Water Quality Testing Drama in Key West

Water Quality Testing Drama in Key West By: Liana Gonzalez-Blanco December 7, 2025

Why monitoring matters here

Key West is famous for its sunsets and coral reefs, and most of us agree: clean water matters. But agreeing on the goal is the easy part. The hard part is deciding how to measure, manage, and pay for the work that keeps our waters healthy. Key West sits next to one of the country’s largest marine sanctuaries, so local water quality isn’t just an environmental issue—it’s an economic one. Multiple agencies and local groups monitor water for drinking safety and marine health, and their data guide everything from infrastructure upgrades to reef protection. The challenge is coordinating those efforts so taxpayers get useful, non-duplicative results.

Who’s doing the testing

Two main programs handle water monitoring in the Keys. Monroe County’s Nearshore Program, run with the University of Miami and Florida DEP, focuses on shoreline areas with about 65 stations tracking stormwater, wastewater upgrades, and canal projects to guide local infrastructure decisions. The Water Quality Protection Program (WQPP), led by NOAA, the EPA, and Florida DEP, covers the entire Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary and monitors nutrients, turbidity, and pollutants across reefs, seagrass beds, and offshore waters. Together they create a layered picture—from canals to coral—so officials, scientists, and residents can see how human activity and natural systems interact.

Local history: CFK, grants, and early testing

Local monitoring expanded in 2020 under the Sanctuary and grew in 2021 when the City of Key West partnered with the College of the Florida Keys (CFK) on a federal grant. The city contributed $160,000 toward the contract. By 2024, CFK was testing regularly in the harbor, focusing on sediment and pollution near cruise ship docks.

That testing drew scrutiny when Emily Hall of Mote Marine Lab—who serves on the city’s water-quality committee—questioned sampling methods and asked for peer-reviewed data. CFK’s Patrick Rice pushed back, noting his long experience with these tests. That disagreement set the stage for a series of commission meetings and a broader procurement debate.

The commission debate: transparency, Chapter 80, and insurance

At late‑2024 meetings, commissioners pressed CFK on how its sampling differed from Monroe County’s. The city attorney read Chapter 80, which requires expert or government testing to be approved annually by resolution—so any contract needs to fit that legal framework. When Rice admitted he hadn’t reviewed all the data, most commissioners grew concerned about accountability and what nearly $200,000 in public funds was buying.

Practical issues also surfaced. Allison Higgins, the city’s Resiliency Manager, flagged three big problems: insurance for CFK’s harbor equipment, unclear funding, and no concrete budget figures in the contract. Approving a contract without clear costs or risk disclosures would be unfair to taxpayers.

After some discussion, most of them agreed that a more comprehensive approach to testing was needed where the beaches, the harbor, and the fisheries could be tested on a regular basis. Noting the Key West families sometimes can't swim in their own beaches because it isn't safe, the lack of testing and information, and the lack of improvement in water quality became the focus. Furthermore, only testing turbidity of cruise and not the fisheries, that many local fishermen depend on, would not give a complete picture of all the impacts on water quality.

For these reasons, the vote to approve CFK failed (only Lee, Haskell, and Kauffman voted yes). Commissioners agreed to gather more information and revisit the issue in January 2025.

RFPs, conflicts, and a reset

After CFK’s agreement expired in early 2024 and a December termination letter from CFK’s leadership, the city launched a competitive process. The first RFP (March–July) drew public concern over language and potential conflicts. A July 23 special meeting interviewed the top two bidders—RES Florida Consulting and Mote Marine Laboratory—but the Commission ultimately rejected all proposals and restarted the procurement to protect independence and public trust.

In a letter to the City, Safer Cleaner Ships (SCS) co‑founder Arlo Haskell urged disqualifying Mote because a Pier B lease mentions a $50,000 donation to Mote. He offered no proof—only the appearance of influence. Critics pointed out potential conflicts on Haskell’s side too: his family’s businesses could benefit if cruise traffic were limited, and his mother, Commissioner Monica Haskell, was under an ethics review at the time.  After a five month investigation from the state, she was eventually cleared two days after this July meeting. 

In response to the accusation against Mote Marine, the city attorney pushed back, noting contractors must follow city‑negotiated testing protocols.  She also noted that stirred sediment doesn’t legally prove cruise ships are the sole pollution source. Testing only turbidity in the harbor doesnt meet the city’s intended goal of comprehensive monitoring of pollution from various locations and sources.  The contract with Mote or anybody else would specify these needs, and assuming Mote would break the contract was a stretch. While this debate continue with the City, other agencies continued testing but the urgency for the City to start testing was felt by everyone. 

Final outcome and what it means

The city relaunched the RFP process on August 16, 2025, and after proposals and review, the Commission awarded the contract on October 9, 2025 to Stantec Consulting Services, Inc. The contract is for one year not to exceed $131,531, with options to renew for up to four additional one‑year terms. From the first RFP in March to the October award, the RFP process took about eight months.

Bottom line: the process was messy and political, but monitoring never stopped—other agencies kept collecting data. After a long public debate, Key West now has a monitoring plan intended to be independent, legally sound, and transparent.

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Sources

City of Key West. City Commission Meeting, October 9, 2025. Key West City Government, https://keywestcity.granicus.com/player/clip/1956?view_id=1&redirect=true. Accessed 7 Dec. 2025.

City of Key West. Request for Proposals: Water Quality Monitoring Program Timeline and Commission Proceedings. City Commission Records, Mar.–July 2025. Accessed 7 Dec. 2025.

Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary. Water Quality Protection Program. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, https://floridakeys.noaa.gov/wqpp/welcome.html. Accessed 6 Dec. 2025.

Monroe County, Florida. Florida Keys Nearshore Water Quality Monitoring Program. Monroe County Government, http://monroecounty-fl.gov/1125/Florida-Keys-Nearshore-Water-Quality-Mon. Accessed 6 Dec. 2025.

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Liana Gonzalez-Blanco

Liana is a Key West native who loves writing about her island home. She taught English to students in grades 6–12 for nearly 35 years in Key West schools, sharing her love of literature and language with generations of local students. She earned a bachelor’s degree in English from the University of Florida and a master’s degree in Educational Leadership from the University of Central Florida. Liana is the owner of Conch Media Group, LLC, and the creator and manager of The Key West Post. Her goal is to keep readers informed about the issues that matter most in Key West. As a lifelong local, she offers a perspective often missing from corporate media and from journalists and bloggers who are new to the island.  When Liana isn't writing and managing this website, she enjoys spending time with her friends and family. On most days, you’ll find her walking, biking, or running outdoors, soaking up the natural beauty, friendly people, and diverse cultures that make Key West so special.

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