Here’s a historic view of freshwater flows …
into the Caloosahatchee Estuary through the S-79
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| The calendar graph above provides a historical and seasonal view of freshwater discharges into the Caloosahatchee Estuary through the S-79 structure. The graph reads like a page of a book: years from top to bottom and months of the year from left to right. The color coding matches the hydrograph a few posts down. Blue and especially black data points indicate times of high freshwater flow and the orange and especially red data points indicate times of low flow. Green check marks indicate times when the flow envelop is just right. |
Too much water and the brackish balance becomes too dilute (and also susceptible to harmful algal blooms). Too little water causes saltwater intrusion to creep in. Last year sustained a three-month span when freshwater releases were too high, making it the worst year for the estuary since 2005. This year flows have been largely in check due to cooperative Lake O levels and normal wet season rainfall levels in the east Caloosahatchee Basin.
Discharges through the S-79 comes from those two sources.
See map above.
