CHARLOTTE HARBOR WATERSHED SUMMIT

From Data to Policy: Our Partnership in Action

Edison College in Punta Gorda, Florida, March 25-27, 2008

Agenda and Abstracts

The agenda is provided below and in a PDF file that includes abstracts.

PowerPoint presentations are available by clicking on the title of the presentation.

 If you don't have PowerPoint software, you can download the free software PowerPoint Viewer. (Follow the link then search for "Powerpoint Viewer 2003.")

Tuesday, March 25

Introductory Issues

Session 1 - Using Water Quality Data for Management

Wednesday, March 26

Sessions 2 - Charismatic Nekton as Indicators

Thursday, March 27

Session 3 - Innovative Flow Management

Session 4 - Essential Fish Habitat

Session 5 - Habitat Restoration

Session 6 - Water Quality Restoration

Posters

Tuesday, March 25 (actual)

8:30     Registration

9:00     Welcome and Announcements

9:10     From Data to Policy: Our Partnership in Action (2,797 KB)

9:30     Global Trends that Threaten Charlotte Harbor Protection and Restoration (589 KB), Video (34,531 KB)

9:50     Developments of Regional Impact in Southwest Florida – Origins of the Legislation, Review and Land-use Legacy (45,042 KB)

10:10    Growth Management Regulation, Public Investment and Resource Implications for the Estero Bay Watershed (9,705 KB)

10:30    BREAK

Session 1: Using Water Quality Data for Management

11:00    The Role of Land Runoff in Algal Blooms in Southwest Florida Estuaries and Coastal Waters (10,947 KB)

11:20    ‘RECON’: SCCF’s Fully Integrated River, Estuary, and Coastal Observing Network for High Resolution Real-Time Water Quality Sampling (3,111 KB)

11:40    Physical and Biological coupling in the Estuarine Turbidity Maximum of the Caloosahatchee River (3,759 KB)

12:00    LUNCH

Session 1: Using Water Quality Data for Management (continued)

1:00      A Two Year Look at Continuous Water Quality Data in Matlacha Pass (1,829 KB)

1:20      A Second Look at Nutrients and Land-Uses in the Charlotte Harbor Watershed (11,298 KB)

1:40      Loads and Yields from the Peace and Myakka River Basins from 1998 to 2005 (2,251 KB)

2:00      Recent Increases in Phosphorus, Silica and Chlorophyll a Levels in the Lower Peace River and Upper Charlotte Harbor (8,732 KB)

2:20      BREAK

Session 1: Using Water Quality Data for Management (continued)

2:50      Water Supply strategies to protect aquatic natural resources: accounting for ecological interactions with Florida's highly variable climate (11,893 KB)

3:10      Keynote Address by Senator Mel Martinez

3:30      Protecting Water Clarity in Sarasota County Bays – an Implementation Strategy (2,683 KB)

3:50      Assessing Validity and Reliability of Optical Model Predictions on Light Attenuation in Charlotte Harbor, Florida (1,330 KB)

4:10      Refinement of the Charlotte Harbor National Estuary Program’s Numeric Water Quality Targets for Lemon Bay, Charlotte Harbor and Estero Bay, Florida (7,336)

4:30      Closing Remarks

6:30      Evening Social - Impromptu & ad hoc

Wednesday, March 26

8:30      Registration

9:00      Announcements

Session 2: Charismatic Nekton as Indicators

9:10      Tidal Creek Condition Index: A Future Watershed Management Tool (715 KB)

9:30      A Tidal Creek Condition Index Based on Ecological Variables and Rapid Survey Methods, for Southwest Florida (3,236 KB)

9:50      Benthic Invertebrate Species Richness & Diversity at Different Habitats in the Greater Charlotte Harbor System (3,400 KB)

10:10    Influence of Freshwater Inflow on the Spatial and Temporal Distribution of Ichthyoplankton and Gelatinous Zooplankton in Estero Bay (2,183 KB)

10:30    BREAK

Session 2: Charismatic Nekton as Indicators (continued)

11:00    Influence of Freshwater Inflow on the Distribution and Community Structure of Decapod Zooplankton in Estero Bay (1,491 KB)

11:20    Ichthyofaunal Survey of Caloosahatchee River Oxbows (2,443 KB)

11:40    Introduced Fishes in the Charlotte Harbor Estuary (37,035 KB)

12:00    LUNCH

Session 2: Charismatic Nekton as Indicators (continued)

1:00      The Smalltooth Sawfish, Pristis pectinata, in the Caloosahatchee River, Florida: Notes on Its Ecology (5,468 KB)

1:20      Effects of Habitat on Juvenile Snook Diet: A Comparison of Mangrove Creeks of Different Quality (1,092 KB)

1:40      Spawning Patterns of Charlotte Harbor Snook: Information Essential for Management (1,424 KB)

2:00      Fish community assessment of the Peace River, Florida (1,455 KB)

2:20      Organism crowding during periods of low inflow into the Peace and Myakka estuaries; Evidence from spatial abundance quantiles (3,190 KB)

2:40      BREAK

Session 2: Charismatic Nekton as Indicators (continued)

3:10      Evaluating the Risks that Pharmaceutical-Related Pollutants Pose to Caloosahatchee River Wildlife: Observations on the Bull Shark (3,744 KB), Video (7,592 KB)

3:30      Identities and Ecological Effects of Ecoestrogens Present in the Tidal Caloosahatchee River (1,633 KB)

3:50      Effects of heavy metals and pesticides on health and physiology of oysters (Crassostrea virginica) in Hendry Creek, Estero Bay, FL: Implications for management of water quality (2,375 KB)

4:10      Role of Shellfish in Setting Water Quality Targets in SW Florida Estuaries (1,983 KB)

4:30      Partnership to Restore Bay Scallop in Pine Island Sound, Florida: Strategies, Accomplishments and Current Activities (8,350 KB)

4:50      Closing Remarks

Thursday, March 27

8:30      Registration

9:00      Announcements

Session 3: Innovative Flow Management

9:10      Hydrological Monitoring of the Six Mile Cypress Slough Preserve (2,660 KB)

9:30      Estero Bay Tributaries Riparian Vegetation Analysis (5,650 KB)

9:50      A Bayesian Approach to Predicting Salinity in the Lower Peace River Estuary (cancelled)

10:10    A Probabilistic Routine for Predicting Estuarine Salinity to Inform Management Decisions (1,635 KB)

10:30    BREAK

Session 4: Essential Fish Habitat

11:00    Sarasota County Volunteer Seagrass Monitoring (1,803 KB)

11:20    Are Seagrasses in Charlotte Harbor Migrating Landward in Response to Expected Sea Level Rise? (8,518 KB)

11:40    The effects of applying new spatial reporting units to seagrass maps (5,023 KB)

12:00    LUNCH

Session 5: Habitat restoration

1:20      Seagrass transplant success linked to sediment bacterial communities

1:40      Post-hurricane Restoration of Charlotte Harbor Red Mangrove Shorelines: Improving Corridors for Seasonal Fish Movements (6,418 KB)

2:00      Melaleuca Removal from Pop Ash Creek Preserve (2,757 KB)

2:20      Integrated Surface Water / Groundwater Modeling in the Myakka River Watershed: Management Tools for Ecosystem Restoration (1,370 KB)

2:40      BREAK

Session 6: Water Quality restoration

3:10      Lake Hancock Lake Level Modification Project (23,467 KB)

3:30      Assessment of Water Quality Responses to Sediment Removal in Lake Hancock (1,147 KB)

3:50      Winter Haven: The Chain of Lakes City – Making Water Quality a Priority (8,905 KB)

4:10      Shell Creek and Prairie Creek Watersheds Management Plan: Reasonable Assurance Documentation (10,988 KB)

4:30      Closing Remarks

The Charlotte Harbor National Estuary Program, using a cooperative decision-making process based on sound science, developed a Comprehensive Conservation and Management Plan (CCMP) that identifies the region’s priority environmental issues – water quality, hydrology, and fish and wildlife habitat loss – and actions to solve them. When the CCMP was completed and accepted in 2001, it marked the beginning of action to restore and protect the estuary and its watershed.

The Charlotte Harbor Watershed Summit is an opportunity to review progress since the Watershed Summit held in 2002 and 2005 and discuss current and emerging issues affecting the Charlotte Harbor watershed. (The first symposium/conference was held in 1997.) Information about earlier summits are available on this website.