Whitaker Bayou 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: 4,967 acres
  • Location: North Sarasota County, south Manatee County
  • Discharges into: Sarasota Bay

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

View county-wide water quality trends »

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Whitaker Bayou

Whitaker Bayou
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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:
  • 1936A
Chart Legend
  • Trend Line
  • Annual Mean
  • Threshold
Pass

Chlorophyll a

Score: Pass
Units: ug/l Year
2022		 Historical
period of record
High 4.91 59.50
Mean 0.8247 1.381 5.70265
Low 0.25 0.00
No. of Samples 12 499

Five-year Rolling Average

  • Annual Mean
Pass

Nitrogen, Total

Score: Pass
Units: mg/L Year
2022		 Historical
period of record
High 1.186 15.76
Mean 0.8682 0.8841 1.39898444
Low 0.666 0.0019
No. of Samples 12 425

Five-year Rolling Average

  • Annual Mean
Pass

Phosphorus, Total

Score: Pass
Units: mg/L Year
2022		 Historical
period of record
High 0.41 2.38
Mean 0.1806 0.2826 0.19076789
Low 0.092 0.082
No. of Samples 12 454

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 82.4403 262.30
Mean 55.19 69.1 36.35151
Low 5.6517 2.20
No. of Samples 12 501

Five-year Rolling Average

  • Annual Mean

BOD, Biochemical oxygen demand

Units: mg/l Year
2022		 Historical
period of record
High 1.00 175.00
Mean 1.0 0.96 20.37528
Low 1.00 0.50
No. of Samples 12 381

Five-year Rolling Average

  • Annual Mean

Color

Units: PCU Year
2022		 Historical
period of record
High 120.00 330.00
Mean 69.01 67.74 29.73665
Low 25.00 20.00
No. of Samples 12 570

Five-year Rolling Average

  • Annual Mean

Escherichia coli

Units: MPN/100ml Year
2022		 Historical
period of record
High 8664.00 15531.00
Mean 2160.43 2642.83 3155.6101
Low 307.00 97.00
No. of Samples 12 141

Five-year Rolling Average

  • Annual Mean

Nitrogen, Ammonia + Ammonium as N

Units: mg/L Year
2022		 Historical
period of record
High 0.569 30.06
Mean 0.03 0.02 2.4159023
Low 0.008 0.00
No. of Samples 12 529

Five-year Rolling Average

  • Annual Mean

Nitrogen, Kjeldahl

Units: mg/L Year
2022		 Historical
period of record
High 0.979 15.36
Mean 0.73 0.77 1.25380929
Low 0.504 0.20
No. of Samples 12 497

Five-year Rolling Average

  • Annual Mean

Nitrogen, Nitrite + Nitrate as N

Units: mg/L Year
2022		 Historical
period of record
High 0.207 1.02
Mean 0.13 0.08 0.15086225
Low 0.049 0.00
No. of Samples 12 469

Five-year Rolling Average

  • Annual Mean

pH

Units: None Year
2022		 Historical
period of record
High 7.8965 11.77
Mean 7.59 7.63 0.36159
Low 7.39 6.10
No. of Samples 12 821

Five-year Rolling Average

  • Annual Mean

Salinity

Units: PSS Year
2022		 Historical
period of record
High 0.6505 23.40
Mean 0.4 0.4 1.71052
Low 0.2666 0.00
No. of Samples 12 715

Five-year Rolling Average

  • Annual Mean

Specific conductance

Units: umho Year
2022		 Historical
period of record
High 1288.15 49645.00
Mean 809.7 725.65 5480.71124
Low 546.335 0.524
No. of Samples 12 833

Five-year Rolling Average

  • Annual Mean

Temperature, water

Units: deg F Year
2022		 Historical
period of record
High 183.1278 192.1758
Mean 167.6 72.38 23.07222
Low 145.4139 46.40
No. of Samples 12 799

Five-year Rolling Average

  • Annual Mean

Turbidity

Units: NTU Year
2022		 Historical
period of record
High 56.40
Mean 2.9 4.66908
Low 0.50
No. of Samples 0 443

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:
  • 1936
Chart Legend
  • Trend Line
  • Annual Mean
  • Threshold
Pass

Chlorophyll a

Score: Pass
Units: ug/l Year
2022		 Historical
period of record
High 29.0 196.0
Mean 6.2461 10.9215 32.06529
Low 0.981 0.38
No. of Samples 12 256

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 3.2 7.0
Mean 1.2118 0.9782 1.21404053
Low 0.471 0.0018
No. of Samples 12 223

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 0.7 2.0
Mean 0.158 0.2138 0.37451143
Low 0.028 0.008
No. of Samples 12 264

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 127.5 827.0
Mean 82.05 64.61 67.59487
Low 41.6851 0.00
No. of Samples 19 632

Five-year Rolling Average

  • Annual Mean
×

Dissolved Oxygen Saturation

BOD, Biochemical oxygen demand

Units: mg/l Year
2022		 Historical
period of record
High 3.1 13.7
Mean 1.34 2.35 2.30021
Low 1.00 0.543
No. of Samples 12 196

Five-year Rolling Average

  • Annual Mean

Color

Units: PCU Year
2022		 Historical
period of record
High 200.0 200.0
Mean 46.04 39.83 29.12637
Low 15.00 5.00
No. of Samples 12 353

Five-year Rolling Average

  • Annual Mean

Enterococcus Group Bacteria

Units: MPN/100ml Year
2022		 Historical
period of record
High 5,000.0 17,000.0
Mean 372.92 295.27 3134.7857
Low 10.00 10.00
No. of Samples 13 139

Five-year Rolling Average

  • Annual Mean

Nitrogen, Ammonia + Ammonium as N

Units: mg/L Year
2022		 Historical
period of record
High 1.1 1.9
Mean 0.16 0.02 0.24047177
Low 0.008 0.00
No. of Samples 12 320

Five-year Rolling Average

  • Annual Mean

Nitrogen, Kjeldahl

Units: mg/L Year
2022		 Historical
period of record
High 1.8 6.3
Mean 0.96 0.9 0.89616011
Low 0.338 0.05
No. of Samples 12 307

Five-year Rolling Average

  • Annual Mean

Nitrogen, Nitrite + Nitrate as N

Units: mg/L Year
2022		 Historical
period of record
High 1.7 3.3
Mean 0.13 0.06 0.34630819
Low 0.006 0.004
No. of Samples 12 270

Five-year Rolling Average

  • Annual Mean

pH

Units: None Year
2022		 Historical
period of record
High 8.2 9.6
Mean 7.81 7.62 0.40979
Low 7.26 4.90
No. of Samples 19 2,930

Five-year Rolling Average

  • Annual Mean

Salinity

Units: PSS Year
2022		 Historical
period of record
High 41.8 45.0
Mean 32.19 6.37 15.33118
Low 18.33 0.00
No. of Samples 26 2,996

Five-year Rolling Average

  • Annual Mean

Specific conductance

Units: umho Year
2022		 Historical
period of record
High 61,139.3 61,139.3
Mean 49525.01 7482.08 22772.24964
Low 29655.00 320.00
No. of Samples 19 2,744

Five-year Rolling Average

  • Annual Mean

Temperature, water

Units: deg F Year
2022		 Historical
period of record
High 197.6 197.6
Mean 133.59 75.41 12.56864
Low 78.44 49.10
No. of Samples 19 3,116

Five-year Rolling Average

  • Annual Mean

Turbidity

Units: NTU Year
2022		 Historical
period of record
High 31.3
Mean 3.71 3.35313
Low 0.62
No. of Samples 0 497

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...

Impervious Features

Whitaker Bayou is located within the Sarasota Bay Watershed. View details about the 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.

27% of the land area within the Whitaker Bayou Basin is covered by impervious surfaces

Impervious Surface Coverage by Type

Land Use / Land Cover

Whitaker Bayou is located within the Sarasota Bay Watershed. View details about the 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 Whitaker Bayou Basin
Land Use Classification 1990 1995 1999 2005 2011 2014 2017 2020 Trend
Urban & Built-up 3,83077.1% 3,83477.2% 3,83177.1% 3,90378.6% 3,95279.6% 3,92179% 3,95179.6% 3,97079.9% Land Use Trend Sparkline
Agriculture 2144.3% 1823.7% 1883.8% 1813.6% 1813.6% 1813.6% 1783.6% 1683.4% Land Use Trend Sparkline
Rangeland 40.1% 40.1% 40.1% 40.1% 40.1% 40.1% 40.1% 40.1% Land Use Trend Sparkline
Upland Forests 2354.7% 2495% 2495% 1953.9% 1643.3% 1953.9% 1643.3% 1583.2% Land Use Trend Sparkline
Water 1302.6% 1372.7% 1402.8% 1262.5% 881.8% 881.8% 891.8% 911.8% Land Use Trend Sparkline
Wetlands 3156.4% 2324.7% 2274.6% 2294.6% 2224.5% 2224.5% 2224.5% 2214.4% Land Use Trend Sparkline
Barren Land 00% 00% 00% 00% 00% 00% 30.1% 00% Land Use Trend Sparkline
Transportation and Utilities 2384.8% 3296.6% 3296.6% 3286.6% 3567.2% 3567.2% 3557.2% 3567.2% Land Use Trend Sparkline
Land Use Chart