Environmental Monitoring in the Everglades and Big Cypress

EPA has been conducting an assessment of the Everglades’ health over the last 30 years. The Everglades Regional Environmental Monitoring and Assessment Program or REMAP (also referred to as the Everglades Ecosystem Assessment Program), measures current and changing conditions for water quality and ecological resources. This program is the only scientific effort in the Everglades that combines:

a probability-based sampling approach, which permits quantitative spatial statements about ecosystem health
an extensive 2000 square mile coverage that includes all of the Everglades
a multi-media aspect (water, sediment, fish, algal communities, and plants such as sawgrass and cattail).

See:

Program data track the effectiveness of restoration efforts such as the:

Water Quality Restoration Strategies Agreement reached between the state of Florida and EPA in 2012 to control phosphorus,
effectiveness of efforts to restore Everglades habitat, and
efforts to control mercury.

Program data have been used by the National Academies of Sciences and over 30 federal or Florida agencies, Indian tribes, environmental groups, agricultural interests and universities. During phase I (1993-1996), phase II (1999), phase III (2005), phase IV (2013-2014), and phase V (2023-2024) EPA has sampled about 1100 marsh locations. About 100-125 locations are sampled in a two-week window in order to assess the entire Everglades and Big Cypress at a point in time. In addition, about 200 canal locations were sampled during phase I.

Results indicate that:

the condition of the Everglades varies greatly with location
rainfall-driven portions of the Everglades that are distant from the influence of canal water have good water quality
other areas have poorer water quality, elevated soil phosphorus, extensive cattail encroachment, elevated mercury, elevated sulfur, or soil loss.

EPA Reports

REMAP Phase V

Big Cypress REMAP Phase V - 2023 Water Quality, Nutrients, Mercury, and Soils - This program synthesis report presents results and conclusions about the 2023 sampling in Big Cypress National Preserve, along with comparisons to 2005 and 1995 REMAP data and SFWMD water quality and soils data.

Big Cypress REMAP Phase V Report (full size) (pdf) (51.31 MB, June 2025, EPA 904-R25-002)
Big Cypress REMAP Phase V Report (compressed) (pdf) (7.02 MB, June 2025, EPA 904-R25-002)
Appendix 3 Spearman Correlation Plots (pdf) (4.02 MB)
Appendix 4 Latitude Plots (pdf) (5.28 MB)
Appendix 5 Multimedia Correlation Matrix (pdf) (306.99 KB)
Appendix 6 Plants and Periphyton (pdf) (4.43 MB)
Big Cypress REMAP Data – 2023 (Excel) (xlsx)

REMAP Phase IV

Everglades Regional Environmental Monitoring and Assessment Program – REMAP. Water Quality and Management, Nutrients, Mercury, Soils and Habitat; Monitoring for Adaptive Management: A Phase IV Update (pdf) (16.52 MB) - This program synthesis report, published in 2021, presents results and conclusions about the Everglades’ health using the 2014 dataset, along with comparisons to data from 2005 and 1995.

REMAP Phase III

Everglades Ecosystem Assessment: Water Management and Quality, Eutrophication, Mercury Contamination, Soils and Habitat; Monitoring for Adaptive Management: A REMAP Status Report - This report, published in 2007, presents results for 1000 locations sampled during phase I (1993-1996), phase II (1999), and phase III (2005) along with temporal changes.

REMAP Phase II

Everglades Ecosystem Assessment: Phase I/II Everglades Stressor Interactions: Hydropatterns, Eutrophication, Habitat Alteration, and Mercury Contamination - This report, published in 2001, presents conditions found in the canals and marsh along with temporal changes for REMAP Phase I (1995-96) and REMAP Phase II (1999). Results are presented in a summary report and an extensive technical report including appendices and data files.

REMAP Phase I

Everglades Ecosystem Assessment: Final Technical Report – Phase I - This extensive technical report, published in 1998, presents phase I (1993-1996) findings on threats to the Everglades including mercury contamination, eutrophication, habitat alteration, and hydropattern modification.

Other Reports

Everglades REMAP Fish Mercury Bioaccumulation Modelling Report - This report, published in 2020, presents mercury modelling results using REMAP data (1995 -2014) with special consideration of habitat, food web dynamics, and the resultant efficiency of biomagnification.

Everglades Ecosystem Assessment: Everglades Water Management, Soil Loss, Eutrophication and Habitat - This summary report, published in 2000, documents Phase I 1993 to 1996 baseline conditions in the Everglades and Big Cypress prior to ecosystem restoration efforts.

Everglades Ecosystem Assessment Interim Report - This interim report, published in 1996, introduces the system-wide scope of the monitoring project in the Everglades ecosystem and presents findings from REMAP Phase I (1995) on the mercury contamination, eutrophication, habitat alteration, and hydropattern modification issues.

EPA Data

Big Cypress REMAP Data – 2023 (Excel) - Data collected by EPA at 38 locations within Big Cypress National Preserve in October 2023. [Excel]

Everglades Ecosystem Assessment Phase IV: 2014 Data Report - Project results are presented for 118 locations sampled during 2014 for phase IV.

EPA Everglades EMAP 2014 Data (xlsx) (167.28 KB) [Excel]

Everglades Ecosystem Assessment Phase IV: 2013 Data Report– Project results are presented from the 2013 monitoring survey.

EPA Everglades EMAP 2013 Data (xlsx) (132.87 KB) [Excel]

Environmental Monitoring in the Everglades and Big Cypress

EPA Reports

EPA Data

Florida Everglades