We characterized copper (Cu) concentrations in the water, sediments, and shoreline plants of stormwater ponds in the urban Tampa, Florida area. We selected 6 urban residential stormwater ponds that receive summer wet season (May to September) Cu sulfate applications at least twice a month. We collected triplicate water and sediment samples from each pond and analyzed for Cu, as well as nutrient pools (inorganic N and P) and a suite of other physicochemical properties (e.g., water temperature, pH, conductivity, alkalinity, etc.). We analyzed shoreline plant tissue samples for Cu. The raw dataset provides values for Cu concentrations in water, sediments and plant tissue, and other measured parameters in water and sediments. This dataset is important for characterizing the fate and potential mobility of Cu in freshwater ponds treated with Cu sulfate algaecides. This applied research data will provide baseline understanding of Cu concentrations in water, sediments, and select plant tissue samples, providing insights on potential toxicity of Cu and any threats that Cu sulfate algaecides may pose to aquatic organisms and downstream waters. This dataset can also inform future research designs aimed at elucidating the effects of Cu on denitrifying bacteria and N removal in stormwater pond ecosystems. Finally, the plant tissue data shows variable Cu concentrations among plant species, and this data can inform future phytoremediation experiments.

Stormwater ponds collect and transform pollutants (including nutrients, such as nitrogen and phosphorus) in urban runoff and are often hydrologically connected to downstream waters, making it important to maximize their pollutant retention efficiency. A key mechanism for phosphorus (P) removal in stormwater ponds is sedimentation. However, sediment P in stormwater ponds may be present in several chemical forms with varying bioavailability and potential to move from sediments into the overlying water column. The purpose of this study was to characterize the chemical fractions of sediment P in residential urban stormwater ponds, with the goal of better understanding expected movement of P from sediments to water. We used a chemical fractionation scheme to separate sediment P into the following pools: loosely adsorbed and readily available P, Fe- and Al-bound P, Ca- and Mg-bound P, NaOH-exchangeable organic P, and refractory P. From six stormwater ponds in the Tampa Bay, Florida urban area, we found the pool of readily available P was less than 3% of total sediment P, and the refractory P pool was 28–40% of Total P. However, both Fe/Al-bound and Ca/Mg-bound P each accounted for about 18% of total sediment P. These latter pools may become available under anoxic or low pH (<6) conditions, respectively, demonstrating that a change in environmental conditions could cause internal P loading from sediments to pond water.