Hydrologic Characteristics of Estuarine River Systems within Everglades National Park

Hittle, Clinton; Patino, Eduardo; Zucker, Mark

In southern Florida, water-management practices must support a large and rapidly growing urban population as well as intensive agricultural activities. However, these water management practices have altered the natural hydrology of the Everglades ecosystem, including Florida Bay and the estuaries along the southwestern coast of Florida. During the past few decades, the coastal environments of southern Florida have shown signs of ecological deterioration that may be attributed to changes in freshwater inflows and associated salinity and nutrient level increases in estuarine waters. With the goal of the Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan (CERP) to restore the quantity, timing, and distribution of freshwater flows within the Everglades to more natural conditions, changes are expected to occur in the major rivers and creeks flowing into the estuaries. However, substantial hydrologic information gaps exist throughout the Everglades wetlands and estuaries that need to be addressed for the restoration process to succeed. Specifically, hydrologic information throughout the Everglades and adjacent ecosystems is required for the development of restoration strategies and for future evaluation of restoration results. To address these issues, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) began a series of studies in 1995 to monitor the major rivers and creeks that discharge freshwater into northeastern Florida Bay and the southwestern estuaries of Everglades National Park (ENP). These studies provide: (1) flow, salinity, water temperature, and water- U.S. Department of the Interior U.S. Geological Survey Fact Sheet 2004-3129 November 2004 Hydrologic Characteristics of Estuarine River Systems within Everglades National Park Printed on recycled paper level data for research applications including model development and calibration; and (2) supply base-line information for other physical, biological, and chemical studies being conducted in these areas. As part of these studies, a network of 35 estuarine and wetland hydrologic monitoring stations (fig. 1) has been constructed. Historical data for some locations are currently available through the USGS South Florida Information Access (SOFIA) web page at http://sofia.er.usgs.gov/, and real-time hydrologic information also is available at the USGS national water information systems website http://waterdata. usgs.gov/fl/nwis/rt. These studies are funded in part by the USGS Greater Everglades Priority Ecosystem Science (PES) Program, which is an effort by the USGS to provide earth science information needed to resolve land-use and water issues. Additional support is provided by ENP, the South Florida Water Management District (SFWMD), and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE).