Grantee Research Project Results
Public Reporting and Dynamic Access: Changing Regional Environmental Health of South Florida's Everglades Ecosystem
EPA Grant Number: R827962Title: Public Reporting and Dynamic Access: Changing Regional Environmental Health of South Florida's Everglades Ecosystem
Investigators: Turcotte, Brian , DeMaio, David , Stutz, Doug , Zarillo, Kim , Berry, Leonard , Mikkelsen, Paul , Barry, Robert
Current Investigators: Turcotte, Brian , Pietrucha, Marie
Institution: South Florida Water Management District , Palm Beach Community College , Florida Center for Environmental Studies , Miami - Dade Community College, North Campus
Current Institution: South Florida Water Management District
EPA Project Officer: Packard, Benjamin H
Project Period:
Project Amount: $488,598
RFA: Environmental Monitoring for Public Access and Community Tracking (EMPACT) (1999) RFA Text | Recipients Lists
Research Category: Aquatic Ecosystems , Ecological Indicators/Assessment/Restoration , Water , Air
Description:
The South Florida Water Management District (SFWMD) serves a sixteen (16) county region including twenty five percent of Florida's population in just the four counties of Palm Beach, Dade, Broward, and Orange. This agency supplies flood control and water supply protection to the region, and has been mandated by the State to restore to good health the Everglades ecosystem. SFWMD is currently undergoing one of the largest wetland restoration projects in the world to accomplish this goal, a seven billion dollar-40 year endeavor. South Florida's taxpayers have a right to know how the Everglades are improving over time. This project will provide a public information and communication network to report the latest environmental information regarding the current changing state of health of the Everglades ecosystem utilizing an internet site and written information digests (public brochures sent to 50 eco-site locations, 27 community colleges, and all public library branch locations).
Approach:
Over 200 water quality and hydrometeorological parameters regarding Everglades ecosystem health, monitored at 6000 locations representing more than 30,000 station-years, are collected and stored in the District's corporate environmental database, DBHYDRO, a quality assured archival database that can be viewed in maps and graphs based on user search queries about the Everglades. The latest database and web technology will be used to build a graphical user interface that is accessible through a District external web site. The database structure and content is in place to accommodate the development of the web based application. Digital spatial information to support the selection process is in place in the District's Geographic Information System databases.
Expected Results:
The residents, scientists, teachers and government agencies of the south Florida community will have easy access to historical and up-to-date information regarding Everglades ecosystem restoration health indicators.
Publications and Presentations:
Publications have been submitted on this project: View all 2 publications for this projectSupplemental Keywords:
ecosystem restoration, everglades, South Florida, ecology, water quality, wetlands., Ecosystem Protection/Environmental Exposure & Risk, Scientific Discipline, Geographic Area, Ecological Risk Assessment, State, Ecology, Monitoring/Modeling, Hydrology, FLA, environmental monitoring data, regional environmental health, water quality, public reporting, Florida, public outreach, digital spatial information, dynamic access environmental data, everglades ecosystem, web site development, ecosystem restoration, Florida EvergladesProgress and Final Reports:
The perspectives, information and conclusions conveyed in research project abstracts, progress reports, final reports, journal abstracts and journal publications convey the viewpoints of the principal investigator and may not represent the views and policies of ORD and EPA. Conclusions drawn by the principal investigators have not been reviewed by the Agency.