EPA Research Partner Support Story: Monitoring the health of the Perdido Bays Estuary
Partner: Pensacola and Perdido Bays Estuary Program
Challenge: Monitoring the health of the estuary
Resource: Technical support for the development and implementation of a probabilistic monitoring framework
Project Period: 2020 ‒ Present
In 2018, EPA awarded Escambia County, Florida a $2-million cooperative agreement under the Resources and Ecosystems Sustainability, Tourist Opportunities, and Revived Economies (RESTORE) of the Gulf Coast Act to establish the non-regulatory, place-based Pensacola and Perdido Bays Estuary Program (PPBEP). Through a coalition of local, state, and federal stakeholders from two states, two watersheds, four counties and five municipalities, the PPBEP fosters partnerships and coordinates efforts to collaboratively achieve publicly identified goals and objectives to restore and conserve the environment and the economy of the Pensacola and Perdido Bay region.
“Completing an intensification of the Condition Assessment Survey within the Pensacola and Perdido Bay watersheds would not have been possible without the technical, field, and facility support provided by EPA ORD’s Gulf Ecosystem Measurement and Modeling Division (GEMMD). As a result, local natural resource management decisions are and will be informed by survey results. The Pensacola & Perdido Bays Estuary Program is grateful for our partnership with GEMMD, and we look forward to continued collaboration in the years ahead.” — Pensacola & Perdido Bays Estuary Program Executive Director Matt J. Posner
To assist the PPBEP in implementing a coordinated long-term environmental monitoring program, ORD researchers, in collaboration with Region 4 worked with the PPBEP team to develop and implement a probabilistic sampling strategy using protocols established under EPA’s National Coastal Condition Assessment (NCCA). Water, sediment and fish measurements and samples were taken and analyzed for pollutant, toxicity, and biological characteristics. EPA staff provided the technical support for the survey design, training, field logistics and sample collection. The results produced from the 2021 sampling event will serve as a baseline for the PPBEP to monitor progress in restoring and maintaining the resilience of the Pensacola and Perdido Bays and the community benefits derived from healthy productive estuaries.
Learn more about the Pensacola and Perdido Bays Estuary Program.