Weekly Estuarine
Conditions Update
As of October 19,
2009
St. Lucie
Estuary
Current Conditions:
Over the past week, flow averaged 0 cfs at S-80 and 25 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) |
13.7
(9.8)
|
15.1 (11.3)
|
|
HR1
(N. Fork) |
16.3 (11.8)
|
19.4
(15.0) |
|
Roosevelt
Bridge |
19.0 (15.6)
|
21.1 (16.8)
|
8.0 – 25.0 |
A1A
Bridge |
27.2
(22.6) |
29.2
(26.3)
|
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 33 cfs at S-79, 28 cfs at S-78, and 280
cfs at S-77. The concentration of chlorides at the
Olga Plant was 55 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) |
0.5
(0.2) |
0.5
(0.3) |
Rt.
31 Bridge |
0.7
(0.3) |
1.0
(0.3) |
I-75
Bridge |
1.2 (0.3) |
2.4
(0.8) |
Ft.
Myers Yacht Basin |
NR
(NR)
|
NR
(NR)
|
Marker
52 |
6.4 (3.7) |
10.1
(8.9) |
Cape
Coral Bridge |
14.3 (10.7)
|
16.0 (14.3)
|
Shell
Point |
26.0
(25.3)
|
26.8 (25.5)
|
Sanibel |
30.2 |
31.1 |
Salinity increased throughout the estuary
last week. Salinity conditions in the
upper estuary are considered good. Salinities
at the Cape Coral Bridge are within 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 Pinellas, Hillsborough, Manatee, Collier and Monroe
counties or offshore of Pinellas and Monroe counties. Four samples collected
alongshore of Sarasota County (out of 29 total samples) ranged from present to
very low concentrations of K. brevis. Two
samples collected alongshore of Charlotte County and one sample collected
alongshore of Lee County contained background levels of K. brevis. A research cruise that was conducted last week
through early this week offshore of southwest Florida detected levels of K. brevis ranging from background to medium 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 and 1.2 –
3.4 ug/l and Dissolved Oxygen ranged from 4.0 – 6.8
mg/l at Shell Point. Reading at Ft.
Myers were unavailable. (www.recon.sccf.org).
click on “Current Week”
click on “Technical
Summary”
scroll to the bottom and
click on “Coastal Ecosystems”