Ellen McCarron & Steve Wolfe Office of Coastal and Aquatic Managed Areas Florida Department of Environmental Protect

1. Developent of a Florida Water Resources Monitoring Council Ellen McCarron & Steve Wolfe Office of Coastal and Aquatic Managed Areas Florida Department of Environmental Protection May 2006

2. Florida Water ResourcesMonitoring Council Longterm, Ongoing Issues: • Lack of interagency monitoring coordination • Data/information sharing difficult if not impossible • Many program elements unplanned and under-funded • Linkage between fresh and marine waters

3. Florida Water Resources Monitoring Council Desired future state: • Coordinated state and federal monitoring • Improved fresh-marine linkage • Monitoring programs well planned and funded – comprehensive strategies • Cost-effective monitoring • Awareness of other programs/opportunities

4. History of Efforts to Coordinate Monitoring • National Level -- ITFM & National water quality monitoring council • State Level -- Original efforts to develop a Florida council

5. Before the Council • Previous efforts based on need for mutually agreed-upon standards. No one had authority to set statewide standards and require adoption. • Complete agreement on anything is very difficult to achieve.

6. Existing monitoring • County and local monitoring • DOH beach monitoring • DACS shellfish monitoring • WMD monitoring – networks & projects • FWC - IMAP coastal/ocean monitoring • DEP IWRM freshwater monitoring and developing coastal/ocean monitoring • Ocean Observing Systems

7. Council Genesis • Legislature charged DEP with responsibility and authority to establish ‘standards’ • §373 F.S. language

8. Current Council Genesis • § 373.026 F.S., (2)&(3)- charges DEP with responsibility and authority to establish ‘standards’ for water resource data (2) authority to prescribe formats and ensure QC of water resource data (3) authority to retain an advisory group

9. Council Genesis • Monitoring Council created to advise DEP in setting data and monitoring standards.

10. Council Genesis • Monitoring Council created to help link existing monitoring programs with expanded coastal and ocean monitoring to form a comprehensive, integrated monitoring program

11. Council Genesis • Bottom line: DEP is seeking advice from the Council on best ways to proceed.

12. Existing Data Challenges • Provide data/information that can be shared with others. • Collect data that can be combined with that from other programs. • Adopt means to distinguish data that is appropriate for the users purposes (metadata)

13. Existing Monitoring Program Challenges • Identify and describe present monitoring programs • Identify where monitoring goals are sufficiently similar to allow coordination of efforts • Identify if monitoring programs are sufficiently similar that coordination offers a cost benefit

14. Existing Challenges, con’t • To fill gaps in monitoring, determine where expansion of existing programs is more cost effective than adding new programs

15. Charges to the Council • Advise DEP on issues to consider in establishing monitoring and data standards • Provide technical input to aid developing and implementing standards • Assist with coordination of efforts

16. Council structure and function • Ellen McCarron – Chair, ex-officio, non-voting, provides guidance and advice to Council

17. Council structure and function • Ten voting members, consisting of: • One representative from each state agency with significant WQ monitoring responsibilities (4 state agencies) • One representative from each WMD • One representative from FLERA representing county/local governments

18. Council structure and function • Liaison – Steve Wolfe; coordinates Council activities • Facilitator – Janice Fleischer, J.D.; FLASH Resolutions; designs agendas and runs meetings • Members can talk freely with liaison and facilitator outside of Council meetings (Sunshine talk)

19. Florida Water Resources Monitoring Council Updates will be provided to you Wish us luck!!