A percent-of-flow approach for managing reductions of freshwater inflows from unimpounded rivers to Southwest Florida estuaries

Seasonal Variation in Fish Assemblages Within the Estuarine Portions of the Myakka and Peace Rivers, Southwest Florida

“…Alterations such as freshwater withdrawal may affect some species directly by presenting them with a suboptimal suite of hydrological conditions or by affecting the transport andretention of eggs and larvae. Abundances of many fish and invertebrate species in southwest Florida tidal rivers have been observed to decrease during low-flow periods (Flannery et al, 2002). Increased water withdrawals from the Peace River are planned to occur principally during periods of high flow (Charlotte Harbor National Estuary Program, 1999), which would overlap the period of highest fish recruitment, diversity, and use of its estuarine area.…”

“…However, current and projected levels of human activity in this area and its watershed have heightened interest in maintaining the biological health of the system (Hammett, 1990;Estevez, 1998). As a result of increasing human population in southwest Florida, freshwater withdrawals from groundwater sources are reaching limits of sustainability, and rivers are increasingly being targeted as water supplies (Flannery et al, 2002), It is therefore of importance to examine the nature of the biological communities, including fishes, in order to establish baselines against which future observations can be compared (Tsou and Matheson, 2002). Information regarding the fish fauna in the estuarine portions of the Myakka and Peace rivers has been limited to unpublished or short-term data collected at few sites (Wang and Raney, 1971;Texas Instruments, Inc., 1978;Estevez, 1991).…”

Calculating Methods for Quantifying Environmental Flows in Estuaries: A Case Study of Haihe River Basin, China

“…For examples, the Southwest Florida Water Management District (SWFWMD) developed a variety of management approaches in order to protect the environmental flows for estuaries based on different ecological objectives; "10% presumption" was established given that water utilization will not cause unacceptable environmental impacts if it * Corresponding author: suntao@bnu.edu.cn does not reduce the rate of daily flow by more than 10% (Flannery et al, 2002). A resource-based inflow standard was established in the Loxahatchee and the Caloosahatchie Estuaries in Florida through a valued ecosystem component (VEC) method (Doering et al, 2002).…”

Fishes of the Charlotte Harbor Estuarine System, Florida

“…Because Charlotte Harbor proper is relatively small compared with the size of the watershed (Hammett, 1990), the salinity profile and flushing rate of the estuary is seasonally affected by river discharge Stoker, 1992), and its classification varies from salt wedge to well mixed depending on location and time of year (Stoker et al, 1989;Goodwin, 1996;Weisberg and Zheng, 2003). Variations in freshwater input to the estuary affect primary productivity as well as estuarineresident and estuarine-dependent organisms Flannery et al, 2002).…”