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The Tampa Bay Estuary Program’s Policy Board will conduct a public hearing at 10:00 a.m. on August 13, 2010 to present the Program’s Initial Agency-wide budget for fiscal year 2010-2011, beginning October 1, 2010. The hearing will be held at the Tampa Bay Regional Planning Council, 4000 Gateway Centre Blvd., Pinellas Park, Florida. All citizens are invited to attend and express their support or objections to the work plan budget.

SOURCES OF FUNDING

Federal: $1,143,697
Non-Federal: 650,812
In-Kind: 443,539
Total Funding: $2,238,048

PROJECTED EXPENDITURES

Action Plan Implementation $649,475
Contracted Technical Projects 1,134,084
Community Outreach 87,500
In-Kind 443,539
Total Projected Expenditures $2,314,598

For more information e-mail Program Administrator Ron Hosler at ron@tbep.org

The Tampa Bay Estuary Program's Policy Board, composed of elected officials and appointees from TBEP member organizations, will meet Friday, August 13 at 10 a.m.

Agenda items include a public hearing and subsequent adoption of the Estuary Program's FY 10-11 Operating Budget; consideration of an administrative support agreement with the Tampa Bay Regional Planning Council; approval of a contractor for the Tidal Tributary Salinity Study; approval of the Tampa Bay Habitat Masterplan; and an update on plans for TBEP's upcoming 20th anniversary celebration.

The meeting will be held at the Tampa Bay Regional Planning Council, 4000 Gateway Centre Blvd., Pinellas Park.

The meeting is open to the public. To obtain a detailed agenda, please contact Ron Hosler at 727-893-2765 or ron@tbep.org.

Research coordinated by the Tampa Bay Estuary Program indicates that lawn fertilizers are an increasingly significant source of a thick, oxygen-deficient layer of muck in a wide swath of Old Tampa Bay near Safety Harbor.

The yearlong project was conducted by a research team led by Dr. Ernst Peebles of the University of South Florida’s College of Marine Science. The study was funded by the Pinellas-Anclote Basin Board of the Southwest Florida Water Management District, and coordinated by the Estuary Program at the District’s request.

Peebles’ team looked at how the bay bottom in this area has changed in character and composition over time, tracing the origins of nitrogen found in the sediments. Excess nitrogen is the major pollutant in Tampa Bay, and can cause algae blooms that reduce oxygen levels and kill fish.

Their work shows a gradual shift in the source of the nitrogen entering Old Tampa Bay from the surrounding watershed. In the early 1900s, the type and amount of nitrogen found in core samples was consistent with natural background levels, not surprising since few people lived in the region then. Core samples dating to the 1940s show a shift toward nitrogen associated with livestock wastes and human sewage. However, now, nitrogen contained in the surface layers is consistent with that found in inorganic residential fertilizer.

The research also indicates that the rate at which the muck is accumulating has been accelerating in recent years. The muck itself is composed largely of crustacean fecal matter.

Old Tampa Bay is a special focus of concern for the Estuary Program because of recent water quality problems and lagging seagrass recovery. Additionally, large algae blooms have spread across this area over the past two summers.

Lack of appropriate water circulation has long been identified as a culprit, and the new research indicates that overuse of lawn fertilizers may also be contributing to the area’s water quality woes.

Pinellas County has banned the use of nitrogen lawn and landscape fertilizers from June through September, when heavy summer rains increase the potential for fertilizer residues to wash into waterways. Hillsborough County will be considering a similar ordinance on July 15.

And later this year, TBEP will initiate a comprehensive, large-scale research effort to identify potential solutions for improving water and habitat quality in Old Tampa Bay.

For more information, call Nanette O’Hara at (727) 893-2765 or e-mail nanette@tbep.org

A community-led effort to restore native habitats at Little Bayou Park in St. Petersburg has received the “Golden Mangrove Award” as the Tampa Bay Estuary Program’s most outstanding Bay Mini-Grant project for 2009.

The award was presented at the Estuary Program’s Policy Board meeting today by Cathy Quindiagan, Co-Chair of TBEP’s Community Advisory Committee. The project was selected by the CAC members from among 27 grant recipients last year. The Little Bayou restoration received a $10,000 grant, the maximum allowed.

The project was sponsored by the Greater Pinellas Point Civic Association, and led by neighborhood resident Ray Wunderlich, a longtime advocate for environmental preservation. Wunderlich recruited neighbors and other community volunteers for a series of workdays to remove Brazilian pepper trees and other invasive plants and trash from the 17-acre park bordering Tampa Bay in south St. Petersburg. The area was then replanted with a variety of native shrubs, trees and flowers. To date, volunteers have contributed more than 1,700 hours to restoring Little Bayou, and Wunderlich continues tomonitor the area regularly to make sure no invasive plants are returning.

In addition to the Greater Pinellas Point neighborhood, other major partners included the Florida Native Plant Society, the St. Petersburg Parks Department and several other neighborhood associations.

The project is “providing a glimpse of what this area used to look like for all the public to enjoy,” Wunderlich said.

The Bay Mini-Grants program is supported by sales of the Tampa Bay Estuary license plate, featuring a tarpon.