WCA - Everglades Conditions Update (August 21, 2007)
Rainfall:
Rain fell throughout
the Everglades last week (see Raindar.gif), with larger
accumulations in the southern and western Everglades.
WCA’s 1 and 2 received 0.6” and 0.4”, respectively. Rain in WCA-3A
totaled 1.68”, WCA-3B 1.12”, and ENP 1.79”. Rainfall was near normal
levels last week across ENP and Florida
Bay, with a spatially
averaged basin-wide accumulation of just over 2” for the week.
Water Conservation
Areas:
Changes in water
depths for the Conservation Areas varied (see WCA Stages spreadsheet). All stations in WCA-1 reported
decreases up to -0.1 foot from the week before, and stages in the ENP and parts
of WCA-3A also decreased. Stages rose, as preferred, in WCA-2B and 3B, as
well as in central WCA-3. Everglades
ecosystems are habituated to rising water levels in the wet season. At
this time of year, falling stages in the Everglades
equate to “Poor” conditions. Stages (see WCA regulation schedule) in WCA-1 are below
regulation but still in Zone A2, stages in WCA-2 are above regulation, and
stages in WCA-3 are also below regulation.
Everglades National Park:
ENP wetland stations
have reported no rain or stage data since last Thursday, so stage data are
missing for last week; nearby USGS data were used to update conditions in these
areas. ENP wetland water levels displayed mixed trends for the week.
Water levels dropped by nearly 1” in southern Taylor Slough (at E146), while
they were up 1” to the east in the panhandle/C111 region, probably because of
local rainfall differences. In Shark River Slough, water levels increased
by nearly 0.5” (stations NE4 and NE5).
Salinity (see Salinity pdf) continued to remain seasonably low across Florida Bay. Salinity both at Trout Creek
and the mouth of Taylor
River was flashy again
last week, jumping between 5–15 psu, which is normal for this time of
year. Salinity concentrations in the Taylor River
ponds remained very low, close to 1 psu. At the mouth of Little Madeira
Bay, salinity remained near last week’s concentration of just below 20 psu.
In the north-central Bay, McCormick Creek salinity also remained close to
last week’s concentrations of the mid-20s. Whipray Basin
salinity continued to increase somewhat, probably a result of low local
rainfall and high evaporation, but remained near seasonable levels. Salinity to
the west in the Shark River Slough outflow of Tarpon Bay
stayed low, between 1–2 psu for the week.
Back to Lake Okeechobee Operations Main Page
Back to U.S. Army Corps of Engineers WSE Homepage