This complex marine ecosystem also supports tourism and commercial fishing, the economic foundation of the Florida Keys. In the last 20 years the tourism industry has grown to over four million domestic and foreign visitors who drive, fly or cruise each year to the most accessible tropical paradise in the Caribbean Basin.

Responding to a growing awareness of the intrinsic environmental, cultural, and economic value of these marine resources, Congress passed the Marine Protection, Research, and Sanctuaries Act in 1972 which makes the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) responsible for the management of the National Marine Sanctuary Program.

The EPA was charged with developing a Water Quality Protection Plan (WQPP) for the FKNMS to assure continued viability of the ecosystem. One part of this Protection Plan is a long-term comprehensive Water Quality Monitoring Program; the strategy of which is to provide data for determining the status and trends of water quality in the Sanctuary. The Monitoring Program will, in time, provide us with the data necessary to determine whether conditions within the Sanctuary are improving or degrading.

The water quality parameters currently being measured by SERP include temperature, salinity, dissolved oxygen, ammonium, nitrate, nitrite, total organic nitrogen, total phosphorus, soluble reactive phosphorus, total organic carbon, silicate, chlorophyll a, alkaline phosphatase activity, turbidity, and light extinction. Spatial summary maps for each of these parameters are then created to aid in visualizing patterns in water quality for the region.

Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary Monitoring Maps

SERP Home Page Back to WQMN Search Engines

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