Caloosahatchee Condition Summary: For the past 5 weeks the salinities have exceeded the MFL "harm" threshold of 10 psu. Legacy nutrients from the summer's high flows continue to feed algal blooms within San Carlos Bay and Pine Island Sound and along the hard bottom surfaces within the Gulf of Mexico and are washing up on coastal beaches during cold fronts.
USACE Action: On Friday, 1/17/14 a 10-day pulse was initiated, with average flows of 650 cfs including two days of no flow at the end of the pulse.
SCCF Recommendation: The Caloosahatchee is the only user currently being cut back from water needed to protect the estuary's resources. We recommend supplemental flows be provided to keep salinity in the upper estuary below the 10 psu 30-day moving average harm threshold. Projections show only a 10% probability that Lake levels will fall into the Water Shortage Management Band by June 1. Current water management protocols are causing harm even though sufficient water supplies are available for all users.
Past reports and background information on Caloosahatchee conditions are available online at: http://www.sccf.org/content/