Flooding can impact a community's social, cultural, environmental, and economic resources; therefore, generating a sound, science-based, long-term decision to improve resiliency is critical for future prosperity and growth. Developing watershed management plans is essential in assisting local communities in reducing flood insurance costs through mitigation and resiliency efforts. This effort, specifically for this report, will focus on the Pensacola Watershed Basin and the development procedures to assess the risks of flooding and storm surges. Utilizing readily available data on topography, ground surface water elevations, tidal data for coastal communities, open space, and rainfall, a framework was developed to facilitate flood risk assessments under various conditions. Such knowledge allows communities to properly prepare and prevent major damages during times of high flooding, such as tropical storms and hurricanes. / Includes bibliography. / Thesis (MURP)--Florida Atlantic University, 2021. / FAU Electronic Theses and Dissertations Collection

Thesis (M.S.)--University of West Florida, 2007. / Title from title page of source document. Document formatted into pages; contains 65 pages. Includes bibliographical references.

Bottlenose dolphins inhabiting coastlines and estuaries in Florida have been impacted in the past decade by development, algal blooms, catastrophic pollution, and fishery interactions (FI). Dolphins react to disturbance and environmental stressors by modifying their movements and habitat use, which may put them in jeopardy of conflict with humans. FI plays an increasing role in contributing to dolphin mortalities. I investigated dolphin movements, habitat use, residency patterns, and frequency of FI with sport fishing. Tagging studies with short-term data tags and bolt on radio-transmitters were done in several locations in Florida and the east coast providing fine-scale measurements of swimming, daily travels, and foraging activity. Transit speeds agreed with the predicted mean cost of transport as dolphins spent much of their day and night travelling and resting while swimming. Increased foraging was detected by stomach temperature changes revealing dolphins fed at night with a peak starting just after sunset. Dolphin abundance, site fidelity, ranging, stranding mortality, and community structure was characterized at Choctawhatchee and Pensacola Bays in the Florida Panhandle via surveying and photo-identification. Results showed they made frequent inshore movements, maintained site fidelity to specific areas, and comprised several distinct communities. FI was assessed at offshore reefs and coastal fishing piers near Destin, FL and Orange Beach, AL, showing that some dolphins demonstrate affinity to this activity. Harmful interactions with dolphins on reefs and at fishing piers negatively affect their resident communities. Mitigation of FI is suggested by use of avoidance strategies, gear modifications, and improved fish release practices.