By the 1970s, eutrophication in Tampa Bay was causing increased phytoplankton growth and losses of water clarity and submerged aquatic vegetation (SAV). Several actions taken in the 1980s—including advanced wastewater treatment requirements for all municipal wastewater treatment plants and new stormwater regulations—resulted in a significant reduction in nutrient loading and improvement in water quality conditions. Building on that momentum, the Tampa Bay Estuary Program and its Nitrogen Management Consortium—a partnership of area public and private stakeholders—adopted a long-term goal of reclaiming 95 percent of SAV acreage observed in 1950.
Implementing more than 300 projects submitted by local governments, agencies, and industries from 1995 to 2000 has resulted in an estimated 134 tons per year reduction in nitrogen loading to Tampa Bay. Phytoplankton growth has decreased and water clarity and SVA coverage have continued to improve because of that commitment. An estimated 20-percent increase of population by 2010 in the Tampa Bay watershed and associated increases in nitrogen loading, however, presented new challenges to be met (Bricker et al. 2007).
Reference:
Bricker, S., B. Longstaff, W. Dennison, A. Jones, K. Boicourt, C. Wicks, and J. Woerner. 2007. Effects of Nutrient Enrichment In the Nation’s Estuaries: A Decade of Change. NOAA Coastal Ocean Program Decision Analysis Series No. 26. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science, Silver Spring, MD. Accessed October 2016. https://yosemite.epa.gov/oa/EAB_Web_Docket.nsf/(Filings)/3BE82A42C7ED8C3585257B120059CB8A/$File/Opposition%20to%20Petition%20for%20Review%20–%20Ex.%2010%20Part1…23.53.pdf.