Chapter 3: Ecological Effects of Phosphorus Enrichment in the Everglades

The Everglades Forever Act (Act; Section 373.4592, Florida Statutes) requires the Florida Department of Environmental Protection (Department) and the South Florida Water Management District (District) to implement the Everglades Program, a comprehensive plan to begin restoration of significant portions of the remnant Everglades. The Act also specifically finds that waters flowing into a part of the remnant Everglades known as the Everglades Protection Area contain excessive levels of phosphorus (P) and that a reduction in levels of phosphorus will benefit the ecology of the Everglades Protection Area. As a part of the Everglades Program, the Act requires the Department and District to complete research necessary to establish a numeric phosphorus criterion by December 31, 2001, by which date the Department is also required to file a notice of rulemaking to establish such a criterion. If the Department does not adopt the phosphorus criterion by rule by December 31, 2003, the Act establishes a default criterion of 10 μg/L (parts per billion, ppb). The Act requires that the Department’s phosphorus criterion not be lower than the natural conditions of the Everglades Protection Area and take into account spatial and temporal variability. The Act further requires that compliance with the phosphorus criterion be based on a longterm geometric mean of concentration levels to be measured at sampling stations representative of receiving waters in the Everglades Protection Area.