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Coral reefs received a major victory as of late, at least inSoutheast Florida, reveals a recent Southeast Florida Coral Reef Initiativenewsletter. Thanks to $500,000 in funding for the 2017–2018 fiscal year tomonitor the water quality of the coral reefs in Miami-Dade, Broward, PalmBeach, and Martin counties, the Coral Reef Conservation Program has added 88sites to the already existing nutrient water quality monitoring pilot projectbeing conducted at St. Lucie Inlet and Government Cut. The result is a total of115 inlet, outfall, and randomized reef sites now being monitored monthly — thefirst time such extensive water quality monitoring has taken place in theregion.
The goal? To establish a long-term water quality monitoringprogram for the northern portion of the Florida Reef Tract not encompassed byBiscayne National Park or the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary.
Sampling at the St. Lucie Inlet and Government Cut began in2016 by DEP’s Coral Reef Conservation Program and Florida State Parks staff,funded as part of a partnership with the National Oceanic and AtmosphericAdministration’s (NOAA) National Ocean Service. During the first month of theexpansion project in September 2017, around 1,070 samples were collected on theoutgoing tide to be analyzed for nutrients, which will help researchers assessthe impact of land-based sources of pollution on the health of near shorereefs. All samples are currently being collected by Nova SoutheasternUniversity and analyzed by Broward County’s Environmental Lab and the TDIBrooks Lab at Texas A&M University (a NOAA partner).
Now, that’s a win for the environment.