2023 STATE OF THE BAY

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

Tampa Bay Estuary Program, Policy Board Meeting

Feb, 2024

2022 SEAGRASS RESULTS

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

2023 SEAGRASS TRANSECT RESULTS

Transects results suggest slight increase in frequency occurrence
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 RESULTS

MANAGEMENT OUTCOMES

Matrix shows attainment of chlorophyll and light attenuation targets
All segments in 2023 as “Stay the Course”
More info at https://shiny.tbep.org/wq-dash/

CHLOROPHYLL TRENDS

RAIN AS A DRIVER

PYRODINIUM IN 2023

TAKE HOME

Hopeful that 2022, 2023 water quality is a beginning to longer-term improvements
Hopeful that seagrasses will continue to rebound, but drought is not a management strategy
Stick to our nitrogen load reduction efforts, but investigate other management actions to kickstart seagrass recovery
Old Tampa Bay Assimilative Capacity Study ongoing this year

NEKTON RESULTS

Nekton index reports on the health of fish and inverts
Responds to water quality and habitat degradation
2022 results show all bay segments as intermediate
More info at https://shiny.tbep.org/nekton-dash/

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
2022 results similar to previous years
More info at https://tbep-tech.github.io/tbeptools/articles/tbbi

2023 HABITAT RESTORATION

NUMBER OF PROJECTS: 2021-2023

FOCUSING RESTORATION EFFORT

Prioritize

Keep it up

Doing fine

Seagrass, salt marsh, freshwater wetlands

Oyster bars, uplands (coastal/non-coastal)

Mangroves

Additional info: https://tbep.org/habitat-master-plan-update

Questions??

Marcus Beck, mbeck@tbep.org

Kerry Flaherty-Walia, kfwalia@tbep.org

https://tbep.org/estuary/state-of-the-bay