Monitoring Periphyton in Northeast Shark River Slough to Establish CEPP Baseline Conditions

Background
The US Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) is seeking applications for a project to provide baseline information regarding periphyton community within the Florida Everglades in response to restoration efforts associated with the Central Everglades Planning Project (CEPP) under the Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan (CERP) program. The CEPP is a CERP project expected to provide an additional 370,000 acre-feet of freshwater to the Everglades annually. Periphyton is a key component of the freshwater wetland in that it is found throughout the ecosystem, is sensitive to changes in the quantity, quality, timing, and distribution of freshwater in the Everglades, and serves as an indicator of oligotrophic nutrient status throughout the ecosystem.

Grant Details
The purpose of this research is to monitor characteristics of periphyton downstream of CEPP, within Northeast Shark River Slough (NESRS) to determine pre-CEPP implementation baseline conditions for periphyton.

The project objectives include:
Objective 1: Collect quarterly samples at 35-40 sites in the northeast Shark River Slough to provide measures of mean periphyton cover, volume, biomass, chlorophyll a (chl a), and organic, total carbon (TC), nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P).
Objective 2: Establish and report the baseline condition of appropriate periphyton community metrics and parameters for future use in a Before, After, Control, Impact (BACI) assessment of CEPP project implementation.
Objective 3: Demonstrate progress and present results in the form of quarterly status reports, annual reports, and a final report.

Eligibility Requirements
This opportunity is restricted to non-federal partners of the South Florida - Caribbean Cooperative Ecosystems Studies Unit (CESU). Religious organizations are entitled to compete on equal footing with secular organizations for Federal financial assistance as described in E.O. 13798, “Promoting Free Speech and Religious Liberty.”

Period of Performance
The anticipated period of performance is five (5) years. One base period and up to four option periods.

Grant Value
$607,000.00 is the estimated total program funding with an estimated award ceiling of $115,000.00.

Place of Performance
The specific geographic location for this grant will be within Northeast Shark River Slough (NESRS) in Florida.