Estuarine Conditions as of April 1, 2008

 

St. Lucie Estuary

 

Current Conditions:

There were no releases through S-80 over the past week.  A discharge of 3.10 cfs occurred at S-97 on the C-23 Canal and there were no discharges at S-49 on the C-24 canal.  The current weekly average salinities (in bold) at the four monitoring sites in the St. Lucie are given below in parts per thousand (ppt), along with the previous week’s (in parenthesis).

 

 

Weekly Average Salinity (ppt)

 

Sampling Site

Surface

Bottom

Envelope

Palm City Bridge (S. Fork)

  11.77 ( 11.75)

12.99 (13.11)

 

HR1 (N. Fork)

 NR (14.52)

NR(16.24)

 

Roosevelt Bridge

 17.87 (18.06)

18.55 (19.06)

8.0 – 25.0

A1A Bridge

 26.93 (27.51)

29.10 (29.35)

20.0 – 31.0

 

Average salinity decreased slightly during the past week throughout the estuary. Both the surface and bottom salinity are in the preferred range at the Roosevelt Bridge, and at the A1A Bridge.  Based on the salinity tolerances of the oyster, Crassostrea virginica, salinity conditions in the estuary are good.  The current surface salinity of 17.87 ppt at the Roosevelt Bridge is 10.13 ppt below the maximum weekly average of 28.0 ppt achieved in May 2001 during the 2000 – 2001 drought (see attached).

 

 

Caloosahatchee Estuary

                                                         

Current Conditions:

No discharge occurred at S-79 last week.  Discharge from S-77 into Lake Okeechobee averaged 69.29 cfs last week.  The concentration of chlorides at the Olga Plant is 202 mg/l.  Weekly average salinities for specific sites are given below in parts per thousand (ppt).  Current weekly averages (in bold) may be compared to last week’s data (in parenthesis). 

 

 

Weekly Average Salinity (ppt)

Sampling Site

Surface

Bottom

Franklin Locks (S-79)

 15.05 (16.06)

 16.12 (16.07)

Rt. 31 Bridge

14.19 (15.01)

18.87 (18.4)

I-75 Bridge

 14.71  (15.70)

 19.52 (18.70)

Ft. Myers Yacht Basin

 21.67 (23.52)

 23.94 (23.67)

Cape Coral Bridge

 27.65 (29.03)

 29.00 (30.08)

Shell Point

33.97 (34.73)

 34.93 (35.57)

 

Compared with last week, average surface salinities decreased slightly throughout the estuary and bottom salinities increased slightly in the upper estuary and decreased slightly in the lower estuary.  Salinity at the Ft. Myers surface sensor remains above the 1-day MFL criterion of 20 ppt.  The current surface salinity of 15.05 ppt at S-79 is 4.95 ppt below the maximum weekly average of 20.0 ppt achieved in May 2001 during the 2000 – 2001 drought.  Salinity at the Cape Coral Bridge is near (surface) or above (bottom) the upper limit of the optimal range for the oyster, Crassostrea virginica.  Conditions in the upper estuary east of Ft. Myers are poor due to high salinity.  Based on the salinity tolerances of oysters conditions downstream of Cape Coral are fair (see attached).

 

FWRI reports that no Karenia brevis, the Florida red tide organism, was detected this week in water samples collected alongshore between Pinellas and Monroe counties. 

 

To find this information on the web:

 

https://my.sfwmd.gov/portal/page?_pageid=1314,2554645,1314_19738269:1314_19738234&_dad=portal&_schema=PORTAL

  

click on “Current Week”

click on “Technical Summary”

scroll to the bottom and click on “Coastal Ecosystems”

 

 

 

Back to Lake Okeechobee Operations Main Page

Back to U.S. Army Corps of Engineers WSE Homepage