Abstract
Biscayne Bay, an estuary bordering the city of Miami, is an important Southeast tourist destination. The Bay has been facing an increasing frequency of issues pertaining to water quality. To understand the influence and effects of freshwater flows from rivers and canals into the Bay, this study looks at the changes in distribution of physiochemical parameters including salinity, temperature, dissolved oxygen, and pH. Data collected by the Biscayne Bay Water Quality Program and the Division of Environmental Resource Management from January 2000 to June 2021 for stations in canals and the Bay were provided via an Excel spreadsheet. Data to be analyzed was limited to surface water samples from June 2001 to May 2021. With this data we created spatial analyses of the parameters by decade and season. We also referenced past reports to identify patterns in the data. Salinity and pH showed a strong increasing gradient from the coast (mouth of the canals) to the open Bay since they are strongly influenced by the freshwater inputs from canals and rivers. Both parameters were lower in the wet season compared to the dry season. As was expected, temperatures are higher in the wet or summer season than the dry or winter season. Additionally, dissolved oxygen is consistently lowest at canal mouths, especially during the wet season when temperatures and river flow are the highest. Lastly, we found that pH and DO are higher during the dry season in all zones. In annual box plot graphs, we identified a spike in salinity in the SBCM zone in 2019, and a spike in pH in the SB zone in 2005.