Charlotte County's ambient surface water monitoring program was initiated in 2022 at the direction of the Board of County Commissioners, as described by the county's 2022-2023 Strategic Plan. Funding is provided by county stormwater Municipal Service Business Units (MSBUs). The goal of the project is to obtain information on the condition of surface waters flowing within Charlotte County. The data collected is intended to be used for (1) identification of long-term trends and ambient water quality within the areas sampled, (2) inform potential needs for source tracking and opportunities for water quality improvement, (3) identify investigatory work as warranted in order to clarifity the origin and/or impact of in-stream conditions identified through monitoring, (4) submission of data to FDEP WIN for assessment purposes, (5) development of models that will allow for the identification and prediction of loading characteristics and trends in Charlotte County, and (6) presentation of sample results to the public in a manner that clearly describes water quality trends in relation to applicable water quality criteria.
Project Design Methodology
Deterministic
Project Data Quality Objectives
Yes
Sampling Frequency
Discrete - Varied
Themes
Health and safety, Resource management, Trend analyses
Regional ecosystem assessment - A floral or faunal project that has a relatively large geographic footprint
Trend analyses - Project is long-term; may be an "ambient" monitoring project of long duration
Habitat assessment - Project is related to floral/faunal species health, diversity or abundance
Salt water intrusion - Groundwater monitoring project that focuses on water level, and total dissolved solids, sulfates, specific conductance, or chloride measurements
Regulatory - Refers to projects or permits for modifying environmental conditions or features; project monitoring mandated by a government agency
Research - Primary intent of project is educational/research
Resource management - Project monitoring results are used to assess the necessity for, or effectiveness of, management activities
Potable water supply - Project monitors Class I waters, reservoirs, drinking water, or public water supply
Other - This project's purpose is not represented in any of the predefined themes
Health and safety - Project monitors locations or events that affect human health and safety, such as beaches, shellfish, potable water wells