Estuarine Conditions as of September 18, 2007

 

St. Lucie Estuary

 

Current Conditions:

No releases occurred at S-80 over the past week.  Weekly average salinities at the four monitoring sites in the St. Lucie are given below in parts per thousand (ppt).

 

 

Weekly Average Salinity (ppt)

 

Sampling Site

Surface

Bottom

Envelope

Palm City Bridge (S. Fork)

8.7

10.1

 

HR1 (N. Fork)

9.4

13.1

 

Roosevelt Bridge

14.9

15.2

8.0 – 25.0

A1A Bridge

21.9

26.4

20.0 – 31.0

 

 

Salinity at the Palm City Bridge increased during the past week.  Elsewhere, salinity declined slightly.  Local freshwater inflow continues to maintain salinity at both the Roosevelt Bridge and A1A Bridge within the preferred ranges.  Therefore, salinity conditions in the estuary are good (see attached).

 

 

 

Caloosahatchee Estuary

 

Current Conditions:

During the past week, discharge at S-79 averaged 187 cfs.  Chloride concentration at the Olga Plant is presently 77 mg/l.   Average salinity at the monitoring sites in the lower Caloosahatchee Estuary decreased slightly over the past week.  Data for specific sites are given below in parts per thousand (ppt).

 

 

Weekly Average Salinity (ppt)

Sampling Site

Surface

Bottom

Franklin Locks (S-79)

6.4

6.5

Rt. 31 Bridge

NA

7.1

I-75 Bridge

6.2

9.4

Ft. Myers Yacht Basin

13.0*

NA

Cape Coral Bridge

18.0

18.5

Shell Point

28.5

33.3

* based on two-day average.

 

Salinity in the upper estuary remains high for this time of year.  The 30-day average surface salinity at Ft. Myers is 11.7 ppt.  Conditions in the upper estuary are fair.  Downstream of the Cape Coral Bridge salinity conditions are good (see attached).

 

During a field trip on Sept. 12, dispersed blue green algae were observed upstream of S-79.  None were noted in the downstream estuary.  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.  However, patchy areas of very low concentrations were found offshore of Sarasota, Lee and Collier counties. 

 

 

To find this information on the web:

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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