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
2015
Historical
period of record
High 110.00 115.00
Mean 3.9528 3.8864 10.80007
Low 0.25 0.00
No. of Samples 184 2,007

Five-year Rolling Average

  • Annual Mean
Pass

Nitrogen, Total

Score: Pass
Units: mg/L Year
2015
Historical
period of record
High 1.97 19.23
Mean 1.1453 1.1996 1.5592862
Low 0.754 0.144
No. of Samples 30 1,588

Five-year Rolling Average

  • Annual Mean
Pass

Phosphorus, Total

Score: Pass
Units: mg/L Year
2015
Historical
period of record
High 1.81 7.36
Mean 0.3453 0.4211 0.39808664
Low 0.098 0.034
No. of Samples 172 2,435

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
2015
Historical
period of record
High 151.00 262.40
Mean 77.74 70.28 32.67205
Low 21.5977 0.00
No. of Samples 288 3,246

Five-year Rolling Average

  • Annual Mean

BOD, Biochemical oxygen demand

Units: mg/l Year
2015
Historical
period of record
High 17.70 21.30
Mean 0.97 1.21 1.94412
Low 0.50 0.071
No. of Samples 160 1,749

Five-year Rolling Average

  • Annual Mean

Color

Units: PCU Year
2015
Historical
period of record
High 350.00
Mean 64.28 42.64594
Low 0.00
No. of Samples 0 990

Five-year Rolling Average

  • Annual Mean

Escherichia coli

Units: MPN/100ml Year
2015
Historical
period of record
High 24196.00 24196.00
Mean 756.05 605.62 3314.27504
Low 63.00 26.00
No. of Samples 79 103

Five-year Rolling Average

  • Annual Mean

Nitrogen, Ammonia + Ammonium as N

Units: mg/L Year
2015
Historical
period of record
High 13.90 13.90
Mean 0.05 0.02 0.57183421
Low 0.007 0.00
No. of Samples 172 2,777

Five-year Rolling Average

  • Annual Mean

Nitrogen, Kjeldahl

Units: mg/L Year
2015
Historical
period of record
High 15.70 17.56
Mean 1.11 0.9 0.98345716
Low 0.617 0.002
No. of Samples 172 2,785

Five-year Rolling Average

  • Annual Mean

Nitrogen, Nitrite + Nitrate as N

Units: mg/L Year
2015
Historical
period of record
High 1.63 7.556
Mean 0.17 0.16 0.4266766
Low 0.004 0.00
No. of Samples 159 2,399

Five-year Rolling Average

  • Annual Mean

pH

Units: None Year
2015
Historical
period of record
High 9.28 12.00
Mean 7.38 7.43 0.36282
Low 6.56 3.90
No. of Samples 242 3,390

Five-year Rolling Average

  • Annual Mean

Salinity

Units: PSS Year
2015
Historical
period of record
High 14.85 19.24
Mean 0.33 0.32 0.77081
Low 0.18 0.00
No. of Samples 184 2,236

Five-year Rolling Average

  • Annual Mean

Specific conductance

Units: umho Year
2015
Historical
period of record
High 24484.00 51500.00
Mean 728.83 591.71 1630.44056
Low 325.00 0.369
No. of Samples 138 4,001

Five-year Rolling Average

  • Annual Mean

Temperature, water

Units: deg F Year
2015
Historical
period of record
High 92.354 139.46
Mean 77.14 72.68 8.39193
Low 57.182 46.40
No. of Samples 180 2,808

Five-year Rolling Average

  • Annual Mean

Turbidity

Units: NTU Year
2015
Historical
period of record
High 230.00 230.00
Mean 4.47 4.11 9.06973
Low 0.97 0.091
No. of Samples 172 2,670

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
2015
Historical
period of record
High 13.4 99.1
Mean 9.012 7.7586 9.7525
Low 4.45 0.25
No. of Samples 25 351

Five-year Rolling Average

  • Annual Mean

Nitrogen, Total

We were unable to determine a trend for the data available.
Units: mg/L Year
2015
Historical
period of record
High 1.2 8.9
Mean 1.0335 1.0185 1.3999063
Low 0.904 0.131
No. of Samples 5 235

Five-year Rolling Average

  • Annual Mean

Phosphorus, Total

We were unable to determine a trend for the data available.
Units: mg/L Year
2015
Historical
period of record
High 0.4 2.2
Mean 0.2876 0.298 0.22600892
Low 0.138 0.084
No. of Samples 25 399

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
2015
Historical
period of record
High 92.3 210.0
Mean 55.11 63.07 25.77074
Low 30.40 8.6027
No. of Samples 36 448

Five-year Rolling Average

  • Annual Mean

BOD, Biochemical oxygen demand

Units: mg/l Year
2015
Historical
period of record
High 1.7 7.5
Mean 1.16 1.39 0.86821
Low 0.652 0.50
No. of Samples 25 308

Five-year Rolling Average

  • Annual Mean

Color

Units: PCU Year
2015
Historical
period of record
High 280.0
Mean 52.1 42.4551
Low 15.00
No. of Samples 0 118

Five-year Rolling Average

  • Annual Mean

Enterococcus Group Bacteria

Units: MPN/100ml Year
2015
Historical
period of record
High 1,600.0 2,200.0
Mean 419.52 728.86 1076.11957
Low 110.00 110.00
No. of Samples 2 3

Five-year Rolling Average

  • Annual Mean

Nitrogen, Ammonia + Ammonium as N

Units: mg/L Year
2015
Historical
period of record
High 0.1 0.9
Mean 0.05 0.03 0.08229082
Low 0.008 0.00
No. of Samples 25 450

Five-year Rolling Average

  • Annual Mean

Nitrogen, Kjeldahl

Units: mg/L Year
2015
Historical
period of record
High 1.3 3.1
Mean 0.95 0.81 0.36244737
Low 0.626 0.07
No. of Samples 25 444

Five-year Rolling Average

  • Annual Mean

Nitrogen, Nitrite + Nitrate as N

Units: mg/L Year
2015
Historical
period of record
High 0.5 1.1
Mean 0.08 0.08 0.14850535
Low 0.011 0.00
No. of Samples 24 396

Five-year Rolling Average

  • Annual Mean

pH

Units: None Year
2015
Historical
period of record
High 7.8 8.5
Mean 7.3 7.67 0.34539
Low 7.05 5.58
No. of Samples 24 1,963

Five-year Rolling Average

  • Annual Mean

Salinity

Units: PSS Year
2015
Historical
period of record
High 27.9 37.5
Mean 15.29 14.05 11.39473
Low 0.24 0.00
No. of Samples 22 2,378

Five-year Rolling Average

  • Annual Mean

Specific conductance

Units: umho Year
2015
Historical
period of record
High 43,393.0 55,333.0
Mean 36602.85 19689.52 16177.16221
Low 23148.00 8.083
No. of Samples 16 2,035

Five-year Rolling Average

  • Annual Mean

Temperature, water

Units: deg F Year
2015
Historical
period of record
High 88.0 91.4
Mean 78.68 75.41 5.82809
Low 65.138 49.10
No. of Samples 18 1,908

Five-year Rolling Average

  • Annual Mean

Turbidity

Units: NTU Year
2015
Historical
period of record
High 6.7 21.0
Mean 3.54 3.94 2.68427
Low 2.10 1.30
No. of Samples 25 418

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 2015 89 187 276 67

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