Florida Keys Canal Project Tackles Water Quality Degradation with GIS

Wendy Leonard and Karen Zahalka

Hundreds of thousands of people flock each year to the Florida Keys for world-class fishing, diving, and the breathtaking scenery. The Keys stretch 110 miles from Key Largo to Key West and are home to about 80,000 people. Because residents desire homes adjacent to the water with dock space for boats, finger canals have become an essential characteristic of Keys life. Today there are 481 canals, totaling 111 miles, in Monroe County.

Monroe County officials are concerned about water quality degradation in the canals. According to George Garrett, director of the Monroe County Marine Resources Department, there are currently about two dozen county canals with no access to open water—they remain plugged due to changes in environmental regulations imposed in the 1970s. Residents have also long reported a problem with flotsam entering open canals with the accumulating seaweed decaying and fouling the waterway.

 

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