MEMORANDUM
TO: Chip
Merriam, Deputy Executive Director, Water Resources
FROM: SFWMD Staff Environmental Advisory Team
DATE: April 1, 2008
SUBJECT: Weekly
Environmental Recommendation for Systems Operations
Recommendation
No Lake Okeechobee regulatory releases to the
south or estuaries are recommended.
Background
Some showers/storms each day with a focus west
until Thursday before rains increase Friday/Saturday. Look for mini wet season conditions through
the weekend. Dominant southeast winds
will feed decent moisture into a marginally unstable atmosphere this week. Seabreeze showers
and a few storms will result with a focus west of the
Over the last seven days, the upper Kissimmee Basin received 0
inches of rainfall to bring the 30 day total to 3.22 inches (99% of average),
and the lower basin received 0.02 inches to bring the 30 day total to 3.48
inches (121% of average).
The discharge from
In
the upper basin, snail kites continue to nest on East Lake Toho,
Dissolved
oxygen concentrations in the river channel of the
Last
week the interagency team continued discussions of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife
Service’s request for a deviation to the regulation schedule to hold water
levels in
According
to the USACE web site,
St. Lucie Estuary
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 |
|
11.77 ( 11.75) |
12.99 (13.11) |
|
HR1 (N. Fork) |
NR (14.52) |
NR(16.24) |
|
|
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
Caloosahatchee Estuary
No
discharge occurred at S-79 last week. Discharge from S-77 into
|
Weekly Average Salinity (ppt) |
|
Sampling Site |
Surface |
Bottom |
|
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) |
|
21.67 (23.52) |
23.94 (23.67) |
|
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
FWRI reports that no Karenia
brevis, the
Salinity Report for February
2008
Salinity nearshore
Figure 1. Mean monthly
salinity at recorder MDTS nearshore
Barnes Sound. |
Water Conservation Areas
Recession rates were either too slight or non-existent in WCA-2B, 3A, and 3B as a result of the rains of two weeks
ago and from S-10 and S-11 openings.
Only WCA-1 and 2A had recession rates in
support of foraging. Unfortunately the
depths throughout the Greater Everglades do not yet support foraging. Depths greater than one foot are inhospitable
for wading bird foraging. However, it is still early in the nesting season for
ibis and it is hoped that these poor hydrologic conditions will have a minimum
impact on this species. Stages in WCA-1 have declined and are at Regulation, WCA-2A marsh remains well above regulation (note: canal
levels continue to drop due the opening of the S-11’s), and WCA-3A
stages are within zone E1 of the regulation schedule, for protection of the
Cape Sable Seaside Sparrow.
Everglades
National Park (ENP) and
Salinity
concentrations remained fairly stable or increased. By the end of the week salinity had crept just
above 30 psu at Trout Creek and into the mid-20s at
the mouth of
As
of Sunday, March 30th, the 30 day moving average concentration at
Taylor River (used for tracking the Florida Bay MFL
criterion) was at 9.5 psu (up from 6.9 psu last week), and the highest concentration seen yet this
dry season. Salinity in Whipray remained in the upper-30s to near 40 psu for much of the week. These regional salinity concentrations are near
seasonal norms. The exception to this
near-normal trend is out west, in areas downstream of Shark River Slough:
though recent rainfall allowed salinity to drop a bit in Tarpon Bay, the daily
mean measurement of 17 psu, is still well above
normal and closer to concentrations experienced at the height of the dry season
(in May) in this area.
Water Supply
Water
levels in the upper and lower
There
was modest improvement in the Water Supply Risk indicators this week. Six out of eleven risk measures are in the
“high” risk category including the projected Lake Okeechobee Stage (SSM), Palmer Index for Tributary Conditions, the CPC
Precipitation Outlook, and Lower East Coast Service Areas 1, 2 and 3.
The
LOK Seasonal Net Inflow Forecast is now at “medium”
risk and the LOK Multi-Seasonal Net Inflow Forecasts
is now at “low” risk this week. Water
Conservation Areas 1, 2A and 3A continue to be in the “low” risk category.
WSE
(
The
current
CC: George
Horne