The Community Playbook for Healthy Waterways, which can be accessed at www.WaterQualityPlaybook.org, is a comprehensive online manual of recommended activities to reduce and remove manmade nutrient pollution in the region’s waterways and sustain those improvements in the future. While the Playbook focuses on Sarasota County, the proposed activities can be adapted, transferred, and customized to other coastal Florida communities. The Playbook integrates public policy, applied science, and community education to more effectively manage nutrient pollution, specifically nitrogen, in the region.

The target audience includes leaders from municipal, county, and state governments and agencies, nonprofit environmental organizations, business and agriculture, philanthropic funders, and homeowner associations. The Playbook’s 10 chapters comprise 43 recommended activities for improving regional water quality. Topics range from central wastewater management and stormwater system maintenance to fertilizer use and wetlands restoration. Each prescribed activity includes relevant information to catalyze first steps and foster full implementation, including current status, key actions, performance measures, recommended champions, and cost estimates.