Nutrient Loadings and Eutrophication in the Peace River

The Charlotte Harbor Environmental Center developed and implemented an expanded water quality monitoring Program for the Peace River. This project was initiated because it has the potential to provide important information regarding the recurring problem of significant algal blooms in the Peace River. Parameters were monitored at 16 locations along the river in Polk, Hardee, DeSoto and Charlotte counties. Samples were collected for nitrate, nitrite, phosphorus, chlorophyll a, color and biochemical oxygen demand (BOD), and then analyzed by an approved laboratory. Additional parameters measured by the volunteers included color, iron, pH, hardness, phosphorus, turbidity, calcium and alkalinity.

Relative to median values observed in Florida streams, most of the Peace River stations exhibited elevated concentrations of total phosphorous, total nitrogen, total organic carbon, turbidity, total suspended solids, color and chlorophyll a during the September 1997 to September 1998 time period. However, these results may have been influenced by the unusually high levels of rainfall and stormwater runoff that occurred throughout the study area during the El Nino influenced winter of 1997-1998, and an overly detailed analysis of the water quality data would be premature.