M E M O R A N D U M
TO: Chip
Merriam, Deputy Executive Director, Water Resources
FROM: SFWMD
Staff Environmental Advisory Team
DATE: June 3,
2008
SUBJECT: Weekly
Environmental Recommendation for Systems Operations
Recommendation
No
Lake Okeechobee regulatory releases to
the south or estuaries are recommended.
Background
The
cycle of daily afternoon showers and thunderstorms should continue this
week. An upper level trough will enhance
shower coverage again today with a focus of activity over the interior and
west. As the upper trough shifts east of
the District, sinking air on its back side will begin to suppress daily shower
Wednesday through Friday and southeasterly winds will focus this activity west. An upper level low is forecast to spin up in
the base of the trough and drift westward during the week. This low is expected to increase daily shower
coverage Saturday and Sunday as it moves west of the District. The next ten days precipitation outlook is
near average with low confidence.
Over the last
seven days, the upper Kissimmee Basin received 0.08 inches of rainfall to bring
the 30 day total to 1.37 inches (38% of average), and the lower basin received
0.09 inches to bring the 30 day total to 1.25 inches (33% of average) (Daily
Rainfall Report 6/2/08).
Releases from
East Lake Tohopekaliga (S-59) are approximately 177 cfs. Releases from
In the upper basin, snail
kites continue to nest on East Lake Toho,
Flow has been
reestablished to the
With the
decreased inflow from the upper basin, water levels continue to decline across
the Kissimmee River Restoration Project.
The water level at PC62, near the upstream end
of the Phase I area, is currently 33.98 feet and the headwater stage at S-65C
has is 33.31 feet, so that the water surface elevation decreases by 0.67 feet
from the upstream end to the downstream end of the restoration project. The floodplain in the restored reach is
nearly dry except for isolated areas.
Numerous wood storks and other wading birds were observed foraging in
isolated wetlands on the floodplain over the past week.
Dissolved oxygen
concentrations in the river channel of the
According to the USACE web site,
Submerged Aquatic Vegetation
(SAV) west update – For the first time in several
years we found Vallisneria and or Chara
at all three Clewiston sites. Although
plant biomass is still low, Vallisneria and Chara are abundant along the entire west wall between
Clewiston to FEB. Secchi
transparency was on the bottom > 1 mile off shore in about 0.9 m of water.
Five wildfires including:
·
·
Myakka Cut –
reported 5/02/2008: 10:20am. This wildfire is 90%
contained at 38,000 acres. Rekindled Memorial Day and smoking well into the
interior. This wildfire will require a
significant amount of rain in order to control it.
·
Big
St. Lucie Estuary
There were no releases
through S-80 from C-44, S-48 from C-23, and S-49
from C-24 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 |
|
16.64 (18.89) |
18.88
(20.14) |
|
HR1 (N. Fork) |
21.40 (21.67) |
21.98 (22.90) |
|
|
NR (NR) |
NR
(NR) |
8.0 – 25.0 |
A1A Bridge |
29.56
(29.49) |
30.67
(30.42) |
20.0 – 31.0 |
Average salinity decreased
slightly at HR1 and by 2 ppt
at
Caloosahatchee Estuary
No discharge occurred through
S-79 during the past week. An average
weekly discharge of 237 cfs occurred at S-77and 53 cfs at S-78. The concentration of chlorides at the Olga
Plant was 249 ppm yesterday, up from 248 ppm in the beginning of this reporting period. Current weekly averages (in bold) may be
compared to last week’s data (in parenthesis).
|
Weekly Average Salinity
(ppt) |
|
Sampling Site |
Surface |
Bottom |
|
19.49 (
16.71) |
20.85 (17.47) |
Rt. 31 Bridge |
19.47 (18.12) |
21.58
(19.06) |
I-75 Bridge |
20.28 (19.44) |
22.67
(20.51) |
|
26.48 (24.53) |
27.23
(24.77) |
|
31.74 (31.89) |
31.95
(32.51) |
Shell Point |
35.88
(35.86) |
36.60
(36.51) |
Average salinities increased
2 – 3 ppt in the upper estuary and remained about the
same in the lower estuary. Average
salinity at the
Water Conservation
Areas
Stages are
holding steady throughout the Water Conservation Area’s (WCA’s).
Despite it being June and the “normal”
start of the wet season, good recession rates have returned to the
The spatial pattern for
rainfall was reflected in last week’s trends for Everglades National Park (ENP) wetland water levels.
Water levels in SRS (station P33) were up by 0.8” for the week. The panhandle (station EVER6),
on the other hand, saw water level drop by nearly 0.75”. Taylor Slough Bridge (TSB)
water levels dropped by 2.5” (not an unusual recession rate at this station)
and by 1.2” to the south at Craighead Pond (CP), an area where water levels
have been declining rapidly of late. While this week’s recession rates are not
particularly high, it is notable that May water levels were below the decadal
average at both TSB & CP, by 17” & 10”,
respectively.
Salinity continues to trend
upward. Salinity remained in the middle
– upper 30s across most of the northeast Bay last week, while, in the Taylor
ponds, salinity continued to climb for another week, reaching the mid-30s at
Pond 5 (USGS station) and Argyle Hendry (ENP station TR). As of Sunday, June 1st, the 30 day
moving average concentration at TR (used for tracking
the FL Bay MFL criterion of 30 psu)
was at 32.1 psu (up from 30.4 psu
last week). Low rainfall, especially in
the pan handle, and high evapotranspiration across
the region continue to facilitate this MFL exceedance. Salinity
increased into the mid-40s in the
Wildlife
Hydrologic conditions have
finally become more conducive to foraging/nesting in a number of areas of the
system. The District does not usually
conduct a June nest count so the current survey was relatively limited in scope
and focused only on colonies that are active or had a good possibility of being
so. A total of 11175 nests (3400 egrets
and 7775 White Ibis nests) were counted. This is almost double last month’s count but
considerably lower than during the peak of nesting in 2006 and 2007. Most nesting activity was in the Refuge and WCA 3A.
Most foraging activity was
observed in southern WCA 2A and northern WCA 3A. Little foraging was noted in the Refuge.
Water Supply
Although there was some
scattered rain last week, most water levels decreased across most of the
District. Water levels in the upper and
lower
There was no change in the
water supply risk indicators since last week.
Six out of the eleven water supply risk indicator parameters are now in
the “low” risk category, including the CPC Precipitation Outlook, the Lake Okeechobee
Seasonal and Multi-seasonal Net Inflow Forecast, and Water Conservation Areas
1, 2A and 3A.
Four out the eleven water
supply risk indicators are now in the “medium” risk category, including the
Palmer Index for Tributary Conditions (dry) and the LEC
Service Areas 1, 2 and 3.
The only risk measure that is
in the “high” risk category is the projected Lake Okeechobee Stage (water
restriction zone).
LORS2008 (
The current
CC: George Horne