The Verdantas Team (as Flatwoods Consulting, Inc.) provided evaluations of six streams outlined in the Pasco County National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) MS4 Permit (No. FLS 00002-003). For each stream a Stream Habitat Assessment (SHA) was conducted using the aquatic habitat characterization method described in FDEP SOP 001/01 FT 3000. A 100 meter (m) transect was established upstream from any man-made structures such as bridges or roads to conduct the stream habitat assessment. The purpose of this habitat assessment was to collect key physical data to provide information necessary to properly conduct a Stream Condition Index (SCI) and to assist in interpreting biological sampling results. The SCI was performed in accordance with FDEP SOP 001/01 SCI 1000.

Macro-invertebrate sampling was performed according to the SCI protocol (DEP-SOP-001/01 FS 7420) by our trained ecologists who successfully passed DEP audits. The SCI is a standardized macro-invertebrate sampling methodology that accounts for the various microhabitats available (e.g. leaf packs, snags, aquatic vegetation, roots/undercut banks) within a 100-m segment of stream. Utilizing this methodology, twenty 0.5-m D-frame dip net sweeps were performed within a 100-m segment of the stream. The number and quality of benthic macro-invertebrate microhabitats present, as characterized by the SHA described above, during the sampling event determines the number of sweeps performed within each microhabitat type. Consistent with DEP protocols, each benthic macro-invertebrate sample was processed and taxonomically analyzed.

Surface water quality was also evaluated using field measurements of common parameters including temperature, pH, dissolved oxygen, conductivity, turbidity, and Secchi depth. All field testing was conducted in accordance with FDEP SOP 001/01 FT 1000-1600.