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aquifers that currently supply much of Florida’s drinking water in low lying areas. This problem will be exacer
bated by increased withdrawals of water for the anticipated increase in Florida’s population.
24
IV
W H A T W E K N O W :
• Shallow coastal aquifers are already experiencing saltwater intrusion. The freshwater Everglades recharges Florida's Biscayne aquifer, the
primary water supply to the Florida Keys.
When rising water levels submerge the land,
the lowlying portions of the coastal Everglades
become more saline, decreasing the recharge
area and increasing saltwater intrusion (101).
• The South Florida Water Management District
already spends millions of dollars per year to
prevent Miami's Biscayne aquifer from becoming brackish (102).
W H A T I S P R O B A B L E :
• A sealevel rise of about 6 inches would require
greater cutbacks in water use by developed regions
in order to prevent saltwater intrusion; however, the
interior regional hydrologic system of south Florida
would not be significantly affected (103).
• The Pensacola and MiamiPalm Beach corridors are
especially vulnerable to saltwater intrusion into community fresh water supplies with rising sea levels
(104, 105).
W H A T I S P O S S I B L E :
• Eventually, if sea level continues to rise, surficial
aquifers throughout the state will be threatened.
25
V
V.
S E C T I O N
The climaterelated effects identified in this document are expected to result in major
changes to Florida’s marine resources, as well as to its developed coastal areas. To sustain the quality of life of residents, the diversity and productivity of marine ecosystems, and
the economy of the state in the face of these changes, residents, elected officials, resource
managers, and university scientists must work together to find timely, responsible, and effective solutions. These often may involve difficult decisions that consider tradeoffs among
the various sectors that depend on coastal resources, and as such, they will be politically
as well as technologically challenging. Thus, it is imperative that decisions be based on
sound science.
The Florida Oceans and Coastal Council will continue to address the critical information
needs related to climate change for coastal and marine systems during its future deliberations. At this time, the following recommendations from the Council’s 2009–2010 Research
Plan directly support Florida’s climatebased information needs:
Climate Change:
Priorities for Florida’s Ocean
and Coastal Research
CL I M AT E CHAN GE
The world’s changing climate has the potential
to dramatically impact Florida’s marine resources,
disrupt marinebased economies and cause significant damage to coastal development, thereby
creating the need for mitigation and adaptivemanagement strategies. Providing guidance to
minimize effects on Florida’s population and natural resources must begin with investigation into
three key areas outlined below.
Research Priorities—Climate Change:
1. Modeling of sealevel rise based on Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change
(IPCC) scenarios and development of cost
estimates for resulting effects in terms of natural resource impacts and adaptation of existing coastal development. Emphasis is on
collaborative, statewide efforts with peer
review. These can include steps that may
be necessary to improve model accuracy
such as improved topography for coastal
uplands.
2. Assessing the impact on fisheries productivity
from changes in Florida’s estuarine habitats
due to climate change.
3. Monitoring, modeling, and mapping of natural system responses with an emphasis on
predicting effects of climate change on coral
reef communities. To establish baseline data,
it will be necessary to map and characterize
Florida’s coral reef communities.
26
V
WAT E R QUAL I T Y
Water quality is of critical importance to Florida—
it determines what biological communities can
live in a water body, whether the water is harmful
to humans, and whether the water is suitable for
other designated uses. With an economy driven
by our environment, maintaining water quality to
support coral reefs, grass beds, fishing, and
beach activities must be a high priority.
Research Priorities—Water Quality:
1. Research and monitoring that examine
effects of excess nutrients on living coastal
resources and relate them to causes and
sources and to human activities. The intent is
to support costeffective resource management programs to improve oceans and
human health.
2. Statewide coastal observing that guides
water quality management, marine resource
management, and navigation and hazard response.
3. Harmful algal bloom (HAB) research to protect tourism, commercial and recreational fisheries, and inform watershed management for
ocean health. The emphasis is on nonred
tide HABs as red tide HABs are already
being addressed.
4. Modeling of hydrodynamics, water quality,
and coastal/ocean ecosystems to support
better understanding of cause and effect between uplands activities, coastal freshwater
discharges, and resulting effects on estuarine
and marine biological communities.
OCEAN AND COAS TAL
ECOSYS T E M S
Florida’s ocean and coastal ecosystems are critical to maintaining the economic activity they support, from beachgoing to fishing. It is also critical

aquifers that currently supply much of Florida’s drinking water in low lying areas. This problem will be exacer

bated by increased withdrawals of water for the anticipated increase in Florida’s population.

24

IV

W H A T W E K N O W :

• Shallow coastal aquifers are already experiencing saltwater intrusion. The freshwater Everglades recharges Florida's Biscayne aquifer, the

primary water supply to the Florida Keys.

When rising water levels submerge the land,

the lowlying portions of the coastal Everglades

become more saline, decreasing the recharge

area and increasing saltwater intrusion (101).

• The South Florida Water Management District

already spends millions of dollars per year to

prevent Miami's Biscayne aquifer from becoming brackish (102).

W H A T I S P R O B A B L E :

• A sealevel rise of about 6 inches would require

greater cutbacks in water use by developed regions

in order to prevent saltwater intrusion; however, the

interior regional hydrologic system of south Florida

would not be significantly affected (103).

• The Pensacola and MiamiPalm Beach corridors are

especially vulnerable to saltwater intrusion into community fresh water supplies with rising sea levels

(104, 105).

W H A T I S P O S S I B L E :

• Eventually, if sea level continues to rise, surficial

aquifers throughout the state will be threatened.

25

V

V.

S E C T I O N

The climaterelated effects identified in this document are expected to result in major

changes to Florida’s marine resources, as well as to its developed coastal areas. To sustain the quality of life of residents, the diversity and productivity of marine ecosystems, and

the economy of the state in the face of these changes, residents, elected officials, resource

managers, and university scientists must work together to find timely, responsible, and effective solutions. These often may involve difficult decisions that consider tradeoffs among

the various sectors that depend on coastal resources, and as such, they will be politically

as well as technologically challenging. Thus, it is imperative that decisions be based on

sound science.

The Florida Oceans and Coastal Council will continue to address the critical information

needs related to climate change for coastal and marine systems during its future deliberations. At this time, the following recommendations from the Council’s 2009–2010 Research

Plan directly support Florida’s climatebased information needs:

Climate Change:

Priorities for Florida’s Ocean

and Coastal Research

CL I M AT E CHAN GE

The world’s changing climate has the potential

to dramatically impact Florida’s marine resources,

disrupt marinebased economies and cause significant damage to coastal development, thereby

creating the need for mitigation and adaptivemanagement strategies. Providing guidance to

minimize effects on Florida’s population and natural resources must begin with investigation into

three key areas outlined below.

Research Priorities—Climate Change:

1. Modeling of sealevel rise based on Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change

(IPCC) scenarios and development of cost

estimates for resulting effects in terms of natural resource impacts and adaptation of existing coastal development. Emphasis is on

collaborative, statewide efforts with peer

review. These can include steps that may

be necessary to improve model accuracy

such as improved topography for coastal

uplands.

2. Assessing the impact on fisheries productivity

from changes in Florida’s estuarine habitats

due to climate change.

3. Monitoring, modeling, and mapping of natural system responses with an emphasis on

predicting effects of climate change on coral

reef communities. To establish baseline data,

it will be necessary to map and characterize

Florida’s coral reef communities.

26

V

WAT E R QUAL I T Y

Water quality is of critical importance to Florida—

it determines what biological communities can

live in a water body, whether the water is harmful

to humans, and whether the water is suitable for

other designated uses. With an economy driven

by our environment, maintaining water quality to

support coral reefs, grass beds, fishing, and

beach activities must be a high priority.

Research Priorities—Water Quality:

1. Research and monitoring that examine

effects of excess nutrients on living coastal

resources and relate them to causes and

sources and to human activities. The intent is

to support costeffective resource management programs to improve oceans and

human health.

2. Statewide coastal observing that guides

water quality management, marine resource

management, and navigation and hazard response.

3. Harmful algal bloom (HAB) research to protect tourism, commercial and recreational fisheries, and inform watershed management for

ocean health. The emphasis is on nonred

tide HABs as red tide HABs are already

being addressed.

4. Modeling of hydrodynamics, water quality,

and coastal/ocean ecosystems to support

better understanding of cause and effect between uplands activities, coastal freshwater

discharges, and resulting effects on estuarine

and marine biological communities.

OCEAN AND COAS TAL

ECOSYS T E M S

Florida’s ocean and coastal ecosystems are critical to maintaining the economic activity they support, from beachgoing to fishing. It is also critical