PERSPECTIVE ON MANAGEMENT OF 
TAMPA AND SARASOTA BAYS 
Michael J. Perry 
Southwest Florida Water Management District 
Brooksville, Florida 
INTRODUCTION 
A number of local governments and regional associations of local 
governments in Florida and other states have experienced problems similar 
to those in Tampa and Sarasota Bays arising from a lack of coordinated 
management of estuarine resources. The management experience of Tampa 
Bay is particularly relevant to both bays in terms of their natural 
systems and the pressures and demands placed on the system. Although 
similar to each other in many ways, the management histories, 
opportunities, and challenges of Tampa and Sarasota Bays are different. 
HISTORIC MANAGEMENT ATTEMPTS 
Tampa Bay 
There have been numerous attempts over the past 25 years to 
establish a committee or commission to examine the problems of Tampa Bay. 
The Florida Legislature created the Tampa Bay Conservation and 
Development Commission in 1970 in response to growing public concern 
about the environmental degradation of Tampa Bay. This Commission was 
composed entirely of local legislators and other elected officials and 
was charged with determining the public interest in Tampa Bay, and to 
determine the effects of further dredging and filling on navigation and 
fish and wildlife resources in the bay. The Tampa Bay Conservation and 
Development Commission, however, never met. 
In 1982 the first symposium on Tampa Bay was held at the 
University of South Florida. The Tampa Bay Area Scientific Information 
Symposium (BASIS) lasted four days and involved topical presentations by 
50 invited speakers. Major conclusions of the symposium were that: 1) 
Tampa Bay can and should be comprehended and managed as a single 
ecological system; 2) the bay is remarkably resistant to environmental 
challenges; 3) a clear pattern of decline is evident in some measures of 
ecological condition; and 4) the management needs of Tampa Bay are 
relatively clear and, if implemented in a comprehensive and baywide 
basis, would result in tangible improvements tc the bay and its 
usefulness to people (TBRPC 1985). 
It was further concluded that the state and federal regulatory 
agencies, local governments surrounding the Bay, and an array of 
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