2022 STATE OF THE BAY

Dr. Marcus Beck, mbeck@tbep.org, Kerry Flaherty-Walia kfwalia@tbep.org

Tampa Bay Estuary Program

Feb, 2023

2022 SEAGRASS RESULTS

• Baywide loss of 4,161 acres from 2020 to 2022
• Third straight reporting period with loss

2022 SEAGRASS RESULTS: SEGMENT

• Most losses in OTB and HB, OTB is lowest coverage on record

2022 SEAGRASS RESULTS: SEGMENT

• Lower bay segments relatively stable

TARGET ATTAINMENT vs WORST CASE

2022 SEAGRASS TRANSECT RESULTS

• Transects results are similar, losses mostly from H. wrightii
• More info at https://shiny.tbep.org/seagrasstransect-dash/

WATER QUALITY REPORT CARD

https://tbep-tech.github.io/wq-static/wq.pdf

Management

Regulatory

MANAGEMENT ACTIONS

• Each bay segment assigned a management action

MANAGEMENT RESULTS

MANAGEMENT OUTCOMES

• Matrix shows attainment of chlorophyll and light attenuation targets
• All segments in 2022 as “Stay the Course”
• More info at https://shiny.tbep.org/wq-dash/

REGULATORY OUTCOMES

• Matrix shows attainment of chlorophyll threshold (red/green only)
• All segments in 2022 met the annual threshold
• More info at https://shiny.tbep.org/wq-dash/

CHLOROPHYLL TRENDS

LIGHT ATTENUATION TRENDS

CHLOROPHYLL BY SEASON

• K. brevis observed in lower Tampa Bay late 2022

WATER QUALITY DRIVERS

• The water quality outcomes are based on chlorophyll and light attenuation
• Past exceedances have been linked eutrophic conditions, sometimes caused by harmful algal blooms
• Pyrodinium bahamense in Old Tampa Bay, red tide from Gulf

PYRODINIUM IN 2022?

PYRODINIUM ANNUAL TRENDS

TAKE HOME

• Hopeful that preliminary 2022 water quality is a beginning to longer-term improvements
• Water quality in OTB has been highly variable, one good year does not mean a long-term improvement, key HAB events may have been missed
• Seagrasses may continue to decline - What other stressors are at play?
• Stick to our nitrogen load reduction efforts, but investigate other management actions to kickstart seagrass recovery

NEKTON RESULTS

• Nekton index reports on the health of fish and inverts
• Responds to water quality and habitat degradation
• 2021 results show all but LTB as intermediate
• More info at https://shiny.tbep.org/nekton-dash/

NEKTON RESULTS

• 2021 drop in scores likely from red tide effects

BENTHIC RESULTS

• Benthic index reports on the health of aquatic organisms in or near the bay bottom
• Responds to pollutants that can accumulate in the sediment
• 2021 results similar to previous years
• More info at https://tbep-tech.github.io/tbeptools/articles/tbbi

2022 HABITAT RESTORATION

NUMBER OF PROJECTS: 2020-2022

HABITAT REPORT CARD

• Newly developed habitat report card, uses land use/cover data

HABITAT REPORT CARD

HABITAT RESTORATION PRIORITIES

Focus on seagrass, oysters, salt marsh, freshwater wetlands

Uplands - protect existing habitat!

Mangroves expected to expand

• Additional info at https://tbep-tech.github.io/tbeptools/articles/habitatmasterplan

Questions??

Marcus Beck, mbeck@tbep.org

Kerry Flaherty-Walia, kfwalia@tbep.org

EXTRA SLIDES

2022 SEAGRASS RESULTS

Year	Acres	Change	% change
2010	32897	3250.00	11%
2012	34642	1745.00	5%
2014	40295	5652.71	16%
2016	41655	1360.45	3%
2018	40652	-1003.61	-2%
2020	34298	-6353.55	-16%
2022	30137	-4161.00	-12%

SEAGRASS RATE OF RECOVERY

PYRO vs WATER QUALITY SAMPLING