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Lake O Scientists' Conference Call: Estuaries/releases
Periodic Scientists Conference Call -
Lake Okeechobee/Estuaries
The next conference call is scheduled for Tuesday, 10:30am.
The call-in number is (877)322-9654 and the code is 842466.
Members of the public can "listen in" but are not participants in the discussion.
Public comment is accepted at the conclusion of the representatives' discussion.
Important note: We have received guidance and direction from our Office of
Counsel to follow the PDT guidelines on these conference calls in accordance
with the CERP Guidance Memorandum (CGM: 011.02). The link to the CGM
document is: http://www.cerpzone.org/documents/cgm/cgm_011.02.pdf. In
general, this CGM states that only government representatives (local, state,
federal and/or tribal) may participate during these discussions. A specific
timeframe outside these discussions will be allocated for public comment.
Thank you for your understanding.
Thanks,
Stephanie Raulerson
Engineer
Water Resources Engineering Branch
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers - Jacksonville District
Location
| Attachment | Size |
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| Input_Form_lake&estuaries_061810.docx | 19.49 KB |
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flow from first rains by John Cassani
S79 flows started again on 6/20 and were a trickle until 6/27. Avg. daily flow at S79 was 1616 cfs on 6/27 and 1719 cfs on 6/28. These are flows resulting from very recent rains in the west basin not managed flows from the lake. The flows are needed but puts an emphasis on managing the flows when they can be managed (e.g. during the dry season). Abrupt changes in salinity are the most damaging to the fauna. The upper tidal Caloosahatchee is also experiencing some extreme stratification based on salinity. The saline lens representing the lower half of the vertical profile has D.O. values less than 2.0 ppm. A fish kill seems probable if there is significant and rapid vertical mixing.
Minimum flows and Levels
Minimum Flows and Levels
(Environmental Flows)
MFL documents and reports
MFLs at other water management districts
Contacts
Marty Kelly
Ecologic Evaluation Section Manager
1-800-423-1476 (FL only) or (352) 796-7211, ext. 4235
Mark Barcelo
Hydrologic Evaluation Section Manager
1-800-423-1476 (FL only) or (352) 796-7211, ext. 4242
Program overview
Florida law (Chapter 373.042, Florida Statutes) requires the state water management districts or the Department of Environmental Protection to establish minimum flows and levels (MFLs) for aquifers, surface watercourses, and other surface water bodies to identify the limit at which further withdrawals would be significantly harmful to the water resources or ecology of the area. Rivers, streams, estuaries and springs require minimum flows, while minimum levels are developed for lakes, wetlands and aquifers. Minimum flows and levels are adopted into Southwest Florida Water Management District (District) rules (Chapter 40D-8, Florida Administrative Code) and used in the District’s water use permitting program to ensure that withdrawals do not cause significant harm to water resources or the environment.
Florida law requires establishment of minimum flows and levels of water bodies to prevent significant harm associated with water withdrawals.
Water bodies with adopted minimum flows and levels, and those the District is currently or planning to work on, are identified in the District’s Minimum Flows and Levels Priority List and Schedule. The list and schedule, which is updated annually, is based upon the importance of the listed waters to the state or region and the existence of potential for adverse impacts associated with water use.
The District collects and analyzes a variety of data for each water body to help define significant harm and for application of methods that are used to develop minimum flow or level recommendations. An essential component of the District’s minimum flows and levels establishment process includes the voluntary use of peer review in which independent scientists review and comment on proposed minimum flows or levels and the methods used for their derivation. The establishment process also includes an opportunity for public review, which affords all interested stakeholders an opportunity to provide comments prior to incorporation of the flows or levels into District rules. The intent of the process is to be inclusive while developing scientifically defensible minimum flows or levels that will afford protection to the water resources and allow sustainable withdrawals to meet human needs. If actual flows or levels are, or during the next twenty years are expected to be below established minimum flows or levels, the District develops and implements a recovery or prevention strategy (Chapter 40D-80, F.A.C.), in accordance with state law (Chapter 373.0421, Florida Statutes).
why's the water so low?
Letter: Lake Okeechobee low because so much water is dumped every year
John Pamer, Port St. Lucie
Sunday, May 22, 2011
http://www.tcpalm.com/news/2011/may/22/letter-lake-okeechobee-low-because-so-much-water/?print=1
John Pamer, Port St. Lucie
Letter: Lake Okeechobee low because so much water is dumped every year
Well, here we are (again), being told that Lake Okeechobee is dangerously low and we have to endure another period of water restrictions.
Gee, I wonder why that is? Could it have something to do with the insane dumping of millions of gallons of water every year to keep the lake at a maximum depth of 15 feet? Never mind the damage that the annual dumping does to the St. Lucie River and the Indian River Lagoon. Just how long is it going to take for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to fix the dike so the lake depth can rise to 17-plus feet in the fall? And at what point will they finally release water south through the Everglades where nature intended the overflow from the lake to go? The insanity of this annual exercise defies explanation.
And while on this subject, just how long is it going to take before Broward and Dade counties finally install desalination plants for their water needs? Clearly, the lake can't continue to supply those counties plus the rapidly growing needs of Palm Beach County. All of these counties have managed to foul their freshwater wells by over-pumping, causing saltwater incursion, and compounded the problem by fouling the aquifer by pumping millions of gallons of sewage into "deep wells" (they are leaking) every single day!
Caloosahatchee conditions -
Attached please find this week’s Caloosahatchee Condition Report, submitted
on behalf of the west coast participants on the weekly periodic scientists
phone call, to provide scientific information about the condition of the
Caloosahatchee and estuary.
The Caloosahatchee estuary has received no flow from Lake O for the past 12
weeks, since March 6th. However, water has been continuously discharged
from the lake for agricultural water supply the past 7 weeks. This past week
water was being delivered out of the lake for permitted water supply at 5.5
times the rate of water inflow into the lake. Damage to the estuary
includes the complete loss of the low salinity zone and productive tapegrass
habitat.
Salinities rose this past week to 14.0 psu at Beautiful Island/ I-75,
downstream of the Orange River inflow, 12.5 psu at SR 31 and 13.2 psu
downstream of the S79 structure. Salinity at Fort Myers have been in
exceedence above the 10 psu level for 26 weeks and above the 1 day 20 psu
level for 14 days.
Chlorophyll measurements were elevated throughout the river due to blue
green algae blooms increasing over last week with 10 µg/l at Cape Coral, 54
µg/l at the Tarpon Point Pier, 20 µg/l at Marker 52 off Ft Myers, 30 µg/l
at Beautiful Island and 15 µg/l near I75.
Chlorides and blooms of bluegreen algae have caused the closure of the Olga
Water Treatment plant above S79 for the past 3 weeks. Releases between now
and the end of the dry season would require just one inch of water off the
lake and would protect some freshwater habitat at this critical spawning
period.
For your reference, past reports and background information on
Caloosahatchee conditions are available online at:
http://www.sccf.org/content/201/Caloosahatchee-Condition-Reports.aspx
Thank you for your consideration.
On behalf of the West Coast Stakeholders
Rae Ann Wessel
Natural Resource Policy Director
Sanibel Captiva Conservation Foundation
Tel: 239.731.7559
Email: rawessel@sccf.org
Web: www.sccf.org
RECON water quality real-time sensors: http://recon.sccf.org
For your reference, past reports and background information on
Caloosahatchee conditions are available online at:
http://www.sccf.org/content/201/Caloosahatchee-Condition-Reports.aspx
Thank you for your consideration.
On behalf of the West Coast Stakeholders
Rae Ann Wessel
Natural Resource Policy Director
Sanibel Captiva Conservation Foundation
Riverkeeper comments
What a joke the system we have for handling water is!! Dump Billions to tide for months, Kill and Estuary, and two weeks after we stop dumping to tide, declare a Water Shortage Bulletin........And they say at a minimum, it will be over ten years before we can expect anything to change!!
If we stop the flow of water from Lake " O " East and West during the wet season with a CWA suite, or Endangered species suite, maybe our elected officials and agency heads might be forced to fix the problem as a priority, and not a when we dam well feel like it !!
NO WONDER PEOPLE SUE THEIR GOVERNMENT !!!
Demand Clean Water!!
George L. Jones
Indian Riverkeeper
What freshwater flow regime will harm the estuary
The Caloosahatchee Estuary: What freshwater flow regime will protect and enhance submerged grass beds, and other biotic resources?
Authors: Peter Doering and Robert Chamberlain
Introduction: The Caloosahatchee River is the major source of freshwater to the Caloosahatchee Estuary and southern Charlotte Harbor. Regulatory releases through an artificial connection to Lake Okeechobee and an intricate system of canals within the watershed have drastically altered the timing and quantity of freshwater inflow to this coastal ecosystem. The resulting large fluctuations of salinity in the downstream estuary can adversely impact plant and animal life. The South Florida Water Management District is using a resource-based strategy to establish freshwater inflows that will provide a salinity range suitable for a healthy ecosystem. Because sea grasses and other submerged aquatic plants provide valuable habitat in the Caloosahatchee Estuary, these biotic resources are the focus of our research and management programs.
Summary: The ultimate goal of our research is to identify 1) a freshwater inflow range defined by a minimum and a maximum, 2) a frequency distribution of inflows and 3) a temporal distribution of inflows. Our results address each of these goals in a preliminary manner. Minimum inflows of about 300 cfs during dry periods will maintain Wild Celery in the upper estuary. Discharges greater than 2800 cfs appear detrimental to most biota at any time of the year. Flows in the range of 300 - 800 cfs appear optimal for most biota and a frequency distribution of flows that has a peak in this range should be generally beneficial. We can now begin to consider preliminary management scenarios that result in a freshwater flow regime with these characteristics.
http://sofia.usgs.gov/sfrsf/rooms/coastal/caloosahatchee/results/