Estuarine Conditions as of July 8, 2008

  

St. Lucie Estuary

 

Current Conditions:

There were no releases through S-80 from C-44 over the past week.  An average discharge of 348 cfs through S-48 from C-23 and 292.4 cfs through S-49 from C-24 occurred 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

Palm City Bridge (S. Fork)

 6.91 (13.15)

8.06 (15.43)

 

HR1 (N. Fork)

  7.47 (14.72)

 11.67 (17.95)

 

Roosevelt Bridge

11.39 (18.30)

12.45 (19.15)

8.0 – 25.0

A1A Bridge

 19.55 (24.68)

 20.12 (NA)

20.0 – 31.0

 

 

Compared with salinities of the previous week, average salinity decreased throughout the estuary due to local runoff.  Salinity declined between 5 ppt and 7 ppt depending on location and depth.  Salinity at Roosevelt Bridge is within the preferred range. Salinity at A1A Bridge is at the lower limit of the preferred range.  Salinity conditions in the estuary are considered to be good, based on the salinity preference of the oyster, Crassostrea virginica.  The current surface salinity of 11 ppt at the Roosevelt Bridge is 17 ppt below the maximum weekly average of 28.0 ppt achieved in May 2001 during the 2000 – 2001 drought (see attached).

  

Caloosahatchee Estuary

                                                         

Current Conditions:

An average weekly discharge of 688 cfs occurred at S-79.  The concentration of chlorides at the Olga Plant was 102 ppm yesterday, down from 130 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

Franklin Locks (S-79)

 5.86 (7.79)

6.24 (8.15)

Rt. 31 Bridge

5.91 (7.96)

   8.63 (11.74)

I-75 Bridge

   6.42 (10.08)

 12.03 (15.71)

Ft. Myers Yacht Basin

  14.56 (18.31)

17.18 (21.32)

Cape Coral Bridge

  23.93 (26.68)

24.45 (26.99)

Shell Point

  33.11 (33.03)

 33.36 (33.30)

 

Compared to last week, average salinities dropped between 2 ppt and 4 ppt except at Shell Point where salinity stayed the same.  Average salinity at the Ft. Myers surface sensor was 15 ppt, which is 5 ppt below the 1-day MFL criterion of 20 ppt.  The current surface salinity of 6 ppt at S-79 is 14 ppt below the maximum weekly average of 20.0 ppt achieved in May 2001 during the 2000 – 2001 drought.  Salinity at Cape Coral Bridge is within the preferred range for the oyster, Crassostrea virginica.  Salinity conditions in the upper estuary east of Ft. Myers continues to improve this week.  Conditions in the lower estuary downstream of Cape Coral are good considering the combine salinity preference of oysters and seagrasses (see attached).  

 

No Karenia brevis, the Florida red tide organism, was detected this week in water samples collected alongshore between Pinellas and Collier counties.

 

https://my.sfwmd.gov/portal/page?_pageid=1314,2554645,1314_19738269:1314_19738234&_dad=portal&_schema=PORTAL

  

click on “Current Week”

click on “Technical Summary”

scroll to the bottom and click on “Coastal Ecosystems”

 

 

 

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