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: July
10, 2007
SUBJECT: Weekly
Environmental Recommendation for Systems Operations
Recommendation
No regulatory releases to the south or estuaries are recommended.
Background
Below average rains
expected this week. We have probably
moved out of the first phase of the wet season and into the
"doldrums". This second phase
is usually characterized by more easterly flow that has a tendency to focus
sea-breeze storms west through north of the
This week: Look for afternoon showers/storms to decrease
in coverage through Wednesday before increasing some each day into the weekend. The next ten days precipitation outlook is below
average with moderate confidence.
The upper Kissimmee Basin received 2.66
inches of rainfall over the last 7 days to bring the 30-day total to 9.82
inches (107% of average) and the lower basin received 4.01 inches to bring the
30-day total to 9.59 inches (110% of average) (Daily Rainfall Report for
7/09/07).
Large numbers
of snail kites, including fledglings from this year, are still associated with
Recent rainfall
has caused water levels in the upper basin to rise by variable amounts. With rainfall and increased inflow from
Shingle Creek, the water levels in
The
Concentration of dissolved oxygen in
the Phase I restored river channel continues to fall but remains above
thresholds of concern with mean daily values exceeding 2.70 mg/L for the last
seven days.
According to the USACE
web site,
The monthly SAV sampling
is complete and 15 of the 23 sites visited had plants. Last month 9 of the 20 sites visited had
plants. A total of 43 sites were dry which is similar to last month. Moderate to dense beds of Chara
were observed off of the northwest tip of
In the past 2 weeks, approximately 5000 acres of
the previously burned marsh areas in Indian Prairie and north of the Moore
Haven canal were treated for torpedo grass regrowth.
The in-lake muck removal efforts are complete and
approximately 1.9 million cubic yards of phosphorus-rich muck were removed from
the lake bottom.
St. Lucie Estuary
No
releases occurred at S-80 over the past week.
At the
Caloosahatchee Estuary
Discharge
occurred at S-79 over the past week (weekly average 526 cfs).
Weekly average surface salinity ranged from 7.91 ppt
at S-79 to 17.43 ppt at
Water Conservation Areas
On average, the stage increased by 0.05 ft more
than last week for most of the
Sections of WCA-3A
continue to experience declining water levels, but not as bad as last week. The
northeastern section of 3A has been below ground for the last three weeks.
WCA-1 and 3 are approaching
Regulation and WCA-2A is above Regulation.
Northwestern & southeastern areas of ENP receiving more rainfall than other areas. Unfortunately, the dataset for the ENP wetland stations was incomplete for the week (due to
some issues w/ lightening tripping up communication from the platforms). A summary through Friday, 7/6, indicates that
water levels were generally up 0.5” to 1.3”.
Only
Salinity continued to drop or remain low across FL Bay last week. Salinity at Trout Ck. dropped to below 5 psu last week.
Salinity in the TR ponds was very low all week
(~ 3 psu @ Pond 5 & nearly fresh up at Argyle
Hendry). The 30 d moving average
concentration at TR continues to decline, remaining
well below the 30 psu point (at 2.7 psu as of Sunday, 7/8).
In the central Bay,
Water Supply
Water levels in the
Four out of eleven water supply risk measures are
in the “high” risk category this week. The projected Lake O Stage (SSM), and Lower East Coast Service Areas 1, 2 and 3 are all
in the high risk category. Water
Conservation Areas 1 and 2A are now in the low risk category. The Lake Okeechobee Multi-seasonal Net Inflow
Forecast, the Palmer Index for Tributary Conditions and Water Conservation Area
3A stage are now at medium risk. The CPC Precipitation Outlook remained at
“low” risk this week, along with the LOK Seasonal Net
Inflow forecasts.
WSE
(
The current
CC: George
Horne