South Florida Environmental Quality. National Status and Trends Program for Marine Environmental Quality

摘要

Florida Bay has undergone environmental change caused by man-made reduction of freshwater flow from the Everglades. The reduction in the freshwater flow resulted from the construction of drainage canals built to meet agricultural requirements and the demand for dry land by the increasing population of South Florida. This document is a summary of the environmental conditions of Florida Bay, Biscayne Bay, and the southern portion of the Gulf Coast of Florida; the levels of contaminants found at the NOAA National Status and Trends (NS&T) Program sites in the area; and how these levels compare with those found in other NS&T sites nationwide.