WCA – Greater
Everglades Conditions
Weekly Update – October 20, 2009
Rainfall:
Rainfall in the Greater Everglades
(see Raindar image and below) was very light, particularly in WCA-1. The highest
rainfall, still less than a half inch, occurred in WCA-3B:
Rain:
WCA-1: 0.01
in
WCA-3A: 0.30 in
WCA-2A: 0.25
in
WCA-3B: 0.40 in
WCA-2B: 0.20
in
ENP:
0.21 in
Water Conservation Areas:
This week’s high pan evaporation
of 1.50” (see srs pdf) led
to stage declines throughout the Greater Everglades in patterns more typical of
winter than of the wet season (see WCA Stages spreadsheet and below).
Stage Change:
WCA-1: -0.12
ft
WCA-3A: -0.21 ft
WCA-2A: -0.22
ft
WCA-3B: -0.06 ft
WCA-2B: -0.06
ft
NESRS: -0.03 ft
Water depths are dropping
region-wide (see WCA Stages spreadsheet). The EDEN 13 gage in WCA-2B has
dropped below 2.5 ft, so the only gage in areas with remaining tree islands
that still exceeds 2.5 ft (relevant to tree island inundation duration) is gage
65 in southern WCA-3A. Marsh water stages in WCA-1 are well below
regulation in zone B. Stages in WCA-2A remain above regulation, but are
declining. In WCA-3A, stages have re-entered the upper transition zone
after weeks of exceeding this zone but are declining rapidly (see Reg schedule).
Water depths in the conservation
areas are lower than they were a month ago (see Water depths map), indicated by
darker green colors (shallower water) and increased areas of subsurface water
in ENP and the Holeyland WMA (reds and
yellows). Greater Everglades depths are lower
now than they were a week ago, a month ago, and a year ago (see SFWDAT water diffs map).
No fires have been reported this
week in the Greater Everglades.
Everglades National Park (ENP) and Florida Bay:
Light rain fell across ENP wetlands and Florida Bay last week with Park stations measuring 0” – 0.9” of rainfall. The basin-wide, spatially-averaged totals were 0.2” and 0.3” for the ENP and C-111 basins, respectively (see Raindar).
Stages declined across ENP wetland stations last week (see Stages pdf). Stages in Shark River Slough and at the Taylor Slough Bridge declined 0.5” and 1.0”, respectively. To the south, water levels in the ENP panhandle and in Craighead Basin declined 1.7” and 1.3”, respectively.
Salinity was stable or increased across Florida Bay last week (see Salinity pdf). In the near-shore eastern Bay, salinity increased to the middle teens in Long Sound and remained in the low 20s at the Little Madeira Bay platform. Salinity remained in the low 30s further into the Bay in Duck Key Basin. The 30 day moving average salinity at the Taylor River platform rose from 0.7 psu to 0.8 psu, with the daily mean salinity increasing to a more saline 4.4 psu. In the north central Bay, salinity spiked mid-week but by the end of the week returned to the low teens in McCormick Creek and low 20s in Terrapin Bay. At Whipray Basin, salinity remained in the upper 30s. To the west, salinity in the upstream reaches of Shark River Slough increased slightly to 2 psu.
For questions about Florida Bay, please contact Kevin Cunniff (kcunniff@sfwmd.gov ).
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