MEMORANDUM
TO: Chip
Merriam, Deputy Executive Director, Water Resources
FROM: SFWMD Staff Environmental Advisory Team
DATE: March 25 2008
SUBJECT: Weekly
Environmental Recommendation for Systems Operations
Recommendation
No Lake Okeechobee regulatory releases to the
south or estuaries are recommended.
Background
Scattered
showers returning this weekend. High pressure
behind a cold front will bring dry conditions today and Wednesday. As winds switch back to the
east and southeast, isolated to widely scattered showers will pop up mainly
southeast Thursday and Friday.
Scattered afternoon showers and isolated thunderstorms will then develop
mainly near the coasts Saturday. The next ten days precipitation outlook is below
average with low confidence.
Over the last seven days, the upper Kissimmee Basin received 0.45
inches of rainfall to bring the total for March to 3.22 inches (130% of
average) and the lower basin received 0.76 inches to bring the March total to
3.46 inches (156% of average). While
March rainfall for the upper and lower
The discharge from
In
the upper basin, snail kites continue to nest on East Lake Toho,
Flow has been reestablished to the
The
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers began discussions last week with an interagency
team on the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s request for a deviation to the
regulation schedule for
According
to the USACE web site,
St. Lucie Estuary
There
were no releases through S-80, S-97 (on the C-23 Canal), or S-49 (on the C-24
canal) over the past week. 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 |
|
11.75 ( 9.02) |
13.11 (10.88) |
|
HR1 (N. Fork) |
14.52 (12.53) |
16.24 (15.42) |
|
|
18.06 (16.57) |
19.06 (17.44) |
8.0 – 25.0 |
A1A Bridge |
27.51 (25.33) |
29.35 (27.89) |
20.0 – 31.0 |
Average
salinity increased about 2 ppt 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.
The concentration of chlorides at the Olga Plant is 240 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 |
|
16.06 (12.69) |
16.07 (13.31) |
Rt.
31 Bridge |
15.01 (14.27) |
18.40 (16.32) |
I-75
Bridge |
15.70 (15.91) |
18.70 (18.65) |
|
23.52 (23.59) |
23.67 (23.81) |
|
29.03 (28.20) |
30.08 (30.52) |
Shell
Point |
34.73 (34.73) |
35.57 (35.67) |
Compared
with last week, average salinity increased by about 3 ppt
at Franklin Locks and 1-2 ppt at Bridge 31. Average salinity in the rest of the estuary
remained about the same as last week.
Salinity at the
In
summary, conditions in the upper estuary east of
FWRI reports that no Karenia
brevis, the
Water Conservation Areas
Surplus rain
caused reversals and water depths to increase almost everywhere but especially
in WCA-2A and WCA-3B. The increasing depths have made large areas
inhospitable for wading bird foraging.
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
are above Regulation, WCA-2A marsh remains well above
regulation (note: canal levels dropped sharply 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) wetland water levels displayed
mixed trends last week in response to the patchy nature of the weekend rain
event. Water levels increased at the two
slough stations: up by 1.3” at P33 (Shark River Slough) & by 10.7” at
Taylor Slough Bridge (not a typo – this part of the system regularly
experiences wide fluctuations in water levels from rain, inflows, etc.,
especially when the water level is below ground surface). To the south of these areas, though, water
level barely increased in the ENP panhandle (stations
EVER6, only up by 0.1’”), and actually declined for
the week at Craighead Pond (down by 0.6”).
Salinity
concentrations are increasing slightly across the coastal zone and
Water Supply
Water
levels in the upper and lower
There
was one change in the Water Supply Risk indicators this week. LOK Multi-Seasonal
Net Inflow Forecast improved from moderate to low risk. Five out of eleven risk measures are in the
“high” risk category including the projected Lake Okeechobee Stage (SSM), the CPC Precipitation Outlook, and Lower East Coast
Service Areas 1, 2 and 3. The Palmer
Index for LOK Tributary Conditions and LOK Seasonal Net Inflow Forecast remain at “medium” risk
this week. Water Conservation Areas 1,
2A and 3A continue to be in the “low” risk category.
WSE
(
The
current
CC: George
Horne