The Feather Sound Seagrass Recovery Project was a multi-phase, multi-agency research project, funded by the Pinellas County Environmental Fund, to identify the potential causes of poor seagrass recovery in the Feather Sound region of Old Tampa Bay. Unlike many other areas in Tampa Bay that have experienced increases in seagrass acreage, seagrass coverage here, especially in the northwest quadrant of Old Tampa Bay, has been slower or declining. Until recent years, this bay segment also failed to meet one or both of its water clarity targets, prompting additional research.

During Phase 1 (2002-2003) the research team identified several potential causes of poor seagrass recovery, including poorer water quality than the other three quadrants sampled in Old Tampa Bay; slower circulation and flushing; epiphyte loading; and possibly hydrogen sulfide toxicity. These became the foundation for the second phase of the project.

Phase 2 (2004-2007) project tasks included:

• Developing and applying a seagrass prediction model;
• Seagrass sampling to support the model;
• Monitoring of volunteer patches of seagrass;
• Aerial photography and seagrass transect monitoring;
• Mapping the extent of effluent from wastewater treatment plants and septic systems;
• Calculating land-based nutrient loading; and
• Examining circulation effects on water quality.

Project results suggest that the Feather Sound region is a “marginal” system in terms of water quality and seagrass habitat that responds rapidly to improvements or degradations in water quality. There is a suite of non-optimal conditions that work synergistically to stress the system, not just one dominant factor. Improving the system and facilitating seagrass recovery will require a broad-based management approach for nutrients, sediments, pulsed freshwater inputs, and toxics. Some of the specific management recommendations are to:

• Improve management of urban and residential stormwater runoff;
• Switch from septic systems to sewer in the watershed;
• Emphasize additional environmental planning and management for local golf courses;
• Restore mosquito-ditched mangrove areas so that water drains more slowly into the bay and is able to be “polished;” and
• Implement stormwater projects at several locations around Lake Tarpon.

Click here to download the full report (5.4 MB) in PDF format.