| The objective of the Tampa Bay Pilot Study is to coordinate efforts of key state and local agencies, University of South Florida (USF), University of Louisiana (ULL), and the USGS through planning meetings and a workshop to develop a project that will serve as a model for assessing and monitoring other Gulf of Mexico estuaries.
This project will develop protocols for establishing geological, ecological, and water quality baselines and monitoring from which the current and future health of Tampa Bay and other Gulf-wide estuaries can be assessed. The strategy of this project will be to take a synoptic and integrated approach to several specific issues and to develop links between geological, biological, hydrological, and geochemical processes in the Bay.
This project involves a two-pronged program of:
- The coordination of a workshop held Jan. 23-26, 2001
- The use of integrated science to evaluate environmental health of Tampa Bay through base map synthesis of existing data, synoptic characterization of the geologic framework, hydrologic, geochemical, and biological measurements of contamination, productivity, ecological indicators, and carbon cycling within Tampa Bay and associated wetlands.
The critical needs, both the immediate and the total FY 2001 project funding needs, and some of the longer- term requirements for a successful Tampa Bay Pilot Study are outlined below.
We have identified that the following are priorities among the stakeholders:
- Documentation of urbanization, historical land use change, bathymetry, benthic habitat
- Tampa Bay health
- Seagrasses as indicators of estuarine health
- Water and sediment quality and quantity as indicators of estuarine health.
The outcome of the Tampa Bay Workshop helped hone the priorities of the Tampa Bay Pilot Study and provided further framework on which the Tampa Bay Pilot Study is formulated. Therefore, this document represents a detailed scope and content of the pilot and its budget as determined by the Tampa Bay Pilot Steering Committee.
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