Lake Okeechobee Conditions Report
March 11, 2008:
According
to the USACE web site, Lake
Okeechobee stage is 10.13’ NGVD,
which is 0.06’ higher than a week ago and 0.12’ higher than a month
ago. The current stage is 0.89’ lower than it was a year ago and
4.43’ below its historical average for this time of year. Reported
inflows cfs include the Kissimmee
River (~400 cfs), the S71 and S72
structures (~425 cfs), and the L8 at Canal Point
(~650 cfs). No outflows are reported.
The
monthly submerged-aquatic-vegetation (SAV) survey was
completed last week. Water clarity increased slightly with secchi depths greater than 50% of total depths at 23 of the
28 sites sampled compared to 19 of 29 sites sampled in February. The macroalga Chara remains
the dominant SAV species and was found at 10 of the
28 sites sampled. One species of vascular SAV, Vallisneria americana,
continues to be present in very low density at a few sites around King’s
Bar on the northern shoreline and a few sites along the western shoreline.
Results
of the February phytoplankton bloom monitoring are now available. Six of
nine sites had sufficient water to access for sampling. Chlorophyll a
values averaged 11.2 ppb and algal toxin (microcystin)
levels were below detection (0.2 ppb) at all sites.
Sediment
cores were collected from locations in Fisheating Bay where the newly discovered and
potentially invasive exotic water grass Luziola
subintegra is growing. These cores will be
incubated in the laboratory under different hydrologic conditions to monitor
seed germination and assess whether a viable seed bank of this species has been
established in the lake.
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