Weekly Estuarine
Conditions Update - As of October 12, 2009
St.
Lucie
Estuary
Current
Conditions:
Over
the past week, flow averaged 23 cfs at S-80 and 8 cfs at S308. Provisional
data indicates that discharge of 0 cfs occurred at S-97 on C-23 and 0 cfs at
S-49 on C-24. The current weekly average salinities (in bold) at the four
monitoring sites in the St. Lucie Estuary are given below in practical salinity
units (psu), along with the previous week’s (in
parenthesis).
|
Weekly Average Salinity (psu) |
|
|
Sampling Site |
Surface |
Bottom |
Envelope |
Palm City Bridge (S. Fork) |
9.8 (5.8) |
11.3 (7.9) |
|
HR1 (N. Fork) |
11.8 (8.9) |
15.0 (14.7) |
|
Roosevelt Bridge |
15.6 (12.3)
|
16.8 (15.5) |
8.0 – 25.0 |
A1A Bridge |
22.6 (18.1) |
26.3 (24.1) |
20.0 – 31.0 |
Average
salinity increased over the last week. Weekly average salinities at
Roosevelt Bridge and A1A Bridge are within the preferred range. Salinity
conditions in the estuary are good considering the time of year, the location
in the estuary, and salinity preference of the oyster, Crassostrea
virginica.
Caloosahatchee
Estuary
Current
Conditions:
During
the past week, flow averaged 298 cfs at S-79, 209 cfs at S-78, and 0 cfs at
S-77. The concentration of chlorides at the Olga Plant was 58 ppm yesterday. The current weekly average salinities
(in bold) at the six monitoring sites in the Caloosahatchee Estuary are given
below in practical salinity units (psu), along with
the previous week’s (in parenthesis).
Weekly Average Salinity (psu) |
||
Sampling Site |
Surface |
Bottom |
Franklin Locks (S-79) |
0.2 (0.2) |
0.3 (0.2) |
Rt. 31 Bridge |
0.3 (0.2) |
0.3 (0.3) |
I-75 Bridge |
0.3 (0.3) |
0.8 (0.3) |
Ft. Myers Yacht Basin |
NR (NR) |
NR (NR) |
Marker 52 |
3.7 (2.8) |
8.9 (5.4) |
Cape Coral Bridge |
10.7 (7.9) |
14.3 (9.0) |
Shell Point |
25.3 (21.6) |
25.5 (22.7) |
Surface
salinity in the upper estuary west of Ft. Myers remained similar to last week,
with surface waters being fresh to Marker 52, salinity increased in bottom
water. In the lower estuary, salinity increased last week. Salinity
conditions in the upper estuary are considered good.
Salinities at the Cape Coral Bridge are below the preferred range for the
oyster, Crassostrea virginica.
Salinity at Shell Point indicates that conditions are good for seagrass in the lower estuary and San Carlos Bay.
Therefore, conditions in the lower estuary and San Carlos Bay are good.
FWRI
(Fish and Wildlife Research Institute) reports that Karenia brevis,
the Florida red tide organism, was not detected in water samples collected this
week alongshore of Manatee, Lee and Collier counties. One sample
collected at Gasparilla Fishing Pier (Charlotte
County) also contained very low concentrations of K. brevis.
A research cruise currently being conducted offshore of southwest Florida has
detected levels of K. brevis ranging from
background to low concentrations offshore of Lee and Collier counties, west and
south of Sanibel Island. (research.myfwc.com/features/view_article.asp?id=9670).
Monitoring
data collected by the River, Estuary and Coastal Observing Network (RECON) of
Sanibel-Captiva Conservation Foundation (SCCF)
indicated that chlorophyll ranged from 3.0 – 8.3
ug/l at Ft. Myers and 1.1 – 3.4 ug/l
at Shell Point; Dissolved Oxygen ranged from 2.5 – 7.2 mg/l at Ft. Myers
and 3.3 – 5.6 mg/l at Shell Point (www.recon.sccf.org).
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