FISC - Water Resources

USGS Florida Science Highlights

FISC-Tallahassee Crews Track Suwannee River Flood Crest

North Florida rivers began to swell in April from the runoff of heavy storms in Georgia, culminating in a record gage height on the Withlacoochee River and a record volume of water discharging down the Alapaha River. As the flood waters of these Suwannee River tributaries flowed into the main channel of the Suwannee, the dry floodplain absorbed much of the excess water, and flood crest levels gradually attenuated. At Ellaville, just below where the Withlacoochee comes into the Suwannee, the peak flow was the 4th highest on record. Downstream in Branford, it was the 7th highest on record.

FISC-Tallahassee crews measured the volume of water and height of the river at the flood's peak or near-peak levels, providing critical daily updates to the National Weather Service, Southeast Region River Forecast Center, and Suwannee River Water Management District. USGS News Release

Hydrologic Conditions in Florida during Water Year 2007

Scientific Investigations Report 2008-5221. Record-high and record-low hydrologic conditions occurred during water year 2007 (October 1, 2006 - September 30, 2007) based on analyses of precipitation, surface-water flows, lake elevations, and ground-water levels. For example, the streamgage at Suwannee River at White Springs in northwest Florida recorded an annual streamflow of 103 cubic feet per second during 2007, or about 6 percent of the period-of-record average since monitoring began in 1906. Lake Okeechobee in south Florida reached record-low elevations (8.82 feet on July 2) since monitoring began in 1912. Several wells throughout the State registered period-of-record lowest daily maximum water levels. Find out more

Comparative Hydrology, Water Quality, and Ecology of Selected Natural and Augmented Freshwater Wetlands in West-Central Florida

Professional Paper 1758. Comparing altered wetlands to natural wetlands in the same region improves the ability to interpret the gradual and cumulative effects of human development on freshwater wetlands. Hydrologic differences require explicit attention because they affect nearly all wetland functions and are an overriding influence on other comparisons involving wetland water quality and ecology. This study adopts several new approaches to quantify wetland hydrologic characteristics and then describes and compares the hydrology, water quality, and ecology of 10 isolated freshwater marsh and cypress wetlands in the mantled karst landscape of central Florida. Find out more