WCA - Everglades Conditions
Update
(July 1, 2008)
Rainfall:
High
intensity rain cells occurred in the EAA and Lake-O. The Everglades
saw relatively little rainfall except the northern regions of WCA-3A and Taylor
Slough in the Park (see attached raindar.gif).
Rainfall totals this week were not enough to compensate for evaporation,
estimated to be 1.52” (see srs.pdf).
WCA-1:
0.33”
WCA-3A: 1.14”
WCA-2A:
0.41”
WCA-3B: 0.38”
WCA-2B: 0.04”
ENP:
1.15”
Fire:
No reported
fires this past week.
Water Conservation Areas:
Good
recession rates occurred this past week in quite a few locations throughout the
Everglades (see attached WCA Stages.xls). However,
only two locations had both good recession rates and depths suitable for wading
bird foraging (i.e., < 1.0 ft); one was the northern regions of WCA-1 and
the other was WCA-3B. Depths in WCA-2A continue to be below 1 ft however,
reversals have been the trend in WCA-2A for the last three weeks.
Stages
are currently above regulation in WCA-1 and WCA-2A. Stages are within the E1
zone of the WCA-3A Regulation Schedule (see WCA_reg_stages.doc).
Everglades National
Park:
Weekly
rainfall accumulations across ENP ranged from 0.1” – 3.7”, with higher totals
picked up along the eastern Park boundary. Spatially variable rainfall
produced mixed trends for ENP wetland water levels. Water level actually
dropped in Shark River Sl. (station P33) by 0.6” for the week. This is in
contrast to Taylor
Sl. Bridge,
where water levels increased by nearly 11” (after a 16” increase last week),
and are finally approaching average conditions for this time of year (near
ground surface). By comparison, stage increases were more modest in the panhandle
(station EVER6, 7 d increase of 1.4”) and in the southern part of Taylor Sl. at
Craighead Pond (weekly increase of 2”). Moderate flows (< 200 cfs)
from S332D continue to be delivered towards Taylor Sl., while higher flows (300
- 1000 cfs) have been recorded through the S18C panhandle spillway since 6/19.
Salinity
trends across FL Bay were mixed last week. USGS platforms at the eastern
creek mouths (W. Highway, Stillwater,
Trout) recorded declining salinity over the past week, from the mid-30s down
into the teens or mid-20s by Sunday, 6/29. However, salinity in the
eastern Bay proper (e.g., Duck Key, L. Madeira Bay mouth), held in the mid-30s
for another week. Salinity concentrations have been stable in creeks to
the west (Taylor River, Mud Ck), further suggesting (as CP stage has also
shown) that Taylor Slough will require a good bit of re-hydration before flows
make their way south towards the Bay. The Taylor River (TR) 30d moving
average salinity concentration (used for tracking the FL Bay MFL criterion)
dropped to 31.7 psu as of Sunday, 6/29 (down a bit from last week’s reading of
34.5 psu). Salinity remained stable in the northcentral
Bay areas of McCormick
Ck. & Terrapin Bay (in the mid-30s) and at the central Bay station
in Whipray Basin (in the mid 40s). In the
upstream reaches of Shark River (Tarpon
Bay platform), on the
other hand, salinity dropped into the single digits last week (down to 6 psu as
of Sunday, 6/29), slowly approaching seasonal average concentrations. Please
contact Robin Bennett (rbennet @sfwmd.gov) if you have any
questions.
Wildlife:
Nothing new
to report.
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