LAKE STUDY

The lake study was conducted between December 2003 and September 2005, and was supported by the U.S. Geological Survey, the Florida Department of Environmental Protection, and the Southwest Florida Water Management District.

OBJECTIVES AND SCOPE

The objectives of this study were to evaluate the effects of citrus agriculture on lake water quality, to evaluate spatial and temporal variability of pesticides and pesticide degradates in the lakes, and to explore potential factors influencing the occurrence of pesticides in the lakes.

Eight lakes (fig. 1) were sampled quarterly for a duration of one year, between December 2003 and September 2005. Seven of the lakes were in basins dominated by citrus land use and one lake was in an undeveloped basin. The lakes ranged in size from 5 to 393 acres with maximum depths ranging  from about 20 to 65 ft. Water-quality analyses included pesticides, pesticide degradates, nutrients, major water chemistry, and field measurements of basic water chemistry.

PUBLICATIONS and DATA

Completed and planned publications of lake-sampling results are listed under “Publications”, and the water-quality data for the study lakes are available online through the U.S. Geological Survey’s National Water Information System (NWIS).