The following information illustrates the change in population within the watershed during the past few decades. Statistics shown are only for the watershed area within the boundary of this Water Atlas.

Total Population within each Watershed from 1970-2020

Watershed	1970	1980	1990	2000	2010	2020
Dona and Roberts Bay Watershed	11,866	21,154	34,088	37,120	41,724	48,738	Graph
Gulf of Mexico Watershed	100	151	344	0	0	1,080	Graph
Lemon Bay Watershed	8,495	24,128	35,420	43,226	44,119	48,942	Graph
Little Sarasota Bay Watershed	13,717	24,265	32,397	42,296	47,229	54,628	Graph
Manatee River Watershed	348	487	3,378	990	1,507	3,335	Graph
Myakka River Watershed	4,031	13,720	23,248	33,279	72,317	87,511	Graph
Peace River Watershed	19	30	0	16	64	NO DATA	Graph
Sarasota Bay Watershed	81,838	118,307	148,901	169,046	172,494	183,532	Graph
Totals for All Watershed Areas	120,414	202,242	277,776	325,973	379,454	427,766

Source(s): U.S. Department of Commerce

The Florida Natural Areas Inventory is the primary source for information on Florida's conservation lands. The Inventory database includes boundaries and statistics for more than 1,400 federal, state, local, and private managed areas, all provided directly by the managing agencies. National parks, state forests, wildlife management areas, local and private preserves are examples of the managed areas included.

Statistics shown are only for the watershed area within the boundary of this Water Atlas.

Rain that falls on land that is in a natural state is absorbed and filtered by soils and vegetation as it makes it way into underground aquifers. However, in developed areas, "impervious surfaces" impede this process and contribute to polluted urban runoff entering surface waters. These surfaces include human infrastructure like roads, sidewalks, driveways and parking lots that are covered by impenetrable materials such as asphalt, concrete, brick and stone, as well as buildings and other permanent structures. Soils that have been disturbed and compacted by urban development are often impervious as well.

Impervious Surface Coverage (acres) by Watershed, Type

Watershed	Total Impervious	Buildings	Parking Lots	Pavement	Sidewalks	Map
Dona and Roberts Bay Watershed	4,147 8%	1,853	708	1,515	71
Gulf of Mexico Watershed	2 1%	1	0	1	0
Lemon Bay Watershed	3,331 10%	1,739	381	1,155	56
Little Sarasota Bay Watershed	3,933 15%	1,879	776	1,206	72
Manatee River Watershed	486 9%	101	204	172	10
Myakka River Watershed	6,081 4%	2,358	338	3,336	49
Peace River Watershed	74 8%	2	0	72	0
Sarasota Bay Watershed	11,688 19%	5,416	2,563	3,467	242

Source(s): Sarasota County

† The impervious surface for the Myakka River and Peace River watersheds were not mapped in their entirety.

(Statistics shown are only for the watershed area within the boundary of this Water Atlas)

• View a Map of Impervious Surfaces

Land Cover categorizes the land in terms of the observed physical surface characteristics. For example, while the land use may be classified as agricultural, the land cover may be classified as upland or wetland. Learn more about land use and land cover »