Water Quality Monitoring – Your Questions Answered
By Catherine Wolden, Water Quality Monitoring Program Manager
Q: What is water quality and why is it important?
A: Water quality is a description of the chemical, physical and biological condition of water and is often explained in terms of how suitable the water is for a specific purpose like drinking, recreation or support of wildlife. The quality of our water is important because it has a direct impact on people and the environment.
Q: Why does the District monitor water quality?
A: The District’s Water Quality Monitoring Program or WQMP provides critical data to anyone making decisions about protecting, managing, and restoring water resources within our region. The District maintains an extensive water quality data collection and analysis program with more than 950 active stations across our 16-county region. District scientists collect samples from surface water bodies like lakes, nearshore estuarine areas, rivers, and from groundwater systems like springs and wells.
Q: What does the District look for in water quality monitoring?
A: The District assesses the quality of water in several ways. In the field, scientists record measurements such as water temperature, dissolved oxygen concentrations, pH, the concentration of ions in the water (specific conductance), and the amount of material suspended in the water (turbidity). More complex measurements for nutrients and saltwater indicators are measured in a laboratory.
Q: How often do District staff visit the monitoring locations?
A: It depends on the type of water or waterbody and the purpose of the monitoring project. District staff take water samples more frequently (sometimes hourly) in streams or rivers since the flow is constantly changing the conditions in the water. For groundwater resources, like an aquifer, it’s unusual to see rapid changes in water quality so those locations may only be monitored once a year.
Q: How much data does the District collect every year?
A: Each year, District staff collect approximately 2,700 water quality samples and perform more than 56,000 individual laboratory analyses. This work is supported by an annual budget of about $1.9 million and produces high quality, scientifically defensible data to guide resource management decisions.
Q: What does the District do with the collected water quality data?
A: The District and its partners use the data to help make decisions about protecting, managing and restoring water resources within our region. Data collected support studies of ongoing issues like saltwater intrusion, impacts to aquifers in our region, and evaluation of minimum flows and levels for our springs and surface waterbodies.
Q: How can the public access the District’s water quality data?
A: Data collected by the District, including water quality data, can be accessed and downloaded from our Environmental Data Portal (EDP) at WaterMatters.org/edp
Catherine Wolden is the Southwest Florida Water Management District’s Water Quality Monitoring Program Manager. A native of Florida, she earned a bachelor’s degree in environmental science and policy from the University of South Florida and has spent her entire 25 -year career in various roles in the District’s Water Quality Monitoring Program.
HOPE LUTHERAN WELCOMES MOBILE FOOD PANTRY
On Thursday August 20, Hope Lutheran Church, 2001 North Park Road will host their mobile food pantry in the church parking lot. This pantry, in association with St. Paul’s Lutheran Church, Lakeland will begin distributing food to those in need beginning at 6:00 p.m. until the supplies are distributed. Anyone in need of grocery assistance is encouraged to join in to work to eliminate food insecurities in the community. Various goods are available from vegetables to meats to dairy and bakery goods. As a rule, the pantry, “Moving Hope” takes place at Hope Lutheran on the third Thursday of each month. No identification is required and the pantry is open to anyone in our Plant City community needing that extra hand.
For additional information contact the church office at 813-752-4622.
