BRIEF SUMMARY: Water-management changes for a growing urban population along the Atlantic Coast have resulted in an alteration of the natural hydrology in the Everglades and Florida Bay ecosystem in Florida. Ecological changes, primarily associated with an increase in salinity and added nutrients in bay waters have detrimentally afftected the bay. This fact sheet outlines the results of a study that modeled freshwater inflow from creeks along the south Florida coastline. Times-series records of acoustic velocity were collected and used with discharge measurements to establish an acoustic-velocity to mean-velocity relation for selected creeks. Tidal signature data of the flow direction for gaged creeks along the coastline were also calculated. Results indicate that most flow into Florida Bay occurs east of the Taylor Slough drainage area. Bar charts illustrate the percentages of freshwater contributions (wet and dry seasons) for five monitoring stations. A graph presents discharge and salinity transition data at Taylor River; another illustrates mean monthly flows for five monitoring stations. Quarterly update data (discharge, stage, water velocity, temperature, and salinity) for these stations can be accessed on the web at http://sofia.er.usgs.gov.
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Maintainer: USGS Florida Webmasters Last update: 08:49:23 Tue 22 Jun 2004 URL: http://fltlhsr002.er.usgs.gov/Abstracts/fs030_00_patino.html |