LYNN HAVEN — Unlike many water bodies that flow in from other areas, the health of the St. Andrew Bay watershed is a direct reflection of local conditions.
It was a point echoed by St. Andrew Bay Watch Director Patrice Couch as she and Assistant Director Laura Paris conducted a water quality sampling mission in the North Bay area Tuesday, marking nearly a quarter-century of data collection for the nonprofit organization.
“One of the things that’s cool in Bay County is we really have the ability to control the water quality because most of the watershed is here,” Couch said. “We have the ability to strive for a good outcome to make sure the bay stays clean.”
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Armed with a group of about 40 volunteers, Bay Watch collects monthly water quality samples at 84 sites in the St. Andrew Bay watershed, which spans from Lake Powell to the west all the way to East Bay.
A program under the St. Andrew Bay Resource Management Association, Bay Watch also partners with the University of Florida’s LAKEWATCH program, which conducts more extensive testing for 40 of the sample sites, testing for nutrient levels, chlorophyll levels and turbidity levels, a reflection of water clarity.
Since its inception in 1990, Bay Watch has recorded nearly a quarter-century’s worth of water quality data, giving researchers and other agencies the tools to monitor long-term changes in the ecosystem and other areas of concern.
“These allow us to determine what the water quality is throughout the bay system and lets us identify pollution hot spots so we can make good management decisions about the health of the bay,” Couch said. “We want our data to be used to make good decisions about the bay, to keep the bay healthy.”
Couch said in recent years the Grand Lagoon area has emerged as an area of concern for the organization, frequently reporting elevated nutrients like nitrogen and phosphorus, which could be caused by fertilizer runoff from area lawns, stormwater runoff or improperly functioning septic tanks.
While the bay’s water needs some nutrients to remain healthy, elevated nutrients have the potential to cause fish kills, algae blooms and cloudy water, which causes die-offs of sea grass that needs sunlight to grow and survive.
Couch cited West Bay as another area of concern, often testing for high turbidity levels, or low water clarity, due to a loss of about 2 acres of sea grass over the last few decades.
Bay Watch is primarily volunteer-run, apart from Couch and Paris, who each work part-time, and funding is drawn from grants, donations and membership fees.
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A $500,000 grant procured in 2007 gave Bay Watch the means to purchase a 36-foot pontoon boat and other equipment to conduct water sampling. Currently, the organization is operating on a grant from the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, which will provide sufficient funds through December 2015.
Couch said Bay Watch always is seeking new volunteers to aid in monitoring efforts. Many of Bay Watch’s current volunteers have been on board since the beginning.
“These are people that are passionate about maintaining the water quality of the bay,” Couch said. “These people have a vested interest in their water body. We have the ability to better manage the outcome for good water quality.”