mark Tampa Bay as a national leader in progressive protection of its aquatic resources.

"The process has been good for us in that we've found out the bay's in pretty good shape and it has forced us to sit down in what have been some astoundingly painful meetings with other communities and agencies and actually talk to each other. What we found is that the other guy really isn't so bad after all."
-- Ralph Metcalf, Director Sanitary Sewers, City of Tampa

"(The agreement) gives us an assurance that our neighboring governmental jurisdictions will be working with us to improve the bay. In the past, our actions were unilateral, but now we will be creating more of a collaborative approach. It's almost what I would call peer pressure, and I think that's a healthy arrangement for the bay."
-- Jan Platt, Hillsborough County Commissioner

"What I particularly like is that is it (the agreement) formalizes the organization. Up to now, it had been a successful but tenuous existence and this makes it a permanent partnership. The idea of governmental bodies coming together in a cooperative effort bodes well for the long-term health of the bay, and I hope will be a precursor for other areas of regional cooperation in the future."
-- City Councilman Jay Lasita, City of St. Petersburg

"We gain a multi-jurisdictional approach to a regional problem and we gain, I hope, some regulatory flexibility where the goal is to improve the health of the bay."
-- Steve Seibert, Pinellas County Commissioner

"Rather than just focusing on our little corner of the world, the NEP gives us a baywide perspective that will help us do our job better. One thing I especially like is that there's a lot of good science coming out of this."
-- David Parsche, environmental manager for the Tampa Port Authority

"It's very gratifying to see that the Agency on Bay Management and the Planning Council, through all their hard work, have actually produced a document that people can put their fingers on. All the partners are not just talking about what to do, they actually have implementation plans that set out how to get there.

"The challenge in the future will be to get even more local communities with waterfront land on the bay, or affecting the bay, involved in the Program."
-- Julia Greene, Executive Director, Tampa Bay Regional Planning Council

Tampa Bay scientists are closely following developments surrounding a toxic marine organism that has been linked to fish kills and human health problems in other estuaries along the Eastern Seaboard.

Pfiesteria piscicida, a tiny single-celled relative of the organisms that cause Florida's familiar red tides, was first documented in the coastal waters of North Carolina, where it is thought to be responsible for large fish kills in the Neuse River system, and for neurological problems in fishermen and researchers who come into contact with it.

Since then, the aptly nicknamed "cell from hell" has been linked to fish kills in the Chesapeake Bay system and other Atlantic Coast estuaries. While Pfiesteria has not yet been documented in Florida, a related species is a suspected culprit in recent fish kills in the St. Johns River and Indian River systems.

Pfiesteria releases toxins that are thought to lead to lesions and hemorrhages in fish and respiratory stress in humans. As with red tide, Pfiesteria may naturally occur in the environment and pose a threat only when certain, still undetermined, environmental factors trigger an outbreak. Researchers do know that toxic outbreaks only occur when large schools of fish are present in an area. Some toxic dinoflagellates also have been transported around the world in the ballast water of ships.

Several toxic dinoflagellates known to occur along the Eastern Seaboard and in the Gulf of Mexico look remarkably similar to Pfiesteria. For that reason, scientists say research is needed to help identify and distinguish between the various species present in coastal waters. A federal research project set to begin later this year may provide funding for such an investigation.

Meanwhile, researchers with the Florida Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) are seeking assistance from the public in determining the extent of the problem in Florida. With support from the St. Johns River Water Management District and the Florida Game and Fresh Water Fish Commission, FDEP has distributed posters to marinas, boat ramps and other waterfront facilities in the Jacksonville and St. Lucie River areas asking fisherman to call a toll-free hot line at 1-800-636-0511 and report any fish with lesions they catch. DEP also is mailing questionnaires to many licensed fishermen asking whether and where they have come across diseased fish. The information will be used to map "hot spots" of potentially toxic organisms. Those maps can later be compared to potential sources of pollution in the affected areas to determine if there is any connection between declining water quality and outbreaks of Pfiesteria-like dinoflagellates.

DEP also has formed a statewide task force to investigate the sources and potential environmental and human health implications of Pfiesteria and related organisms. NEP Policy Board member Jan Platt serves on the task force. NEP senior scientist Holly Greening also is keeping tabs on developments and will update NEP committee members with any news from the Pfiesteria front.

NEP's Nitrogen Management Consortium, a dynamic alliance of local governments, regulatory agencies and key industry representatives, has approved a historic blueprint for "holding the line" on nitrogen loadings to Tampa Bay, even with increased growth.

The Nitrogen Loading Resolution and Action Plan approved by Consortium members in February culminates a year-long effort to achieve the nitrogen management goals for Tampa Bay adopted by the NEP. Those goals seek to maintain nitrogen loadings to the bay at 1992-1994 average levels to allow the recovery of more than 12,000 acres of seagrasses which serve as a natural life support system for the bay.

By the year 2000, an additional 84 tons of nitrogen per year is expected to enter Tampa Bay as a result of population growth and associated development. Therefore, local governments and other industries will need to reduce or avoid increasing the amount of nitrogen they generate by this amount to maintain current levels.

Prior to the establishment of the Consortium, NEP's local government partners had agreed to accept responsibility for reducing nitrogen loadings associated with stormwater runoff and wastewater discharges by about 6 tons per year from 1995-2000, or a total of 28 tons per year by 2000. The Consortium was tasked with developing a specific action plan to address the remaining 11 tons per year, or 56 tons per year by the year 2000, of nitrogen linked to atmospheric deposition, industrial point sources, fertilizer shipping and handling practices and intensive agriculture.

Consortium members include representatives from the NEP's Management Board, electric utilities, fertilizer manufacturers and agriculture. Industries which are not official members of the Consortium, such as Tampa Electric Company and Florida Power Corporation, also have participated in the group's discussions and offered valuable recommendations. Efforts by Tampa Electric to reduce NOx emissions from its power plants on Tampa Bay are among the key industry projects included in the Action Plan.

The Resolution and Action Plan identify specific actions each Consortium member will take to meet its nitrogen management commitment. The Resolution must be ratified by the members' governing bodies, a process expected to occur in the next few months.

Consortium members already have made substantial progress in meeting the nitrogen loading goals. In fact, estimates show that the baywide nitrogen reduction goal can be achieved or surpassed by the year 2000 from projects already completed or begun by Consortium members!

Among those ongoing or planned projects are land acquisition programs that prevent environmentally significant lands from being developed; construction of regional stormwater treatment facilities; conversion of septic tanks to central sewer service; and improvements in manufacturing processes that reduce pollution.

The NEP will review and revise the nitrogen management goals every five years, or more often if warranted. Revisions will take into account additional sources of nitrogen to the bay, as well as unforeseen events such as spills.

PUBLIC PARTNERS:

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Florida Department of Environmental Protection Southwest Florida Water Management District Hillsborough County Manatee County Pinellas County City of Clearwater City of St. Petersburg City of Tampa Hillsborough County Environmental Protection Commission FDEP Florida Marine Research Institute Tampa Bay Regional Planning Council U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Tampa Port Authority Manatee County Cooperative Extension Service

PRIVATE PARTNERS:
Florida Phosphate Council Eastern Associated Terminals Company Florida Power & Light Company Florida Strawberry Growers Association IMC-Agrico CSX Transportation Cargill Fertilizer, Inc. CF Industries, Inc. Pakhoed Dry Bulk Terminals

A hands-on program that enlists area high school students in growing marsh plants to help restore Tampa Bay recently received the Tampa Bay Regional Planning Council's Future of the Region Environmental Award.

The High School Wetland Nursery Program, developed by Tampa BayWatch with financial support from the Tampa Bay NEP, teaches students to grow and transplant smooth cordgrass for use in habitat restoration projects around Tampa Bay. Students actually construct a nursery at their school and then care for and monitor the marsh grass until it is large enough to be transplanted in the wild.

The program allows students to apply in a practical, hands-on way the scientific techniques and concepts they study in the classroom. And public agencies that sponsor habitat restorations also benefit by having a large volume of plants available to them at no charge.

A grant from the Tampa Bay NEP financed the first high school wetland nursery two years ago at St. Petersburg's Lakewood High School. Today, six schools throughout the Bay area participate in the program: Bloomingdale, Chamberlain, King and Tampa Bay Technical High schools in Hillsborough County, and Lakewood High, Madeira Beach Middle School and Shorecrest Prep in Pinellas County.

The student-grown marsh grass has been used to restore tidal marshes in Hillsborough County's Cockroach Bay, St. Petersburg's Jungle Prada Park, and Gulfport's Osgood Point.

Tampa BayWatch director Peter Clark said each nursery is capable of raising as many as 6,000 plants every six months -- enough to restore a total of 14 acres of tidal marsh a year. At the same time, the project is reducing the costs of habitat restoration by about $63,000 a year.

The Future of the Region Awards, presented annually by the Tampa Bay Regional Planning Council, recognize individuals and organizations that promote regional cooperation in a variety of areas, including environmental excellence. The awards banquet and presentation was held in January.

For more information on the High School Wetland Nursery program, contact Tampa BayWatch at 896-5320.

Jessica White, our indispensable office administrator, left NEP on March 23 to become an associate planner at the Tampa Bay Regional Planning Council. Jessica will provide research support to other planners, and manage the Council's Web site and data bases. Her duties will include expanding the demographic, economic and natural resource information available to the public through the Web site. Jessica was an original member of the NEP team, overseeing contract management, program budgeting and other NEP financial matters. We wish her the best as she takes on this new challenge.

A broad-based coalition of citizens, scientists and industry representatives is preparing recommendations for protecting Tampa Bay's sizable population of endangered manatees.

The Manatee Protection Strategies Task Force was formed at the request of the Tampa Bay NEP, which cited protection of the bay's sizable population of endangered manatees as a priority in Charting the Course, the Comprehensive Conservation and Management Plan for Tampa Bay. The Agency on Bay Management has taken the lead in implementing this action, and last summer formed the Task Force to develop specific manatee protection strategies.

Task Force members include recreational and commercial fishermen, environmentalists, representatives from marine industries, local utilities and marine law enforcement agencies, and marine mammal scientists. This dynamic alliance has met frequently to review information about the manatee population in Tampa Bay and to discuss various ways to protect manatees without placing undue restrictions on industry, fishing and other traditional uses of the bay. Citizens also have been encouraged to attend the meetings and share their local knowledge and opinions.

Manatee biologists with the Florida Marine Research Institute (FMRI) have identified several areas in Tampa Bay where manatees would benefit from increased protection. Task Force members are evaluating both regulatory and non-regulatory measures for those areas, as well as baywide protection strategies. They also are reviewing manatee data for each bay segment to identify boating channels that could be marked and exempted from slow-speed designations.

Recommendations from the group are expected in May. The Tampa Bay NEP will then assume responsibility for developing specific educational tools and programs, based on input from the Task Force.

FMRI research shows that as many as 200 manatees visit the bay in the winter months, congregating in large numbers near the warm-water discharges of power plants operated by Tampa Electric Co. and Florida Power Corp.

Five years ago, the Tampa Bay and Sarasota Bay NEPs joined forces to create a far-sighted educational initiative that helps area residents adopt an environmentally friendly lifestyle. Today, the Florida Yards & Neighborhoods Program is going strong in Tampa Bay -- and setting down roots throughout the state!

Florida Yards & Neighborhoods provides expert assistance to individuals and neighborhoods in conserving water and energy while protecting natural resources. FY&N coordinators in each county, under the umbrella of the University of Florida's Cooperative Extension Service, promote the benefits of a beautiful, low-maintenance "Florida Yard'' that saves water and reduces pesticide and fertilizer runoff to rivers, lakes and bays.

Although the program began in the Tampa and Sarasota bay areas, it has since been embraced by several other regions, including the Indian River Lagoon, the Florida Keys and Charlotte County. The recent hiring of a statewide FY&N coordinator, based at the University of Florida in Gainesville, will enable FY&N to spread across the state in coming years.

FY&N coordinators in the Tampa Bay region have developed a variety of innovative outreach programs:

• In Manatee County, FY&N coordinator Allen Garner worked with the developer of River Forest, a waterfront community on the Braden River, to incorporate Florida Yard concepts throughout the development. With Garner's help, the developer was able to preserve native trees and plants, limit the amount of impervious paving used in streets and driveways and create a system of natural swales to capture rainfall runoff. Garner hopes the success of this project will serve as a springboard for promoting FY&N concepts to other builders and developers in Sarasota and Manatee counties.
• In Hillsborough County, a grant from the Tampa Bay NEP enabled FY&N coordinator Billie Lofland to hold a one-day workshop on Florida Yards last September at The Florida Aquarium. More than 135 citizens registered for the workshop, which also featured a talk by Bill Slack of Southern Living magazine. That successful effort will be followed this spring by a four-part seminar series, "Winning Ways to a Florida Yard," also hosted by The Florida Aquarium. The series will discuss such topics as maintaining an environmentally friendly lawn and creating a backyard wildlife habitat.
• In Pinellas County, FY&N coordinator Shannon Waters recently assisted the West Coast Regional Water Supply Authority in creating a Water-Wise Landscape to educate homebuilders and new homebuyers about water-thrifty landscaping and irrigation system design. The demonstration landscape, located at the Emerald Builders model home in Savannah Pointe, will be open to the public throughout the Pinellas Parade of Homes in March. Free workshops on water-wise gardening also will be offered at the model landscape.

In the past year, the FY&N program also has developed The Florida YardStick Workbook, a colorful and user-friendly educational tool that includes instructions for making a rain barrel, calculating correct fertilizer application rates and determining how much mulch a homeowner will need.

For more information about Florida Yards & Neighborhoods, contact the following extension service offices:

Manatee County: (941) 722-4524
Hillsborough County: (813) 744-5519
Pinellas County: (813) 582-2100

Congratulations to Florida Yards & Neighborhoods for helping to keep Tampa Bay vibrant and healthy, and Happy Anniversary!

Until recently, scientists studying water quality problems in Tampa Bay focused most of their attention on wastewater discharges and stormwater runoff. But landmark studies sponsored by the Tampa Bay NEP have shown that contaminants carried in the atmosphere are a significant source of excess nitrogen in the bay, generating nearly one-third of the bay's total nitrogen burden. The implications of this revelation for other estuaries, lakes and rivers have placed Tampa Bay at the forefront of nationwide efforts to better understand the connection between air pollution and water quality. The following questions and answers will help you understand what atmospheric deposition is, how it can affect the bay's health, and what the NEP is doing to address the problem.

What is atmospheric deposition?

Put simply, atmospheric deposition is air pollution that falls directly on the bay's surface, or settles on land within the bay's vast watershed and eventually enters the bay through stormwater runoff. This pollution may be carried in rainfall (wet deposition) or as dust particles (dry deposition).

Atmospheric deposition includes such airborne pollutants as nitrogen oxides, or NOx, as well as potentially toxic contaminants such as mercury, lead and cadmium.

Where do atmospheric pollutants come from?

Power plant emissions, industrial smokestacks, vehicle exhaust, waste incinerators, vehicle exhaust and even fertilizer granules spread on the ground and absorbed into the air are among the sources of atmospheric deposition in Tampa Bay. While bay managers have identified coal-fired power plants and garbage incinerators as the largest contributors, further research is needed to pinpoint specific sources. Additional analysis also is needed to determine how much of the emissions generated locally actually wind up in Tampa Bay, since airborne pollutants may travel hundreds of miles before falling to earth.

How does atmospheric deposition affect Tampa Bay?

The nitrogen contained in NOx emissions can fuel the growth of algae, clouding the water and preventing sunlight from reaching seagrasses and other marine plants that form the backbone of a marine ecosystem. Limiting the amount of nitrogen in the bay to allow the recovery of vital seagrass beds is a cornerstone of Charting The Course, the comprehensive management plan for Tampa Bay.

NEP-sponsored research indicates that about 29 percent of the bay's total nitrogen burden, or 1,100 tons, comes from atmospheric pollutants falling directly on the open bay. Another 6,600 tons fall in the bay's sprawling watershed, although experts can't say exactly how much eventaully reaches the bay in stormwater runoff.

In addition to contributing to the bay's nitrogen loading, the heavy metals and toxic substances contained in some forms of air pollution may settle on the bay bottom, contaminating filter- or bottom-feeding creatures such as oysters and catfish and traveling up the food chain to larger fish, birds and even humans.

What is the Tampa Bay National Estuary Program doing about atmospheric deposition?

With funding from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's Great Waters Program, the NEP is currently in the midst of a 3-year research project to determine where the bay's atmospheric deposition is coming from and how large a role it plays in stormwater pollution. NEP's local government and agency partners are providing valuable technical assistance for this investigation. NEP also plans to enlist citizen-volunteers to deploy and monitor simple air samplers in 25-50 locations throughout the bay watershed (see photo). Results of the study will be used to map concentrations of ammonia -- a highly potent form of nitrogen.

Additionally, the Tampa Bay NEP has convened the Tampa Bay Atmospheric Deposition Study (TBADS) group to more precisely quantify the relationship between air pollution and nitrogen loadings in the bay. This group, composed of scientists from NEP's member governments, regulatory agencies and academic institutions, has identified several important questions that must be answered to better define the problem and develop cost-effective solutions for reducing atmospheric deposition. The group also has recommended a Plan of Study to address these questions, which include:

• How much of the bay's nitrogen burden comes atmospheric deposition compared to other sources?
• How large a role does dry deposition play in nitrogen loading?
• What relative impact does deposition of ammonia have on the bay's water quality compared to other nutrient sources such as stormwater and wastewater?
• Of the known sources of atmospheric deposition in Tampa Bay, what percentage of total nitrogen loadings does each contribute?
• How much of the nitrogen carried to the bay in stormwater runoff comes from atmospheric deposition?

What will happen once these studies are completed?

The TBADS group will recommend specific actions that local governments, agencies and private industries may take to reduce or mitigate the effects of atmospheric deposition on the bay and its watershed. As with the overall management plan for Tampa Bay, the group's recommendations will emphasize equitable, cost-effective solutions that offer flexibility while providing the maximum environmental benefit for the bay.

In January, the Tampa Bay National Estuary Program staff moved into new offices in the Florida Marine Research Institute, not far from our old home on the Unversity of South Florida's Bayboro campus. Please make a note of our new address:

Tampa Bay National Estuary Program
100 8th Ave. S.E.
MS (Mail Slot) I-1/NEP
St. Petersburg, FL 33701
Phone: 813.893.2765
Fax: 813.893.2767