Estuarine Conditions as of October 3, 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)

1.5

1.6

 

HR1 (N. Fork)

1.3

3.2

 

Roosevelt Bridge

3.6

3.8

8.0 – 25.0

A1A Bridge

12.8

20.0

20.0 – 31.0

 

 

Rainfall and associated local runoff lowered average salinity throughout the estuary last week.  Average salinity for the week was at the lower limit or below the preferred at the Roosevelt and A1A Bridges. Based on the salinity tolerances of the oyster, Crassostrea virginica, salinity conditions in the estuary are poor at the Roosevelt Bridge and fair at the A1A Bridge (see attached).

 

 

 

Caloosahatchee Estuary

 

Current Conditions:

Discharge data for the full week were not available at the time of writing.  Between 9/25 and 9/30 discharge at S-79 averaged 586 cfs.   Average salinity decreased throughout the estuary last week.  Data for specific sites are given below in parts per thousand (ppt). The Ft. Myers site is being repaired.

 

 

Weekly Average Salinity (ppt)

Sampling Site

Surface

Bottom

Franklin Locks (S-79)

3.3

3.4

Rt. 31 Bridge

3.7

3.7

I-75 Bridge

3.2

4.7

Ft. Myers Yacht Basin

NA

NA

Cape Coral Bridge

14.5

17.4

Shell Point

24.4

26.3

 

Salinity conditions throughout the system are good (see attached).

 

FWRI reports that water samples collected this week detected Karenia brevis, the Florida red tide organism, at very low concentrations at southern Sanibel Island (Lee County) and at background concentrations near Clam Pass (Collier County).  Background concentrations of K. brevis were also found in an offshore sample collected 1.5 miles south of Sanibel Island. All other samples collected between Pinellas and Collier counties contained no K. brevis

 

 

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”

 


 

Back to Lake Okeechobee Operations Main Page

Back to U.S. Army Corps of Engineers WSE Homepage