Canal Science Symposium

The Canal Science Symposium is coming to the Marco Island Library’s Rose Hall Room on Friday, August 28 from 2:00 -4:30 PM.

With Marco Island's canals having been on Florida's impaired waters list since 2019, residents have been asking why. C-HAWQ (Coastal Habitat and Water Quality Initiative) and their team of scientists study them directly and can provide real answers. Showing residents exactly what the data shows: where the nitrogen is actually coming from, and what can realistically be done about it.

C-HAWQ was founded as a nonprofit last year and became a 501(c)(3) at the beginning of this year. They are based in Naples but serve the entirety of Florida. “Specifically, we provide technical assistance to local governments around the state to help them solve their water quality, urban stormwater, or coastal resilience problems,” said Emily Begin, C-HAWQ’s Vice Executive Director.

How do they do this? By using Science!

With the current quality challenges, it is not possible to solve with the residents of the state following what has always been done in the past. To remedy this, C-HAWQ is investing in building their body of research on residential canals, assisted by their partners at UF and USF.

“We think that building this baseline of science about these systems will actually educate all of us and help build the path for how we then solve the challenges that they have,” said Begin.

An example being right here on Marco Island with the water quality of our canals. It is a challenge and difficult problem to solve if we do not understand the science behind the problem.

Education and information provided to the governing bodies of those communities affected is what C-HAWQ is hoping to do with the Symposium. There will be presentations by four different professors from UF and USF, along with a few other partner organizations.

Three workshops, co-hosted by the Naples Botanical Garden and Florida Sea Grant, will follow on Wednesdays at the Marco Island Art Center:

September 2 – Habitat and Native Vegetation

September 9 – Citizen Science

September 16 – Fisheries and Habitat

Designed with the community in mind, where those who are really interested in the topics at hand can have an open dialogue with the presenters and learn in a more intimate setting. Anyone with an interest can attend, and C-HAWQ hopes in the upcoming months to offer a child-friendly event where children can learn on their level. The more the community knows about how to help improve our water, the more we can all make it a more livable place for everyone.

In addition to public education and research provided to communities around Florida, C-HAWQ is providing residents of Marco Island the opportunity to have the water behind their docks tested by their team. “We have water quality equipment and in-house scientists who people can sign up on our website to have this done for free,” Begin explained. The data collected helps further the research on the residential canals.

The C-HAWQ team and their partnered professors were accepted into a nationally recognized workgroup, Gulf Ecosysem Initiative, sponsored by NCEAS (National Center for Ecosystem Synthesis and Analysis) and the University of California, Santa Barbara. This has provided the funding for their work group, comprised of about 15 scientists coming together with their expertise to research residential canals.

“This is the biggest avenue of research we've been accepted into and should be really incredible because we're going to bring a national spotlight to SW Florida. Especially because Southwest Florida has the largest amount of residential canals in the state.”

The C-HAWQ team looks forward to learning more themselves and then translating that to the local governments and decision-makers on how to best manage these fragile systems. Additionally, being able to offer continued education to the community members on how to improve these systems that we all enjoy for their beauty, their habitat within, and their access to the ocean.

Join C-HAWQ for a science-first evening on August 28 and learn more at: www.chawq.org.