Estuarine Conditions as of July 14, 2008

 

St. Lucie Estuary

 

Current Conditions:

There were no releases through S-80 from C-44 over the past week.  An average discharge of 265 cfs through S-48 from C-23 and 426 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)

 4.40 (6.91)

4.91 (8.06)

 

HR1 (N. Fork)

   2.39 (7.47)

   5.24 (11.67)

 

Roosevelt Bridge

7.24 (11.39)

 8.79 (12.45)

8.0 – 25.0

A1A Bridge

 15.00 (19.55)

 21.68 (20.12)

20.0 – 31.0

 

 

Compared with salinities of the previous week, average salinity in the estuary declined about 2 to 6 ppt except the bottom salinity at A1A Bridge, which increased about 2 ppt.  Bottom salinity at Roosevelt Bridge and A1A Bridge are at the lower limit of the preferred range. Salinity conditions in the estuary are considered to be fair, based on the salinity preference of the oyster, Crassostrea virginica (see attached).  

  

Caloosahatchee Estuary

                                                         

Current Conditions:

An average weekly discharge of 1529 cfs occurred at S-79.  The concentration of chlorides at the Olga Plant was 81 ppm yesterday, down from 102 ppm in the beginning of this reporting period.  Four day average from July 8th – July 11th  (in bold) may be compared to last week’s data (in parenthesis). Note:  communication problem reported.

 

 

Weekly Average Salinity (ppt)

Sampling Site

Surface

Bottom

Franklin Locks (S-79)

 4.17 (5.86)

4.45 (6.24)

Rt. 31 Bridge

5.08 (5.91)

   6.91 (8.63)

I-75 Bridge

   4.52 (6.42)

  9.88 (12.03)

Ft. Myers Yacht Basin

  11.05 (14.56)

16.35 (17.18)

Cape Coral Bridge

  19.42 (23.93)

21.68 (24.45)

Shell Point

  29.29 (33.11)

 30.23 (33.36)

 

Compared to last week, average salinities dropped between 1 ppt and 5 ppt.  Average salinity at the Ft. Myers surface sensor was 11 ppt, which is 9 ppt below the 1-day MFL criterion of 20 ppt.  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 continue to improve this week.  Conditions in the lower estuary downstream of Cape Coral are good considering the combined 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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