Catfish Creek Condition Report for 2022

Pass
Rating icon - Chlorophyll a Rating icon - Total Nitrogen Rating icon - Total Phosphorous Rating icon - Dissolved Oxygen Saturation

4 out of 4 indicators were rated as PASS.

All four indicators must pass for the creek to be rated as PASS.

Learn more about how this report is created

  • Size: 3,984 acres
  • Location: North and central Sarasota County
  • Discharges into: Little Sarasota Bay

For more information, please see: Little Sarasota Bay Water Quality Management Plan (2012)

View county-wide water quality trends »

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Catfish Creek

Catfish Creek
Visit the Catfish Creek water resource page »

Water Chemistry Ratings | Freshwater Portion of the Creek

Creek Conditions Ratings are based on comparing nitrogen, phosphorus, chlorophyll and dissolved oxygen to water quality guidelines or regulations. Florida law defines a maximum allowable concentration of nitrogen, phosphorus, and chlorophyll a, and a minimum allowable concentration of dissolved oxygen in these streams. Learn more about these ratings and how they are calculated »

Data for the following WBIDs is averaged when compiling the data below:
  • 1984AA
Chart Legend
  • Trend Line
  • Annual Mean
  • Threshold
Pass

Chlorophyll a

Score: Pass
Units: mg/l Year
2022		 Historical
period of record
High 0.164 0.164
Mean 0.016 0.0136 0.01672419
Low 0.0048 0.0003
No. of Samples 12 281

Five-year Rolling Average

  • Annual Mean
Pass

Nitrogen, Total

Score: Pass
Units: mg/l Year
2022		 Historical
period of record
High 2.29 2.601
Mean 1.1892 1.0639 0.30748419
Low 0.70 0.0019
No. of Samples 12 222

Five-year Rolling Average

  • Annual Mean
Pass

Phosphorus, Total

Score: Pass
Units: mg/l Year
2022		 Historical
period of record
High 0.395 0.739
Mean 0.1379 0.1095 0.10412125
Low 0.041 0.008
No. of Samples 12 246

Five-year Rolling Average

  • Annual Mean
Pass

Dissolved Oxygen Saturation

Note: Low DO saturation also may be naturally influenced by inflows from nearby wetlands or groundwater sources.
Score: Pass
Units: percent (%) Year
2022		 Historical
period of record
High 87.4211 172.70
Mean 41.32 70.07 31.23569
Low 17.3625 5.80
No. of Samples 11 233

Five-year Rolling Average

  • Annual Mean

BOD, Biochemical oxygen demand

Units: mg/l Year
2022		 Historical
period of record
High 4.68 6.08
Mean 1.23 1.73 1.00499
Low 1.00 0.55
No. of Samples 12 222

Five-year Rolling Average

  • Annual Mean

Color

Units: PCU Year
2022		 Historical
period of record
High 180.00 180.00
Mean 71.77 65.13 21.68775
Low 40.00 35.00
No. of Samples 12 281

Five-year Rolling Average

  • Annual Mean

Escherichia coli

Units: cfu/100ml Year
2022		 Historical
period of record
High 315.00 315.00
Mean 31.66 31.03 54.72401
Low 10.00 10.00
No. of Samples 12 127

Five-year Rolling Average

  • Annual Mean

Nitrogen, Ammonia + Ammonium as N

Units: ug/l Year
2022		 Historical
period of record
High 767.00 767.00
Mean 30.34 20.75 79.53109
Low 8.00 0.008
No. of Samples 12 258

Five-year Rolling Average

  • Annual Mean

Nitrogen, Kjeldahl

Units: ug/l Year
2022		 Historical
period of record
High 2260.00 2510.00
Mean 1136.17 1092.64 273.99959
Low 694.00 429.00
No. of Samples 12 246

Five-year Rolling Average

  • Annual Mean

Nitrogen, Nitrite + Nitrate as N

Units: ug/l Year
2022		 Historical
period of record
High 203.00 781.00
Mean 25.71 18.12 80.50943
Low 6.00 4.00
No. of Samples 12 246

Five-year Rolling Average

  • Annual Mean

pH

Units: None Year
2022		 Historical
period of record
High 8.0257 8.38
Mean 7.38 7.57 0.29976
Low 7.02 6.96
No. of Samples 11 270

Five-year Rolling Average

  • Annual Mean

Salinity

Units: PSS Year
2022		 Historical
period of record
High 0.7885 11.5244
Mean 0.56 0.48 0.66553
Low 0.37 0.20
No. of Samples 11 288

Five-year Rolling Average

  • Annual Mean

Specific conductance

Units: umho Year
2022		 Historical
period of record
High 1548.39 19109.20
Mean 1111.32 965.62 1557.26258
Low 763.00 0.958
No. of Samples 11 229

Five-year Rolling Average

  • Annual Mean

Temperature, water

Units: deg F Year
2022		 Historical
period of record
High 185.7308 187.1846
Mean 172.78 86.2 35.06941
Low 148.1792 54.536
No. of Samples 11 226

Five-year Rolling Average

  • Annual Mean

Turbidity

Units: NTU Year
2022		 Historical
period of record
High 9.40
Mean 3.87 1.64869
Low 1.20
No. of Samples 0 170

Five-year Rolling Average

  • Annual Mean
Other Measures of Creek Health:

Water Chemistry Ratings | Tidal Portion of the Creek

Creek Conditions Ratings are based on comparing nitrogen, phosphorus, chlorophyll and dissolved oxygen to water quality guidelines or regulations. Florida law defines a maximum allowable concentration of chlorophyll a and a minimum allowable concentration of dissolved oxygen in these streams. Florida has no regulatory thresholds for nitrogen or phosphorus in tidal creeks so trends are used to rate the creeks. Learn more about these ratings and how they are calculated »

Data for the following WBIDs is averaged when compiling the data below:
  • 1984
Chart Legend
  • Trend Line
  • Annual Mean
  • Threshold
Pass

Chlorophyll a

Score: Pass
Units: mg/l Year
2022		 Historical
period of record
High 0.1 0.4
Mean 0.0102 0.0063 0.0311039
Low 0.0018 0.0001
No. of Samples 12 295

Five-year Rolling Average

  • Annual Mean
×

Chlorophyll a

The rating for Chlorophyll a is determined by comparing the annual arithmetic mean of its sampled values to fixed target and threshold values. The annual arithmetic mean is shown in the graph at left, as compared to its established target and threshold values.

An arithmetic mean is used for Chlorophyll a for consistency with the Surface Water Quality Standards, Florida Administrative Code 62-302.532, Estuary-Specific Numeric Interpretations of the Narrative Nutrient Criterion.

Nitrogen, Total

We were unable to determine a trend for the data available.
Units: mg/l Year
2022		 Historical
period of record
High 2.3 5.1
Mean 1.1875 1.0814 0.59917102
Low 0.704 0.0017
No. of Samples 12 258

Five-year Rolling Average

  • Annual Mean
×

Nitrogen, Total

Phosphorus, Total

We were unable to determine a trend for the data available.
Units: mg/l Year
2022		 Historical
period of record
High 0.4 4.6
Mean 0.1556 0.1589 0.3270134
Low 0.053 0.018
No. of Samples 12 302

Five-year Rolling Average

  • Annual Mean
×

Phosphorus, Total

Pass

Dissolved Oxygen Saturation

Note: Low DO saturation also may be naturally influenced by inflows from nearby wetlands or groundwater sources
Score: Pass
Units: percent (%) Year
2022		 Historical
period of record
High 113.1 194.0
Mean 63.01 54.85 29.67394
Low 34.7949 0.00
No. of Samples 13 378

Five-year Rolling Average

  • Annual Mean
×

Dissolved Oxygen Saturation

BOD, Biochemical oxygen demand

Units: mg/l Year
2022		 Historical
period of record
High 3.4 17.5
Mean 1.15 1.08 1.65254
Low 1.00 0.50
No. of Samples 12 238

Five-year Rolling Average

  • Annual Mean

Color

Units: PCU Year
2022		 Historical
period of record
High 110.0 400.0
Mean 66.82 67.19 42.77102
Low 40.00 15.00
No. of Samples 12 401

Five-year Rolling Average

  • Annual Mean

Nitrogen, Ammonia + Ammonium as N

Units: ug/l Year
2022		 Historical
period of record
High 603.0 3,680.0
Mean 22.03 11.0 203.20381
Low 8.00 0.008
No. of Samples 12 365

Five-year Rolling Average

  • Annual Mean

Nitrogen, Kjeldahl

Units: ug/l Year
2022		 Historical
period of record
High 2,220.0 4,490.0
Mean 1071.26 1026.98 552.73995
Low 676.00 0.00
No. of Samples 12 350

Five-year Rolling Average

  • Annual Mean

Nitrogen, Nitrite + Nitrate as N

Units: ug/l Year
2022		 Historical
period of record
High 224.0 895.0
Mean 83.18 94.65 125.46442
Low 6.00 0.00
No. of Samples 12 312

Five-year Rolling Average

  • Annual Mean

pH

Units: None Year
2022		 Historical
period of record
High 8.0 8.7
Mean 7.56 7.61 0.29107
Low 6.98 6.05
No. of Samples 13 436

Five-year Rolling Average

  • Annual Mean

Salinity

Units: PSS Year
2022		 Historical
period of record
High 0.8 29.5
Mean 0.58 0.83 4.7637
Low 0.37 0.00
No. of Samples 13 378

Five-year Rolling Average

  • Annual Mean

Specific conductance

Units: umho Year
2022		 Historical
period of record
High 1,543.8 52,500.0
Mean 1151.27 2370.99 12039.10696
Low 764.00 0.561
No. of Samples 13 463

Five-year Rolling Average

  • Annual Mean

Temperature, water

Units: deg F Year
2022		 Historical
period of record
High 186.2 187.5
Mean 168.43 82.16 30.67727
Low 148.0282 51.638
No. of Samples 13 385

Five-year Rolling Average

  • Annual Mean

Turbidity

Units: NTU Year
2022		 Historical
period of record
High 42.0
Mean 2.97 4.04798
Low 0.30
No. of Samples 0 297

Five-year Rolling Average

  • Annual Mean
Other Measures of Creek Health:

Oysters

Because they are immobile and will tolerate a fairly wide salinity range, eastern oysters (Crassostrea virginica) are valuable as an indicator of the relative health of aquatic ecosystems in the tidally-influenced portions of coastal creeks. Sarasota County has established an oyster monitoring program to track the location, types, and status of oyster reefs. Data from this monitoring program is shown below. Learn more about Oysters »

Loading oyster site map...
Most Recent Sarasota County Oyster Monitoring Program Data
Icon Site ID Year Dead Live Total % Live
1 CAT1 2013 0 0 0 0
2 NC1 2022 71 236 307 76
3 NC2 2013 0 0 0 0
4 NC2A 2013 21 54 75 72

Impervious Features

Catfish Creek is located within the Little Sarasota Bay Watershed. View details about the Little Sarasota Bay Watershed »

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. Learn more about Impervious Features »

The Sarasota County Stormwater Environmental Utility (SEU) mapped impervious surfaces in the County in 2013. A map showing impervious surfaces can be viewed using the Water Atlas Map Viewer tool.

24% of the land area within the Catfish Creek Basin is covered by impervious surfaces

Impervious Surface Coverage by Type

Land Use / Land Cover

Catfish Creek is located within the Little Sarasota Bay Watershed. View details about the Little Sarasota Bay Watershed »

Land use within a creek's watershed has a major effect on its water quality. In general, less development means better water quality. Land Cover/Land Use classifications categorize land in terms of its observed physical surface characteristics (e.g. upland or wetland), and also reflect the types of activity that are taking place on it (agriculture, urban/built-up, utilities, etc.). Florida uses as its standard a set of statewide classifications which were developed by the Florida Department of Transportation. Learn more about Land Use and Land Cover »

Acreage and Percentage within each Land Use / Land Cover Category for Catfish Creek Basin
Land Use Classification 1990 1995 1999 2005 2011 2014 2017 2020 Trend
Urban & Built-up 1,71443% 2,04151.2% 2,47962.2% 2,66766.9% 2,69867.7% 2,60365.3% 2,74668.9% 2,77569.6% Land Use Trend Sparkline
Agriculture 64316.1% 55714% 2867.2% 1513.8% 1293.2% 1132.8% 1042.6% 761.9% Land Use Trend Sparkline
Rangeland 360.9% 220.5% 360.9% 120.3% 30.1% 30.1% 30.1% 30.1% Land Use Trend Sparkline
Upland Forests 86021.6% 65016.3% 3157.9% 2185.5% 1954.9% 2345.9% 1724.3% 1634.1% Land Use Trend Sparkline
Water 1854.6% 2736.8% 3759.4% 3759.4% 3859.7% 3849.6% 3899.8% 3789.5% Land Use Trend Sparkline
Wetlands 44211.1% 3719.3% 3909.8% 3899.8% 40910.3% 43811% 40410.2% 42410.6% Land Use Trend Sparkline
Barren Land 370.9% 00% 40.1% 70.2% 00% 00% 00% 00% Land Use Trend Sparkline
Transportation and Utilities 661.7% 701.8% 982.5% 1654.1% 1654.1% 2095.2% 1654.1% 1654.1% Land Use Trend Sparkline
Land Use Chart