The extended bioassay testing and monitoring of biological impacts are expected to occur over six- to twelve-month cycles. This sampling period may need to be longer to allow assessment of potential long-term effects on community composition, especially given interannual variability in factors such as rainfall, temperature, extreme events, etc.

Surface water quality modeling and ecosystem modeling tends to focus on Lake Okeechobee. However, it appears more likely that negative effects of ASR-recovered water could occur within the Everglades itself. This is where surface waters are low in nutrients and dissolved solids, and where input, either directly or via pathways that include Lake Okeechobee, of recovered ASR water with relatively high ionic strength would represent a major ecological change. More emphasis should be placed on modeling of these more sensitive ecosystems and identifying water quality changes that could cause irreversible shifts in community composition.