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

3 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: 35,771 acres
  • Location: North Sarasota County, south Manatee County
  • Discharges into: Sarasota Bay

For more information, please see: Phillippi Creek Flood Study Update (2001)

View county-wide water quality trends »

Phillippi Creek

Phillippi Creek

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:
  • 1937
  • 1941
  • 1966
  • 1971
  • 1971A
Chart Legend
  • Trend Line
  • Annual Mean
  • Threshold
Pass

Chlorophyll a

Score: Pass
Units: ug/l Year
2023
Historical
period of record
High 227.00 1573.00
Mean 4.5697 4.4445 46.76815
Low 0.558 0.00
No. of Samples 104 3,886

Five-year Rolling Average

  • Annual Mean
Pass

Nitrogen, Total

Score: Pass
Units: mg/L Year
2023
Historical
period of record
High 5.859 21.845
Mean 1.2574 1.3443 2.16313731
Low 0.619 0.124
No. of Samples 95 3,533

Five-year Rolling Average

  • Annual Mean
Pass

Phosphorus, Total

Score: Pass
Units: mg/L Year
2023
Historical
period of record
High 3.28 7.36
Mean 0.482 0.3819 0.37073768
Low 0.122 0.008
No. of Samples 95 3,857

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
2023
Historical
period of record
High 131.174 262.40
Mean 45.97 60.66 28.85371
Low 0.679 0.00
No. of Samples 142 3,837

Five-year Rolling Average

  • Annual Mean

BOD, Biochemical oxygen demand

Units: mg/l Year
2023
Historical
period of record
High 9.96 21.30
Mean 1.54 1.37 1.84354
Low 1.00 0.071
No. of Samples 86 3,022

Five-year Rolling Average

  • Annual Mean

Color

Units: PCU Year
2023
Historical
period of record
High 350.00 600.00
Mean 89.99 73.66 45.33614
Low 41.00 0.00
No. of Samples 130 4,625

Five-year Rolling Average

  • Annual Mean

Escherichia coli

Units: MPN/100ml Year
2023
Historical
period of record
High 15531.00 24196.00
Mean 546.2 773.77 3120.06941
Low 10.00 10.00
No. of Samples 85 2,106

Five-year Rolling Average

  • Annual Mean

Nitrogen, Ammonia + Ammonium as N

Units: mg/L Year
2023
Historical
period of record
High 1.96 19.60
Mean 0.04 0.03 1.48061416
Low 0.008 0.00
No. of Samples 95 4,144

Five-year Rolling Average

  • Annual Mean

Nitrogen, Kjeldahl

Units: mg/L Year
2023
Historical
period of record
High 5.85 21.70
Mean 1.15 1.05 1.91851046
Low 0.546 0.002
No. of Samples 95 4,200

Five-year Rolling Average

  • Annual Mean

Nitrogen, Nitrite + Nitrate as N

Units: mg/L Year
2023
Historical
period of record
High 0.467 9.70
Mean 0.06 0.15 0.40736632
Low 0.007 0.00
No. of Samples 95 3,783

Five-year Rolling Average

  • Annual Mean

pH

Units: None Year
2023
Historical
period of record
High 10.75 10.75
Mean 7.75 7.32 0.67482
Low 6.54 0.078
No. of Samples 142 4,883

Five-year Rolling Average

  • Annual Mean

Salinity

Units: PSS Year
2023
Historical
period of record
High 20.9099 31.60
Mean 0.39 0.31 1.21049
Low 0.07 0.00
No. of Samples 133 3,594

Five-year Rolling Average

  • Annual Mean

Specific conductance

Units: umho Year
2023
Historical
period of record
High 32948.40 51500.00
Mean 752.66 614.5 2029.72748
Low 140.00 0.369
No. of Samples 151 4,962

Five-year Rolling Average

  • Annual Mean

Temperature, water

Units: deg F Year
2023
Historical
period of record
High 193.3642 211.586
Mean 158.57 81.5 31.86507
Low 65.12 39.884
No. of Samples 142 4,906

Five-year Rolling Average

  • Annual Mean

Turbidity

Units: NTU Year
2023
Historical
period of record
High 11.00 240.00
Mean 5.65 4.45 10.87973
Low 3.10 0.091
No. of Samples 9 3,179

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:
  • 1947
  • 1968D
Chart Legend
  • Trend Line
  • Annual Mean
  • Threshold
Pass

Chlorophyll a

Score: Pass
Units: ug/l Year
2023
Historical
period of record
High 10.8 99.1
Mean 3.7683 7.7872 10.24946
Low 2.14 0.25
No. of Samples 8 354

Five-year Rolling Average

  • Annual Mean

Nitrogen, Total

We were unable to determine a trend for the data available.
Units: mg/L Year
2023
Historical
period of record
High 1.3 8.9
Mean 0.879 0.9996 1.14877183
Low 0.547 0.131
No. of Samples 8 366

Five-year Rolling Average

  • Annual Mean

Phosphorus, Total

We were unable to determine a trend for the data available.
Units: mg/L Year
2023
Historical
period of record
High 0.4 2.2
Mean 0.2381 0.3136 0.2264063
Low 0.125 0.084
No. of Samples 8 382

Five-year Rolling Average

  • Annual Mean
Caution

Dissolved Oxygen Saturation

Note: Low DO saturation also may be naturally influenced by inflows from nearby wetlands or groundwater sources
Score: Caution
Units: percent (%) Year
2023
Historical
period of record
High 87.1 210.0
Mean 46.4 60.26 24.77196
Low 1.10 0.00
No. of Samples 12 346

Five-year Rolling Average

  • Annual Mean

BOD, Biochemical oxygen demand

Units: mg/l Year
2023
Historical
period of record
High 2.7 7.5
Mean 1.34 1.42 0.83795
Low 1.00 0.50
No. of Samples 8 289

Five-year Rolling Average

  • Annual Mean

Color

Units: PCU Year
2023
Historical
period of record
High 80.0 280.0
Mean 54.63 52.17 35.77138
Low 30.00 7.00
No. of Samples 11 408

Five-year Rolling Average

  • Annual Mean

Enterococcus Group Bacteria

Units: MPN/100ml Year
2023
Historical
period of record
High 12,000.0 41,000.0
Mean 102.56 399.26 3895.97671
Low 10.00 10.00
No. of Samples 8 137

Five-year Rolling Average

  • Annual Mean

Nitrogen, Ammonia + Ammonium as N

Units: mg/L Year
2023
Historical
period of record
High 0.6 0.9
Mean 0.39 0.03 0.11624138
Low 0.172 0.00
No. of Samples 8 436

Five-year Rolling Average

  • Annual Mean

Nitrogen, Kjeldahl

Units: mg/L Year
2023
Historical
period of record
High 1.3 3.1
Mean 0.85 0.83 0.36941735
Low 0.516 0.07
No. of Samples 8 427

Five-year Rolling Average

  • Annual Mean

Nitrogen, Nitrite + Nitrate as N

Units: mg/L Year
2023
Historical
period of record
High 0.1 1.1
Mean 0.02 0.08 0.16260203
Low 0.011 0.00
No. of Samples 8 377

Five-year Rolling Average

  • Annual Mean

pH

Units: None Year
2023
Historical
period of record
High 7.8 8.5
Mean 7.36 7.68 0.32671
Low 6.29 5.58
No. of Samples 12 1,963

Five-year Rolling Average

  • Annual Mean

Salinity

Units: PSS Year
2023
Historical
period of record
High 34.1 37.5
Mean 20.89 13.78 11.4115
Low 10.9232 0.00
No. of Samples 12 2,410

Five-year Rolling Average

  • Annual Mean

Specific conductance

Units: umho Year
2023
Historical
period of record
High 50,956.0 55,333.0
Mean 32137.91 19425.06 16162.34464
Low 18262.70 0.30
No. of Samples 12 2,006

Five-year Rolling Average

  • Annual Mean

Temperature, water

Units: deg F Year
2023
Historical
period of record
High 196.5 211.6
Mean 170.37 77.02 16.51275
Low 137.1551 49.10
No. of Samples 12 1,935

Five-year Rolling Average

  • Annual Mean

Turbidity

Units: NTU Year
2023
Historical
period of record
High 21.0
Mean 3.98 2.72958
Low 1.30
No. of Samples 0 329

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 PH3 2023 80

Impervious Features

Phillippi Creek 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.

20% of the land area within the Phillippi Creek Basin is covered by impervious surfaces

Impervious Surface Coverage by Type

Land Use / Land Cover

Phillippi Creek 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 Phillippi Creek Basin
Land Use Classification 1990 1995 1999 2005 2011 2014 2017 2020 Trend
Urban & Built-up 20,77358.1% 22,10961.8% 23,05164.4% 25,70071.8% 26,06672.9% 25,76872% 26,46074% 27,12475.8% Land Use Trend Sparkline
Agriculture 6,39817.9% 6,01816.8% 4,65713% 2,4987% 2,2166.2% 2,3096.5% 1,8225.1% 1,3183.7% Land Use Trend Sparkline
Rangeland 5231.5% 3080.9% 2620.7% 1420.4% 1470.4% 3300.9% 1290.4% 1290.4% Land Use Trend Sparkline
Upland Forests 3,3729.4% 2,6197.3% 2,3636.6% 1,9055.3% 1,7244.8% 1,7715% 1,6184.5% 1,4394% Land Use Trend Sparkline
Water 1,1713.3% 1,3673.8% 1,6064.5% 1,8585.2% 2,0275.7% 1,8835.3% 1,9975.6% 2,0635.8% Land Use Trend Sparkline
Wetlands 2,2736.4% 1,7624.9% 1,7354.8% 1,7154.8% 1,7274.8% 1,8605.2% 1,8195.1% 1,8105.1% Land Use Trend Sparkline
Barren Land 190.1% 1060.3% 6341.8% 90% 990.3% 950.3% 1000.3% 650.2% Land Use Trend Sparkline
Transportation and Utilities 1,2443.5% 1,4814.1% 1,4644.1% 1,9435.4% 1,7674.9% 1,7554.9% 1,8265.1% 1,8235.1% Land Use Trend Sparkline
Land Use Chart