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Managers' Ability to Evaluate Sensitive Set-aside Zones in Florida Improves
Center for Sponsored Coastal Ocean Research (CSCOR)-supported researchers at the University of Miami have developed a hydrodynamic model to provide boundary conditions of currents, temperature, salinity and sea elevation for areas surrounding Florida Bay, and have provided the model code to the South Florida Water Management District (SFWMD). This product was identified as a priority by the Florida Bay and Florida Keys Feasibility Study as part of the Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan (CERP). The model will permit rigorous linkages between hydrodynamic and water quality models for Florida Bay being developed by the SFWMD and oceanic conditions in the nearby Gulf of Mexico, Atlantic Ocean, and Florida Keys. It will also permit scientists to make ecological forecasts of changes resulting from Everglades restoration activities and natural episodic events in South Florida coastal ecosystems. The results will facilitate understanding of both pink shrimp recruitment pathways and the effects of restoration projects on environmentally sensitive areas in the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary and the Dry Tortugas Ecological Reserve, providing managers with the information needed to evaluate the effectiveness of designated “sensitive area set-aside zones”. For more information, please contact Larry.Pugh@noaa.gov