Every year since I joined Florida Sea Grant in 2012, water quality has been selected as one of the top priority issues by both my advisory committee and by the public. Clean water is important to everyone. Though there are several water quality issues, the two that seem to be of most concern have been fish kills and health advisories. Most of the historic fish kills of the 1960s and 1970s were due to lack of dissolved oxygen, triggered by large algal blooms, triggered by excessive nutrients within stormwater runoff. The health advisories are triggered by excessive concentrations of fecal bacteria. The Florida Department of Health monitors for fecal bacteria in local waters where people will most likely swim. They do this during months when people are most likely swimming, though three swimming beaches they monitor all year. Health advisories are rare to nonexistent at our local beaches but are more common in our bayous. When I began monitoring them in 2012, 30% of the samples (or more) collected from our bayous required a health advisory.
The job of Florida Sea Grant is to provide education/outreach to help the community solve their problems. Our response to these issues was to develop a program we called Bringing Back the Bayous where we had presentations, and a panel of local experts, to discuss nutrients and fecal bacteria issues and how the public can help reduce them. Since the pandemic, most of these have been virtual, or a series of articles posted on our website. In 2024 we posted nine water quality articles, seven focusing on either nutrients or fecal bacteria. Sea Grant also coordinates the local University of Florida IFAS Extension’s Lakewatch Program. This is a citizen science program where trained volunteers pull samples from three stations at six local waterways in the Pensacola Bay area. These samples are frozen until they can be analyzed by the Lakewatch lab in Gainesville. We receive an annual report from UF, which we then provide to the community.
Nutrients
Below are the current results of our Lakewatch program. Note that these are not the values from samples collected in 2024 alone, but rather the geometric mean of all samples collected since sampling began.
One of the nutrients of concern is nitrogen. Organic and inorganic nitrogen is discharged from commercial grade fertilizers placed on lawns and landscapes, leaf litter that is placed in the street and then washed into storm drains during rain events, animal waste from pets and livestock, human waste from faulty septic and sewer systems, and other sources. Lakewatch analyzes all forms of nitrogen – what is called total nitrogen (TN). Below are the data as of 2024 in micrograms/liter (µg/L).
Total Nitrogen (µg/L) Geometric Means
| Body of Water | Site 1 | Site 2 | Site 3 |
| Bayou Chico | 506 | 537 | 358 |
| Bayou Grande | 296 | 276 | 296 |
| Bayou Texar South | 359 | 406 | – |
| Bayou Texar | 788 | 660 | 579 |
| Big Lagoon | 218 | 184 | 184 |
| Pensacola Bay | 238 | 237 | 196 |
| Perdido Bay | 318 | 311 | 315 |
You will notice that for Bayou Grande, Big Lagoon, and Pensacola Bay the values are between 200-300 µg/L. Perdido Bay is just above 300 µg/L. Bayou Chico is elevated – 350-550 µg/L. And Bayou Texar is significantly elevated – 600-800 µg/L. We will look at two other parameters before we begin discussing the nutrient issue.
Phosphorus is not as large of a problem in the Florida panhandle as it is in central and south Florida but is monitored because it too can lead to algal blooms, lowered dissolved oxygen, and fish kills. It too is measured in micrograms/liter.
Total Phosphorus (µg/L) Geometric Means
| Body of Water | Site 1 | Site 2 | Site 3 |
| Bayou Chico | 26 | 25 | 31 |
| Bayou Grande | 14 | 14 | 16 |
| Bayou Texar South | 22 | 25 | – |
| Bayou Texar | 17 | 17 | 17 |
| Big Lagoon | 13 | 12 | 12 |
| Pensacola Bay | 11 | 13 | 13 |
| Perdido Bay | 15 | 15 | 16 |
75% of the geometric means were less than 20 µg/L. All of the data from Bayou Chico was above 20 µg/L as were the data collected from Bayou Texar between 2000 and 2002. However, the TP in Texar has dropped below 20 µg/L since 2007.
Increased nutrients can lead to an algal bloom. To measure the concentration of algae in the water column Lakewatch looks at the total concentration of chlorophyll a. Water samples are collected and filtered by our local volunteers. In Gainesville the concentration of algae on the filter is processed to release the chlorophyll a then measured and reported as total chlorophyll and measured in micrograms/liter.
Total Chlorophyll (µg/L) Geometric Means
| Body of Water | Site 1 | Site 2 | Site 3 |
| Bayou Chico | 13 | 12 | 8 |
| Bayou Grande | 3 | 4 | 4 |
| Bayou Texar South | 6 | 9 | – |
| Bayou Texar | 6 | 8 | 7 |
| Big Lagoon | 3 | 2 | 2 |
| Pensacola Bay | 3 | 3 | 4 |
| Perdido Bay | 5 | 5 | 5 |
90% of all the TC data was below 10 µg/L. The only body of water with geometric means above 10 µg/L was Bayou Chico.
Algal blooms can color the water making it darker – reducing water clarity. Though water clarity can also be decreased with suspended solids (sediment), Lakewatch volunteers also measure water clarity using a secchi disk lowered from the side of their boat. Water clarity is measured in feet.
Water Clarity (feet) Geometric Means
| Body of Water | Site 1 | Site 2 | Site 3 |
| Bayou Chico | 3 | 4 | 4 |
| Bayou Grande | 5 | 6 | 6 |
| Bayou Texar South | 3 | 2 | – |
| Bayou Texar | 4 | 4 | 4 |
| Big Lagoon | 10 | 10 | 10 |
| Pensacola Bay | 10 | 10 | 11 |
| Perdido Bay | 7 | 5 | 6 |
40% of the data has geometric mean for water clarity at, or below, 5 feet. Those include one site in Bayou Grande, and all sites from Bayou Texar and Bayou Chico.
60% of the data had geometric means above 5 feet water clarity. Those include two of the sites in Bayou Grande and all sites in the open bays and Big Lagoon.
Nutrient Summary
The first thing you will notice with this data is that Bayou Chico is elevated in total nitrogen, total phosphorus, chlorophyll a, and has the lowest water clarity of the bodies of water we monitor – there is a nutrient issue in this body of water. But you will also notice the significantly higher levels of total nitrogen in Bayou Texar, particularly at Site 1 near 12th Avenue. This is also a nutrient issue that needs to be addressed. It is worth noting that we have only had one large fish kill since 2012. That was in Bayou Chico. It is believed to have been caused by low dissolved oxygen but not triggered by nutrients but rather by extremely warm water – which will also decrease the dissolved oxygen.
One thing we hope to determine in 2025 is the source of the nitrogen problem in Bayou Texar. It is believed the source may be coming from Carpenter’s Creek. We plan to explore/monitor this in and will be reporting over time. We also plan to provide education/outreach to residents within the Bayou Chico basin on how they can help reduce nutrient runoff into this system.
Fecal Bacteria
Enterococcus is a fecal bacterium found in the digestive systems of birds and mammals. It is used to monitor fecal bacteria in marine systems because of its tolerance of salinity. The presence of this bacterium in the water column is not surprising – birds and mammals defecate, and you would expect to find it. However, high concentrations indicate high concentrations of animal waste in the water – which could harbor serious pathogens in the water as well – which is a health risk. When the concentrations of Enterococcus are 71 colonies/100ml of water (or higher) a second sample is pulled. If this too is 71 or higher a health advisory is issued to the public.
The Florida Department of Health (FDOH) monitors swimming beaches around the state. In the Pensacola Bay area, there are 13 public swimming areas that are monitored. Most are monitored during the spring, summer, and fall. Three are only monitored in the summer, and three are monitored year-round. Since not all sites are monitored at the same frequency, we report the percentage of samples collected that require an advisory. As mentioned earlier, the swimming areas near the Gulf rarely see an advisory. Most are less than 10%, many are 0%. But when I began monitoring the FDOH data the bayous were at, or above, 30% of their samples. There are many things that the city, county, and local water utility need to do to help reduce the number of advisories. But there are things the public can do as well, and we have been trying to educate everyone on management practices that could drop advisories to less than 30% as our first target. Below are the number of samples collected and the percentage of advisories for each body of water in 2024.
| Body of Water | # of samples | # of advisories | % of samples requiring an advisory |
| Bayou Texar | 48 | 10 | .21 |
| Sanders Beach | 47 | 4 | .09 |
| Bruce Beach | 47 | 12 | .26 |
| Bayou Chico | 13 | 8 | .62 |
| Bayou Grande | 17 | 2 | .12 |
| Big Lagoon SP | 18 | 0 | .00 |
| Casino Beach | 18 | 0 | .00 |
| Park East | 18 | 0 | .00 |
| Park West | 18 | 1 | .06 |
| Quietwater Beach | 17 | 1 | .06 |
| Ft. Pickens | 8 | 0 | .00 |
| Opal Beach | 8 | 0 | .00 |
| Johnson’s Beach | 8 | 0 | .00 |
| TOTAL | 285 | 38 | .13 |
Overall, 13% of the samples collected in 2024 required a health advisory. This is a slight increase over the annual percentages of the last three years (9-11%). The only body of water at, or above, the 30% mark was Bayou Chico (62%). Historically Bayou Chico has been between 40-60% of their samples requiring an advisory. Bayou Chico is the only local water body requiring a state BMAP (Basin Management Action Plan) and this is due to the levels of fecal bacteria within. It is worth noting that Chico was only sampled 13 times in 2024. It is one of the 10 water bodies that are sampled during the spring, summer, and fall. But this year they stopped sampling (or reporting) in the fall. We are not sure why. It is possible if they had collected the additional five samples those could have been good, and the yearly percentage would have been lower than 62% – though probably not below the 30% mark we (Sea Grant) are trying to reach.
Here is a breakdown of the data regionally.
Perdido Key area
| Body of Water | # of samples | # of advisories | % of samples requiring an advisory |
| Big Lagoon SP | 18 | 0 | .00 |
| Johnson’s Beach | 8 | 0 | .00 |
| TOTAL | 26 | 0 | .00 |
Pensacola Beach area
| Body of Water | # of samples | # of advisories | % of samples requiring an advisory |
| Casino Beach | 18 | 0 | .00 |
| Park East | 18 | 0 | .00 |
| Park West | 18 | 1 | .06 |
| Quietwater Beach | 17 | 1 | .06 |
| Ft. Pickens | 8 | 0 | .00 |
| Opal Beach | 8 | 0 | .00 |
| TOTAL | 87 | 2 | .02 |
Downtown Pensacola area
| Body of Water | # of samples | # of advisories | % of samples requiring an advisory |
| Bayou Grande | 17 | 2 | .12 |
| Bayou Chico | 13 | 8 | .62 |
| Bayou Texar | 48 | 10 | .21 |
| Sanders Beach | 47 | 4 | .09 |
| Bruce Beach | 47 | 12 | .26 |
| TOTAL | 172 | 36 | .21 |
Fecal Bacteria Summary
It is not surprising to see that the highest number of advisories are in the downtown area. This is the most densely populated area and much of the sewage infrastructure is old and in need of repair. The city, county, and local water utility have been doing a lot to upgrade this infrastructure – and there has been a reduction in health advisories over the last decade – but there is still more to do – particularly in the Bayou Chico basin. Florida Sea Grant provided several articles in 2024 to educate property owners what they can do to help reduce advisories, whether they have a septic or a sewer system. We will post these articles again in 2025 and will have at least one public presentation on the topic. If you, or your community organization, would be interested in having a presentation – or a one-on-one discussion – on how you can help, contact me at the Escambia County Extension office – Rick O’Connor; roc1@ufl.edu.; 850-475-5230 ext.1111.
Salinity
I will note here that over the last six years we have had volunteers monitoring the salinity in local waterways. The purpose of this was to determine whether the increase in annual rainfall we have seen over the last decade, along with the increase in development and stormwater run-off, has led to a decrease in salinity near the shorelines. We have ALMOST completed the sampling and hope to have the final report posted in 2025.
If you have any questions concerning this report, please contact Rick O’Connor at the Escambia County Extension Office. 850-475-5230 ext.1111; roc1@ufl.edu.
1
