Estuarine Conditions as of
July 24, 2007
St. Lucie Estuary
Current Conditions:
No releases occurred at S-80
over the past week. Average salinity was comparable to last week.
At the Roosevelt
Bridge salinity averaged 14.0
ppt on the surface and 15.4 ppt on the bottom. Corresponding values
further downstream at the A1A Bridge are 23.5 ppt and 28.0 ppt.
Salinities at both sites are within the preferred range (8-25 ppt for the Roosevelt Bridge and 20-31 ppt for the A1A Bridge).
In the North Fork at the Harbor
Ridge station, salinity averaged 10 ppt on the surface and 14 ppt on the
bottom. In the South Fork, at the Palm City Bridge, corresponding values were 9.3
ppt and 11.0 ppt. Salinity conditions are good (see attached). Oyster survey
results from FWRI indicate that average density of oysters in the St. Lucie
increased from a mean density of 96.2 (+144.4) per meter square in the
fall of 2006 to a mean density of 169.0 (+229.4) per meter square this
past spring.
Caloosahatchee Estuary
Current Conditions:
Discharge at S-79 averaged
207 cfs last week. Chloride concentration at the Olga Plant is presently
95 mg/l. Average surface salinity did not change appreciably in the upper
estuary, with surface salinity ranging from 5.8 ppt at S-79 to 13.3 ppt at Ft. Myers.
Bottom salinities ranged from 6.3 ppt at S-79 to 17.1 ppt at Ft. Myers.
Salinity at Shell Point declined considerably averaging 30.5 ppt on the
surface and 33.8 ppt on the bottom. Salinity remains high in the
upper estuary. In the lower estuary and San Carlos Bay
salinity conditions are good (see attached).
FWRI reports that
no Karenia brevis, the Florida
red tide organism, was detected this week in water samples collected alongshore
between Pinellas and Collier counties. Discolored water due to a bloom of
the non-toxic cyanobacteria Trichodesmium remains possible in portions
of Charlotte, Lee and Collier counties.
To view reports
and graphs on line go to: Lake Okeechobee Net Inflow
Outlook
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click on “Coastal Ecosystems”
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