Water quality

THE DATA

This page presents the Coastal Dune Lake Water Quality Update from the Choctawhatchee Basin Alliance Estuary Program (CBAEP). Kayla Wingard, CBAEP Monitoring Program Manager, gave the update.

The numbers, charts, and field notes below are for public education. They come from that presentation and from the 2025 water chemistry report. Live monitoring and the official dashboard stay with the Choctawhatchee Basin Alliance (CBA). This website is not the official source for water-quality data.

CBA Water Quality Dashboard Choctawhatchee Basin Alliance

Use the CBA Water Quality Dashboard for current conditions. The charts on this page are examples from the 2025 update. CBA accessed that dashboard on September 15, 2026. They do not replace the live record.

Title slide for the Coastal Dune Lake Water Quality Update by Kayla Wingard, CBAEP Monitoring Program Manager. — Coastal Dune Lake Water Quality Update. Credit: Choctawhatchee Basin Alliance (CBAEP).

Coastal dune lakes

CBAEP describes the lakes this way in the update:

Shallow, irregularly shaped, and continually changing.
Water level and salinity can vary greatly.
Inputs include the Gulf, tributaries, runoff, precipitation, and groundwater seepage.
Generally colored, slightly acidic, with low to medium nutrient levels.
Critical habitat, including a freshwater source for migratory species.
Globally rare and critically imperiled.

Coastal dune lake beside the Gulf, with dunes and beach in the foreground. — Coastal dune lakes, as shown in the 2025 update. Credit: Beverly and Lonnie Ottzen. Choctawhatchee Basin Alliance (CBAEP).

Monitoring overview

CBA and trained volunteers collect the samples. University of Florida LAKEWATCH analyzes nutrients and clarity. The record now covers more than 20 years.

Who

Samples are taken by CBA and by citizen scientists trained by CBA.
At Lake Powell, RMA is involved and LPCA collects the samples.
One-on-one training supports the citizen science program.

What

University of Florida LAKEWATCH measures nutrients and clarity.
Additional water-quality parameters are measured in the field with a multi-probe meter.
The program has more than 20 years of data.

Where

Several of the larger lakes are split into sections, including Western Northeast, Western, and Grayton.
18 waterbodies in total.
Each has 3 to 4 stations, tied to specific GPS sites.

Parameters measured

CBA records a set of readings in the field. LAKEWATCH analyzes nutrients, chlorophyll, and water clarity in the lab.

CBA, in the field

Temperature
Dissolved oxygen (mg/L and percent saturation)
Specific conductivity
Salinity
pH
Turbidity

LAKEWATCH, lab analysis

Nutrients: total phosphorus and total nitrogen
Chlorophyll-a
Secchi vanishing point

Slide listing CBA field measurements and LAKEWATCH lab analyses. — Parameters measured, as presented by CBAEP. Credit: Choctawhatchee Basin Alliance (CBAEP).

2025 lake characteristics

The update groups lakes by the low and high ends of salinity, total phosphorus, and dissolved oxygen in 2025. Names follow that presentation. Grayton and Western Northeast are sections of larger lakes in the monitoring program. The characteristics slide shortens Western Northeast to Western NE. Little Red Fish and Big Red Fish are the names used in the update.

Lowest salinity

0.04 ppt

Highest salinity

24 ppt

Lowest nutrients

8 µg/L TP

Highest nutrients

35 µg/L TP

Lowest dissolved oxygen

2.5 mg/L

Highest dissolved oxygen

8.3 mg/L

2025 lake characteristics from the Coastal Dune Lake Water Quality Update. Each row is a low or high group named in that update.
Group	Value	Lakes in that group
Lowest salinity	0.04 ppt	Campbell, Fuller, Morris, Allen, Stallworth
Highest salinity	24 ppt	Grayton, Deer, Draper, Eastern, Powell
Lowest nutrients	8 µg/L total phosphorus	Western, Deer, Campbell, Western Northeast, Stallworth
Highest nutrients	35 µg/L total phosphorus	Oyster, Allen, Little Red Fish, Alligator, Big Red Fish
Lowest dissolved oxygen	2.5 mg/L	Western, Alligator, Camp Creek, Western Northeast, Powell
Highest dissolved oxygen	8.3 mg/L	Campbell, Morris, Stallworth, Fuller, Allen

2025 lake characteristics slide with lowest and highest salinity, total phosphorus, and dissolved oxygen. — The same 2025 groups, as laid out in the update. Credit: Choctawhatchee Basin Alliance (CBAEP).

Dashboard charts

These two charts are examples from the CBA Water Quality Dashboard, included in the 2025 update. The dashboard, not this page, is the live record.

CBA Water Quality Dashboard chart for Western Lake, included in the 2025 water chemistry update. — Western Lake. Source: CBA Water Quality Dashboard, accessed September 15, 2026. basinalliance-wq-dashboard.share.connect.posit.cloud (opens in a new tab). Hyman, A. Challen. 2026. Coastal Dune Lake 2025 Water Chemistry Report. Choctawhatchee Basin Alliance Estuary Program. Credit: Choctawhatchee Basin Alliance (CBAEP).

Trophic state

Trophic state is the amount of biological productivity in a waterbody. CBAEP uses a Trophic State Index (TSI) derived from chlorophyll-a.

TSI below 40

Oligotrophic

Minimal biomass. Clear. Oxygen-rich.

Camp Creek
Campbell
Deer
Draper
Eastern
Fuller
Grayton
Morris
Powell
Stallworth
Western
Western Northeast

TSI 40 to 50

Mesotrophic

Moderate biomass. Somewhat clear. Potential anoxia at depth in summer months.

Allen
Alligator
Big Red Fish
Eastern
Little Red Fish
Oyster

TSI 50 to 70

Eutrophic

High algal biomass. Cloudy. Anoxia at depth. Potentially a sign of excess nutrient levels.

The 2025 update did not name lakes in this group.

TSI above 70

Hyper-eutrophic

Very murky. Almost perpetual anoxia at depth. Dense mats of algae. Likely impaired status.

The 2025 update did not name lakes in this group.

Eastern Lake is listed under both oligotrophic and mesotrophic in the update. It is shown in both groups here, as presented.

Trophic state categories from oligotrophic to hyper-eutrophic, based on chlorophyll-a. — How CBAEP describes each trophic state. Credit: Choctawhatchee Basin Alliance (CBAEP).

Lakes grouped by trophic state in the 2025 update. Eastern Lake is listed in both the oligotrophic and mesotrophic groups. — Where the update places each lake. Eastern appears in both the oligotrophic and mesotrophic lists on this slide. Credit: Choctawhatchee Basin Alliance (CBAEP).

Trends, 2016 to 2025

The update asks whether levels are increasing, decreasing, or stable, and how the 2025 data changes the 10-year trends. The focal trends are nutrients, chlorophyll, and oxygen. The table below is the 2016 to 2025 summary from the presentation. The monitoring overview describes 18 waterbodies. This trend table lists the 17 rows shown in the update.

Trends from 2016 to 2025. An up arrow means increasing, a dot means stable, and a down arrow means decreasing.
Lake	Phosphorus (µg/L)	Nitrogen (µg/L)	Chlorophyll (µg/L)	DO (mg/L)	pH	Salinity (ppt)
Allen	Increasing	Stable	Increasing	Stable	Increasing	Stable
Alligator	Increasing	Decreasing	Stable	Stable	Stable	Increasing
Big Red Fish	Stable	Decreasing	Decreasing	Increasing	Increasing	Increasing
Camp Creek	Stable	Decreasing	Decreasing	Stable	Stable	Increasing
Campbell	Stable	Decreasing	Stable	Increasing	Increasing	Stable
Deer	Stable	Decreasing	Stable	Increasing	Increasing	Increasing
Draper	Stable	Stable	Stable	Stable	Increasing	Stable
Eastern	Decreasing	Decreasing	Decreasing	Increasing	Stable	Stable
Fuller	Decreasing	Decreasing	Stable	Stable	Increasing	Stable
Grayton	Decreasing	Decreasing	Decreasing	Increasing	Stable	Increasing
Little Red Fish	Stable	Decreasing	Decreasing	Increasing	Increasing	Increasing
Morris	Stable	Decreasing	Stable	Stable	Increasing	Decreasing
Oyster	Decreasing	Decreasing	Decreasing	Increasing	Decreasing	Increasing
Powell	Stable	Decreasing	Decreasing	Stable	Stable	Increasing
Stallworth	Increasing	Decreasing	Stable	Increasing	Stable	Increasing
Western	Stable	Decreasing	Stable	Stable	Increasing	Increasing
Western Northeast	Stable	Decreasing	Stable	Increasing	Increasing	Increasing

Trends table for 2016 to 2025. The same results are in the HTML table on this page. — The trend table as shown in the update. Up means increasing, a dot means stable, and down means decreasing. Credit: Choctawhatchee Basin Alliance (CBAEP).

CBA Water Quality Dashboard chart for Allen Lake, included in the 2025 water chemistry update. — Allen Lake. Source: CBA Water Quality Dashboard, accessed September 15, 2026. basinalliance-wq-dashboard.share.connect.posit.cloud (opens in a new tab). Hyman, A. Challen. 2026. Coastal Dune Lake 2025 Water Chemistry Report. Choctawhatchee Basin Alliance Estuary Program. Credit: Choctawhatchee Basin Alliance (CBAEP).

From the field

Volunteers and CBA staff noted what they saw on the water during 2025. The notes below follow the update.

Algae bloom on the lake, bright orange in color. Fuller, November 1, 2025.
Dead tarpon (about 2.5 feet) and flounder in the lake. Deer, January 29, 2025.
The outfall to the Gulf was deep and rapid flowing, mini rapids. Camp Creek, May 5, 2025.
Draper blew out more than 3 weeks ago and is still draining. The lake is 5 feet lower than it was a month ago. Draper, November 25, 2025.
Cool air and water temperatures after a winter storm with snow. Alligator, January 26, 2025.

Field notes collage: an orange bloom on Fuller Lake, fish in Deer Lake, the Camp Creek outfall, a lowered Draper Lake, and snow at Alligator Lake. — Field notes from 2025, as arranged in the update. Credit: Choctawhatchee Basin Alliance (CBAEP).

Fuller Lake bloom

Blooms observed November 2025 to February 2026.
A sample was sent to the University of Florida.
Identified as Botryococcus, possibly B. braunii, and pollen.
No human health effects. Large blooms can cause negative effects to the ecosystem.
Bottom dissolved oxygen remained high during sampling.

Orange bloom on Fuller Lake, with notes identifying Botryococcus and pollen. Photo credit Susan and Bruce Paladini. — Fuller Lake, November 2025 to February 2026. Credit: Susan and Bruce Paladini. Choctawhatchee Basin Alliance (CBAEP). Bloom context: Bennett, J. "Mo." and Florida LAKEWATCH. (2021). Paint, Pollen, or Other? LAKEWATCH Newsletter, Vol. 92. Florida LAKEWATCH, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL. Dashboard chart on this slide: CBA Water Quality Dashboard, accessed September 15, 2026.

Sources

Kayla Wingard, CBAEP Monitoring Program Manager. Coastal Dune Lake Water Quality Update. wingardk@nwfsc.edu
Choctawhatchee Basin Alliance (opens in a new tab) (basinalliance.org)
CBA Water Quality Dashboard (opens in a new tab), accessed September 15, 2026
Hyman, A. Challen. 2026. Coastal Dune Lake 2025 Water Chemistry Report. Choctawhatchee Basin Alliance Estuary Program.
Bennett, J. "Mo." and Florida LAKEWATCH. (2021). Paint, Pollen, or Other? LAKEWATCH Newsletter, Vol. 92. Florida LAKEWATCH, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL.
Photograph credit: Beverly and Lonnie Ottzen (coastal dune lakes). Susan and Bruce Paladini (Fuller Lake bloom).

Contact slide for Kayla Wingard, wingardk@nwfsc.edu, basinalliance.org. — Contact from the update. Credit: Choctawhatchee Basin Alliance (CBAEP).

Data and interpretation belong to the Choctawhatchee Basin Alliance and the presenters. This page is for public education only.