3.5.1 National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) -  $20,147,000

NOAA budget matrix for fiscal year 1993-01   (thousands of dollars)
Function/Project Name	1993 Enacted	1994 Enacted	1995 Enacted	1996 Enacted	1997 Enacted	1998 Enacted	1999 Enacted	2000 Enacted	2001 PB
AREA MANAGEMENT
Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary (NOS)	1,700	1,900	2,230	2,230	2,260	2,500	2,400	3,400	4,200
Integrated Coastal Management (NOS)	0	0	0	100	200	200	200	0	0
Rookery Bay NERR (NOS)	90	90	90	90	125	125	125	152	267
Florida Coastal Management Program (NOS)	476	581	600	600	1,300	1,300	1,300	1,300	2,850
Subtotal: NOAA	2,266	2,571	2,920	3,020	3,885	4,125	4,025	4,852	7,317
NATURAL RESOURCES MANAGEMENT
Fisheries Management/Endangered Species (NMFS)	1,000	1,000	1,000	1,000	1,000	1,000	1,000	1,000	1,000
WATER QUALITY & HABITAT PROTECTION
Habitat Conservation (NMFS)	15	100	110	110	110	110	110	110	110
INFORMATION MANAGEMENT/ASSESSMENT
Technical Support to Fl. Keys Management (NOS)	1,000	400	200	0	441	441	441	252	52
Coastal Mapping and Habitat Assessment (NOS)	205	650	535	475	445	445	445	754	693
Weather Service Forecasting (NWS)	480	480	1,480	1,480	1,480	1,480	1,480	1,480	1,480
Subtotal: NOAA	1,685	1,530	2,215	1,955	2,366	2,366	2,366	2,486	2,225
SCIENCE:  MONITORING
Fisheries Monitoring and Assessment (NMFS)	1,130	1,130	1,160	1,160	1,160	1,160	1,160	1,160	1,160
National Status & Trends Monitoring (NOS)	20	40	40	40	120	120	120	120	120
Integrated Ecosystem Health Monitoring (NOS)	0	0	0	270	850	650	900	900	1,900
Rookery Bay NERR (NOS)	20	20	20	20	25	25	25	40	110
Subtotal: NOAA	1,170	1,190	1,220	1,490	2,155	1,955	2,205	2,220	3,290
SCIENCE:  RESEARCH
National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS)	335	1,025	1,458	1,458	1,460	1,460	1,460	1,460	2,060
Atlantic Oceanographic & Meteorological Labs. (OAR)	500	200	200	200	200	200	200	250	250
University of Miami/CIMAS Pass-through (OAR)	1,525	1,163	2,175	1,278	1,559	600	600	600	0
Florida Sea Grant (OAR)	400	400	400	400	450	470	470	470	470
NOAA Underwater Research Program (OAR)	2,000	1,500	1,500	675	1,200	1,300	1,000	1,000	1,000
Coastal Ocean Program (NOS)	395	545	1,000	1,000	2,300	2,300	2,300	1,300	1,300
Climate/Agriculture Research - FSUniversity (OGP)	436	746	1,020	1,026	544	0	0	0	0
Climate/Agriculture Research - UnivSoFlorida (OGP)	197	288	323	0	132	0	0	0	0
Florida Keys/Florida Bay Economic Valuation (NOS)	0	0	100	200	71	71	71	190	190
NOVA Coral Reef Institute (NOS)	0	0	0	0	0	500	500	500	0
Rookery Bay NERR (NOS)	47	0	0	100	0	0	0	33	35
Subtotal: NOAA	5,835	5,867	8,176	6,337	7,916	6,901	6,601	5,803	5,305
INFRASTRUCTURE INVESTMENT
Rookery Bay NERR (NOS)	0	250	0	0	0	0	0	950	400
Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1000	500
Florida Coastal Management Program (NOS)	134	135	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Subtotal: NOAA	134	385	0	0	0	0	0	1,950	900
TOTALS	12,105	12,643	15,641	13,912	17,432	16,457	16,307	18,421	20,147

 

Abbreviations in table:

NOS -     National Ocean Service

NMFS -                  National Marine Fisheries Service

NWS -                    National Weather Service

OAR -                    Office of Oceanic and Atmospheric Research

OGP -     Office of Global Programs

 

 

l    Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary ($4,200,000)

 

Funding will be used for operational activities in the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary (FKNMS) at the southern edge of the South Florida ecosystem.  The coral reefs and other coastal areas of the FKNMS have been impacted by changes in water flow in inland areas, and will benefit greatly from the planned ecosystem restoration efforts.  Funding will support a range of activities including enforcement efforts for sanctuary regulations and operation of a permit system designed to protect sanctuary resources.  Increases requested in FY2001 as part of the Lands Legacy Initiative will ensure that the FKNMS has all the resources necessary for adequate operations and to begin a comprehensive site characterization.  Public outreach and education activities will be conducted including on-the-water interpretation about coral reefs and other coastal resources. A volunteer program designed to assist in management of the sanctuary will be continued.  Funding will also support priority Federal, state, and county partnership efforts required for implementation of the FKNMS Management Plan. (National Ocean Service)

 

l    Rookery Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve ($267,000)

 

Funding will be used to operate the Rookery Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve site including salaries, travel, facility maintenance, vehicles (autos and watercraft), and various supplies.  Funds will also support program activities such as control of invasive exotic species, periodic aircraft patrols of the site, and the use of remote sensing data to map and classify the habitats of the Reserve.   Increases as part of the Lands Legacy Initiative will ensure that the Reserve has the resources needed to operate the facility, undertake additional training activities, and implement critical next phases of the comprehensive monitoring system. (National Ocean Service) 

 

l    Florida Coastal Management Program ($2,850,000)

 

These funds, provided by the National Ocean Service, support the South Florida component of the state of Florida's coastal zone management program within the Florida Department of Community Affairs.  Projects include an evaluation of cumulative and secondary impacts of on-site sewage disposal systems (particularly in the Florida Keys), restoration dredging, an investigation of alleys as stormwater treatment facilities, and land acquisition for improved beach access.  The sewage disposal project includes investigation of alternative waste treatment technologies. A portion of these funds also support the Governor’s Commission for a Sustainable South Florida.  The Governor’s Commission serves as a coordination mechanism to focus the many competing interests in South Florida on a restoration and management solution to provide for sustainable economic development that can co-exist with a healthy South Florida ecosystem.  Increases as part of the Lands Legacy Initiative will allow the State to implement actions to reduce the flow of polluted runoff into the coastal waters and help South Florida’s coastal communities implement sustainable growth and development practices. (National Ocean Service)

 

 

l    Fisheries Management/Endangered Species ($1,000,000)

 

Funding will be used by the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) to continue the management of fisheries in Federal waters of South Florida to rebuild and maintain stocks at optimum levels.  The effectiveness of the management measures will be evaluated by several criteria including the recruitment of juveniles to fisheries.  Other management activities are directed at reducing the detrimental impacts of fishing and other human activities on populations of protected species, including turtles and dolphins.

 

 

l    Habitat Conservation ($110,000)

 

This funding supports activities at the Miami office of the Habitat Conservation Division of the National Marine Fisheries Service.  Activities include commenting on permits affecting marine resources and participating in management activities of the Federal Working Group, especially development of the Comprehensive Wetland Conservation, Permitting, and Mitigation Strategy for South Florida.  These efforts involve extensive consultation and tracking of a variety of projects that may have significant impacts on South Florida Ecosystem Restoration efforts and essential fish habitat.  Funding supports participation in planning and implementation of restoration and enhancement activities.

 

 

l    Technical Support to Florida Keys Management ($52,000)

 

These funds support a variety of technical and assessment activities in and around the Florida Keys including providing supporting working groups in studying alternatives for ecological reserves within the Sanctuary boundaries. (National Ocean Service)

l    Coastal Mapping and Habitat Assessment ($693,000)

 

Funding supports a number of on-going activities undertaken to provide resource managers in South Florida with the information needed to make the decisions for the long-term health and sustainability of the South Florida Ecosystem.  This includes mapping a number of ecosystems, providing information on land cover change in Florida through the Coastal Change Analysis Program (C-CAP), providing data and tools through geographical information systems, and providing characterizations and assessments of salinity and other parameters for better understanding.  Many of these activities are done in coordination with other Federal agencies, and state and local government agencies.  (National Ocean Service)

 

l    Weather Service Forecasting ($1,480,000)

 

The National Weather Service maintains a regional weather forecasting operation that includes collecting climate data important for many scientific investigations including providing information for the modeling and managing water budgets in South Florida as part of the Restudy effort.  The forecasting also provides important information related to nonpoint pollution and fresh water inflow (precipitation), and the flow of water from land into coastal waters via wind-driven circulation patterns (wind speed and direction).

 

 

l    Fisheries Monitoring and Assessment ($1,160,000)

 

NOAA's National Marine Fisheries Service routinely conducts monitoring and assessment activities in South Florida waters for a number of commercial, recreational, and ecologically important species.  These activities include estimating population size and distribution, and assessments of species' life histories and movements.  Landscape changes in regional watersheds and along the coastal zone are monitored in cooperation with the Department of the Interior.

 

l    National Status and Trends Monitoring ($120,000)

 

The National Status and Trends program will continue monitoring contaminants, macroinvertebrates, and bioeffects in the South Florida region.  This is an important part of the effort to monitor the impacts and outcomes of inland Restoration efforts that will alter the flow of water (and possibly contaminants) from land to coastal bays and estuaries.  These funds will also support implementation of actions of a regional ecosystem monitoring plan to help state, federal and other groups to adequately monitor and implement efforts to restore South Florida’s coastal areas (National Ocean Service).

 

l    Integrated Ecosystem Health Monitoring ($1,900,000)

 

This is one of three key components to NOAA’s South Florida Ecosystem Restoration Initiative.  In FY 2001, $1 million in new funding ( a total of $1.9 million) is requested to support NOAA’s critical role of providing science, monitoring and management for coastal components of the South Florida Ecosystem Restoration effort.

 

As the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and State of Florida begin to implement major projects to re-route the flow of fresh water through the South Florida ecosystem, coastal resources downstream from these projects will be affected.

 

With new funding in FY 2001, NOAA will provide monitoring and data critical to successful completion of these island restoration projects so they deliver the desired freshwater to coastal habitat and minimzed negative impacts on these areas from estuaries to coral reefs. NOAA’s monitoring of key coastal indicators of seagrasses, macroinvertebrates, coral reefs, circulation and salinity is also important for tracking and changing the restoration effort as it proceeds.

 

Results will be used in part to develop a baseline description of current physical and biological conditions, including how conditions vary in space and time.  This data will ultimately be used to determine the best alternatives, progress and effectiveness of efforts to replumb inland water flow and restore a healthy South Florida ecosystem.

 

For example, a major new regional ecosystem monitoring plan was designed but only partially implemented in FY97-98 due to lack of funding. New funding will allow NOAA to fully implement this monitoring strategy for South Florida’s coastal areas including coral reefs of the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary, contaminants in South Florida’s bays and estuaries, and other key indicators of coastal ecosystem health (National Ocean Service).  This project is intended to fulfill NOAA's responsibility to establish a long-term ecological monitoring program and database for the South Florida Restoration effort and Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary and provide a forum for integrating most monitoring in the marine ecosystem.  The geographic scope includes all the marine waters of South Florida.

 

l    Rookery Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve ($110,000)

 

The Rookery Bay NERR monitoring program currently includes a suite of water quality parameters including temperature, salinity, dissolved oxygen, and turbidity.  Initial efforts in habitat monitoring of the site's wetlands, particularly the mangrove areas, will be undertaken as part of the NERRS System-wide monitoring program. (National Ocean Service)

 

 

 

 

l    National Marine Fisheries Service ($2,060,000)

 

This is one of three key components to NOAA’s South Florida Ecosystem Restoration Initiative. New funding is requested to support NOAA’s critical role of providing science, monitoring and management for coastal components of the South Florida Ecosystem Restoration effort.

 

As the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and State of Florida begin to implement major projects to re-route the flow of fresh water through the South Florida ecosystem, coastal resources downstream from these projects will be affected.

 

NMFS will continue research that defines the impact of inland restoration efforts and changing freshwater inflow on Florida Bay habitats, nutrients flow, hydrodynamics, and ultimately on measurable ecosystem productivity, diversity, and health.  This research is conducted, in part, through a strong partnership with local scientists.

 

Significant program enhancement funds are targeted for an integrative spatial study of the benthic communities in relation to habitat particularly seagrass and salinity, and to build a relationship among abundance, biomass, and the management of freshwater inflow.  Elements of the study will include modeling, geographic information systems (GIS), field sampling across the entire Bay, and laboratory studies. Spatial community modeling will be incorporated into a total ecosystem model of Florida Bay to help integrate the interagency program of studies in Florida Bay.  This effort also includes expansion of tests of water quality entering Florida Bay using biological assays appropriate for South Florida.

 

l      Atlantic Oceanographic and Meteorological Laboratory ($250,000)

 

The Atlantic Oceanographic and Meteorological Laboratory (AOML) conducts and supports a wide variety of research important to the South Florida Ecosystem Restoration effort including research on circulation, productivity and changes in coastal waters, modelling of possible future conditions of South Florida’s coastal waters under different restoration scenarios, monitoring of water conditions near coral reefs, and atmospheric research on the impacts of winds, precipitation and evaporation on the water available for restoration efforts.  AOML provides sophisticated modelling and research capabilities to synthesis and apply information from many other NOAA and other agency monitoring efforts to help find solutions for the restoration effort (Office of Oceanic and Atmopheric Research).

 

 

 

l        University of Miami, Cooperative Institute for Marine and Atmospheric Research (CIMAS) ($ 0)

 

As part of the South Florida Ecosystem Restoration Prediction and Modeling program, NOAA’s Office of Oceanic and Atmospheric Research funds research in a variety of fields to better understand, restore and sustain the South Florida Ecosystem. Funding is available to universities and other academic institutions on a competitive, peer-review basis.  No funds are available for this activity in FY 2001.

 

l    Florida Sea Grant ($470,000)

 

Florida Sea Grant is currently sponsoring four multi-year research projects in South Florida.  Two of the projects are investigating the causes of algal blooms in Florida Bay, looking at both changes in the planktonic food webs and at the input of groundwater nutrients.  Another project involves investigating the effect of the sponge die-off in Florida Bay on spiny lobsters and the possibilities for artificial habitat enhancement.  A fourth project is evaluating the effect of algal blooms and turbidity on coral reefs. (Office of Oceanic and Atmospheric Research)

 

l    National Undersea Research Program (NURP) ($1,000,000)

 

The NURP provides access for the U.S. research community to civilian, military, and international undersea platforms.  The research it supports relies on submersibles, underwater laboratories, and diving to enable scientists to perform in situ studies, and on remotely operated vehicles and observatories for indirect access.  The program is directed by a national office and carried out by six university-based National Undersea Research Centers.  Primary research emphases in NURP are fisheries, coastal processes, ecosystem health, marine lithospheric processes, undersea technology, and diving safety and physiology.  The program serves as a center for Federal research support of the nation's coral reef resources and is invaluable to the efforts to monitor, understand and restore coral reefs in South Florida. (Office of Oceanic and Atmospheric Research)

 

l    Coastal Ocean Program ($1,300,000)

 

This is one of three key components to NOAA’s South Florida Ecosystem Restoration Initiative.  Funding is requested to support NOAA’s critical role of providing science, monitoring and management for coastal components of the South Florida Ecosystem Restoration effort.

 

As the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and State of Florida begin to implement major projects to re-route the flow of fresh water through the South Florida ecosystem, coastal resources downstream from these projects will be affected.

 

Funding will support scientific investigations in the South Florida coastal ecosystem to better understand and restore the coastal areas as part of the overall restoration effort.  When coupled with monitoring efforts, these investigations show the interactions between restoration efforts and oceanographic, atmospheric, geologic, hydrologic, and fisheries processes.  Much of this work is coordinated through researchers at the NOAA’s Atlantic Oceanographic and Meteorological Laboratory (AOML) and a variety of university partners. (National Ocean Service)

 

l    Florida Keys/Florida Bay Economic Valuation ($190,000)

 

Socioeconomic assessments are being undertaken to determine the market and non-market values of natural resources and associated industry sectors such as recreation and tourism in the Florida Keys.  FY2001 funding will allow NOAA to work with community, industry and state partners to collect and provide new information on the value of natural resources such as beaches and coral reefs to visitors, local businesses, the tourism industry and other economic sectors. (National Ocean Service).

 

l    Rookery Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve ($ 35,000)

 

The Rookery Bay NERR supports a wide variety of research projects to help find solutions to managing and protecting estuaries in South Florida and the nation.  The Reserve is a living laboratory where scientists from around the nation and the world come to answer key questions about human impacts on estuaries, and how to minimize them.  For example, the Reserve is the site of several studies to understand the effects of changing freshwater inflows on fish species.  Research by the Florida Department of

Environmental Protection indicates that alterations in freshwater inflows during Hurricane Andrew and other major storm events damaged estuarine habitats within the reserve. The fluctuations in salinity caused by tropical storms and hurricanes have an  immediate and long-term impact on the organisms that serve as food for commercially and recreationally important fish, and the juvenile stages of many fishes and crustaceans.  Combined with the Reserve’s water quality monitoring program, these projects are helping determine how to restore the timing, quality and quantity of freshwater flow into many of South Florida’s valuable estuaries.

 

 

l    Florida Keys National Marine and Rookery Bay National Estuarine Reserve ($900,000)

 

Funds will support facilities at both the Reserve and Sanctuary that provide visitors with access to and knowledge of the coastal and marine components of the South Florida Ecosystem.  These facilities provide essential support for studies to improve understanding and restoration of the ecosystem, as well as educational opportunities for visitors and residents.