There are numerous actions, documents, and studies addressing water quality in the Florida Keys, the most noteworthy of which are discussed herein. Florida’s original designation of the Florida Keys as an Area of Critical State Concern was done administratively in 1979. As a result of a challenge, the designation was made legislatively under the Florida Keys Area Protection Act (s. 380.0552, F.S.) in 1986, establishing the need to conserve and protect the natural environment, historical and economic resources, scenic beauty, and public facilities. The 1990 Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary and Protection Act (P.L. 101-605) established 2,800 square nautical miles of coastal waters as the Sanctuary. A joint federal-state role was created for developing a Water Quality Protection Program and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) became the responsible entities to adopt the program as a result of additional federal legislation in 1992.
Monroe County adopted a Comprehensive Plan, Rule 28-20.100, F.A.C., in 1991 addressing the needs for the Area of Critical State Concern. Revisions (1993) of the Comprehensive Plan resulted in an often referenced 1995 Final Order and Recommendation by a Hearing Officer. The Hearing Officer found that the nearshore waters had exceeded their carrying capacity for additional nutrient (phosphorus and nitrogen) loads. Sewage and stormwater from then-existing development in the Florida Keys were degrading nearshore waters that were at or over carrying capacity. Further revisions to the Comprehensive Plan (Administrative Commission Rule) have been made. That rule requires the use of advanced waste treatment (AWT) or best available technology (BAT) for wastewater treatment.
The Water Quality Protection Program Steering Committee, established pursuant to federal law, approved a water quality protection program document in 1996 that identified major environmental and land development related concerns in the Florida Keys. Then, the EPA (1998) reported on a number of conditions, many relating to anthropogenic (human-introduced) nutrients, in the Florida Keys that were leading to undesirable changes in the ecological balance in the nearshore waters. About 100 studies, reports, and publications, many of which relate to ecological conditions and especially to water quality in the Florida Keys, are cited in the EPA report.
The interest in managing land development using a carrying capacity approach was emphasized in Gubernatorial Executive Order (EO) 96-108. As directed by subsequent EO 98-309, the Department of Health (DOH) and DEP worked with the Water Quality Protection Program Steering Committee to develop wastewater treatment and disposal standards for the Florida Keys. That effort resulted in Section 6 of Chapter 99-395, LOF. Also in response to the EO, the Department of Community Affairs and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers sponsored a carrying capacity study. The report on the three-year study, currently undergoing revision, deals with a broad range of issues in an attempt to determine the ability of the entire Florida Keys ecosystem to withstand impacts of land development.
There also is an important, but incomplete, study of water quality in canals and adjacent nearshore water in the Little Venice Neighborhood of Marathon, begun in 2001. The study focuses on the impact of eliminating individual on-site treatment and disposal systems (including cesspits) and providing centralized AWT facilities. More detailed information on each of these major efforts is summarized in the subsections below.
1.1.2 “Water Quality Protection Program Document for the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary” (1996)
Continental Shelf Associates, Inc., under EPA’s direction, identified corrective actions, monitoring, research/special studies, and public education/outreach as essential to a water quality protection program for the Florida Keys. Recommendations were made for actions to carry out a Water Quality Action Plan. The document noted a number of threats to water quality, including inflows from Florida Bay, landfills, hazardous materials, mosquito spraying, canals, marinas and live-aboards, stormwater, and domestic wastewater. Much of the current water pollution control effort, including the studies supported by the Water Quality Protection Program Steering Committee, may be traced back to the recommendations contained in this early study.
1.1.3 “Water Quality Concerns in the Florida Keys: Sources, Effects, and Solutions” (1998)
The EPA reported that sewage treatment and disposal methods combined with stormwater discharges were significant contributions to contaminating groundwater and nearshore waters, including canals and other surface water having low circulation. The contamination included nutrients and human pathogens. Sewage discharges from boats were identified as degrading water quality in marinas and other anchorages in areas where relatively little water circulation takes place. Additional nutrients to the surface waters of the Florida Keys were attributed to the discharge from Florida Bay and currents in the Gulf of Mexico. The reported noted that coral habitats were in declining health, but no definitive studies had been completed to establish a link to, or the geographical extent of, the impact of anthropogenic nutrients.
1.1.4 “Florida Keys Carrying Capacity Study” (2002; under revision)
The carrying capacity study develops a variety of concepts in an effort to address the level of land use development in the Florida Keys that could occur without significant adverse impacts to natural and human resources. The study has as its centerpiece an analytical model with socioeconomic, fiscal, human infrastructure (traffic), integrated water, marine, and terrestrial modules. Ideally, the model output would establish a set of maximum impacts than can be tolerated by these resources. The model implies that impacts could be modified through the informed implementation of existing technologies. However, the problem of identifying specific impacts and discrete thresholds for complex marine and terrestrial ecological systems remains unsolved. Despite the level of interest in the marine environment, the model is unable to generate predictions of nearshore water quality impacts from stormwater and wastewater. To paraphrase a portion of the study’s conclusions:
The model scale does not permit an assessment of the effects of nutrient and pollutant loading on the very-near shore waters, including canals and other areas with low circulation. Studies indicate eutrophication in some canals, as well as the presence of human pathogens. Sporadic beach closings remind us of localized episodes of contamination. Due to the concern over the validity of any conclusions about water quality in the immediate nearshore marine environment, a canal impact assessment module was added to the study. The effects of different pollutant loads on water quality in dead-end canals were estimated in an attempt to address water quality in circulation-limited waters and in the area extending about 250 feet from the open end of the canals. Tidal flushing was used to predict the pollutant concentrations generated by wastewater discharges from the adjacent waste-shed to the canals. Estimates were made for ten of the 480 canals in the Florida Keys. The difference in wastewater pollutant loading between existing conditions and that occurring if wastewaters were treated as proposed in the Monroe County Sanitary Wastewater Master Plan was significant. (The Master Plan recommended facilities that would comply with Chapter 99-395, LOF, and that wastewater would be transported, treated and disposed of external to the canal wastesheds.) Total nitrogen and total phosphorus in the ten representative canals would be reduced by 69% and 73%, respectively, by complete implementation of the Master Plan.
1.1.5 “Little Venice Water Quality” (under development)
Baseline data is currently being collected to establish existing water quality in the canals. Bacteriological data also is being collected. After the treatment plant currently under construction is operating, the changes in water quality and bacteriological characteristics are to be documented to demonstrate the value of improving wastewater treatment. The sampling program began in 2001 and will continue for two years after the treatment plant is in operation. Elevated levels of fecal bacteria have been documented. As expected, water quality in the canals is not as good as that outside of the canals. The worst water quality is being found near the head end (furthest from open water) of the canals. The head end of the canals also has the poorest water circulation. Use of the study results to predict potential water quality improvements in other hot spot areas in the Florida Keys having canals may be possible.
