Thomas W. Doyle Unpublished Material http://sofia.usgs.gov/projects/hydro_flow_TT/ The proposed study capitalizes on field expertise and existing decision support tools to assess the benefits and/or consequences of CERP hydrologic goals and projects on mangrove/marsh habitat for park and refuge lands of the Greater Everglades system. The primary goal of this study is to monitor and model surface water, groundwater, and evapotranspiration fluxes across a major hydrological barrier in south Florida (U.S. Hwy. 41, Tamiami Trail), and across the oligohaline-estuarine gradient of Ten Thousand Islands National Wildlife Refuge (TTINWR). This research will record the rate and stage of water flow under varying climatic conditions (e.g., wet and dry season) across the coastal margin of TTINWR prior to and following implementation of hydrologic restoration outlined for the Picayune Strand Restoration Project (and Southern Golden Gate Estates Hydrologic Restoration). Overall project tasks and objectives include: gaging hydrologic conditions, surveying ground and water elevations, correlating hydroperiod and plant associations, monitoring intra-annual growth response to climate and hydrology, and modeling hydrologic coupling and vegetative succession. Major restoration projects have been proposed to restore freshwater flow across the Tamiami Trail (U.S. 41) into coastal marshes and estuaries of the northern Everglades including Big Cypress National Preserve and Ten Thousand Islands National Wildlife Refuge (TTINWR) with little or no understanding of the hydrologic coupling and potential impact to vegetation communities. Monitoring activities and models are needed to assess the hydrologic exchange across the Tamiami Trail and at the estuarine interface within the coastal watersheds of TTINWR. Under the proposed Picayune Strand Restoration Project, plugs and culverts will be installed to shunt more freshwater across the Tamiami Trail north-to-south akin to historic flows which will alter the stage, discharge, timing, and distribution of flow across the marsh/mangrove coastal margin. There is a critical need for current hydrologic and vegetation data to understand current processes and relations controlling hydroperiod, salinity, and plant succession under pre-project conditions and climate in order to build models and to predict how increasing freshwater flow and sea-level rise will impact future habitat quality and distribution. This study will establish a stratified network of gaging stations to monitor continuous water levels and salinity conditions associated with vegetation type and growth response and to produce a hydrodynamic model to predict changes in hydroperiod and salinity under different rates of freshwater inflow, pre- and post-project. Gaging stations will be surveyed to vertical datum to create a digital elevation model of both land and water surface that can be used to calibrate hydroperiod and salinity relations that control vegetation growth and succession. Model applications will be extended to predict vegetation migration and succession under changing freshwater delivery regimes and changing sea-level under projected climate change. For additional information about this project, please contact : Ken Krauss 700 Cajundome Blvd. Lafayette, LA, 70506 voice: 337 266-8882 fax: 337 266-8592 email: kkrauss@usgs.gov 20060101 20100930 ground condition In Work As needed -81.7 -81.4 26 25.6 none flow vegetation hydrology modeling salinity biology ISO 19115 Topic Category environment inlandWaters biota 002 007 012 Department of Commerce, 1995, Countries, Dependencies, Areas of Special Sovereignty, and Their Principal Administrative Divisions, Federal Information Processing Standard (FIPS) 10-4, Washington, D.C., National Institute of Standards and Technology United States US U.S. Department of Commerce, 1987, Codes for the identification of the States, the District of Columbia and the outlying areas of the United States, and associated areas (Federal Information Processing Standard 5-2): Washington, D. C., NIST Florida FL Department of Commerce, 1990, Counties and Equivalent Entities of the United States, Its Possessions, and Associated Areas, FIPS 6-3, Washington, DC, National Institute of Standards and Technology Collier County USGS Geographic Names Information System Ten Thousand Islands Wood River Little Wood River none SW Big Cypress Tamiami Trail none none Thomas Doyle U.S. Geological Survey mailing and physical address

700 Cajundome Blvd.

Lafayette LA 70506 USA 337 266-8647 337 266-8592 tom_doyle@usgs.gov Project personnel include Ken Krauss, Ehab Meselhe, Rebecca J. Howard, and Eduardo Patino not available not available Work planned for FY 2006 includes: 1. A stratified network of gaging stations will be distributed across the oligohaline-estuarine gradient within the Wood River basin bounded by the Faka-Union canal to the southeast and the little Wood River to the northwest. A dozen continuous stage recorders will be installed in a 3 × 4 matrix overlaying the upper and lower reaches of the Wood River basin from the southern side of the Tamiami Trail to the coastal inland bay boundary. Select stations along the latitudinal gradient from north to south will also be instrumented with salinity gages to record hourly changes in salinity affected by tidal coupling and freshwater discharge circulated from the adjoining Faka-Union Canal at high flow. Paired rain gages will be installed at the northern end of the network to account for rainfall input on stage and salinity; a meterological station to predict ET rates will also be co-located. Two Doppler velocity meters will be placed under bridges on the Tamiami Trail (Bridges 39 and 51) where freshwater exchange occurs north to south under the highway into the study basin. Groundwater well data and surface water records for the Faka-Union Canal at the intersection with the Tamiami Trail will be obtained from the South Florida Water Management District for completing hydrologic analyses. Specific data collected are stage records (hourly) across the Wood River basin network, salinity records (hourly) along the oligohaline-estuarine gradient, flow velocities (hourly) across the Tamiami Trail, and meteorological observations (hourly temp, precip, humidity, wind velocity, etc) 2. Routine visits will be required to download and maintain dataloggers including data retrieval, processing and archiving responsibilities. Hydrologic, salinity, and meteorological stations indicated in 1 correspond to key inputs for the development of a mass flux hydrologic model to include marsh, mangrove, and open channel flows through TTINWR. 3. Elevation surveys will be initiated to develop a digital elevation model of gaging stations and habitat quadrats across the Wood River basin watershed. This task is fairly involved and will begin in FY06 but continue in outyears concomitant with full funding level and labor force. Closed circuits will be achieved to account for leveling order and accuracy based on established benchmark monuments in the study area. Elevation profiles of the TTINWR marsh-mangrove complex will be determined from transect surveys and from LIDAR data, if available. Bathymetric survey of the Faka-Union Canal and coastal inland bay complex will be conducted with acoustic soundings, unless otherwise available from other state or Federal agency. Hydroperiod calculations and inundation maps of grid point locations will be generated from the rectified elevations of surrounding soil surfaces relative to water levels at each gage site. 4. The vegetation types and mangrove growth along the oligohaline-estuarine gradient will be quantified to correspond with observed hydroperiod and salinity. Vegetation components of this study will be initiated in part concomitant to funding level. Vegetation composition and cover data will be gathered at each grid station and along elevation transects between gage stations in relation to water level above surface to generate species and community ordinations by location and environmental characteristics. Mangrove stands and tree islands will be measured for tree size, density, and stature to relate stand development to hydroperiod and site quality. Tree and species growth rates may be monitored for select stands near network gaging stations utilizing dendrometer band techniques to make specific growth links. Specific products will be dendroband growth data on mangrove trees and vegetation quadrant observations at gaging stations Not complete Thomas Doyle U.S. Geological Survey mailing and physical address

700 Cajundome Blvd.

Lafayette LA 70506 USA 337 266-8647 337 266-8592 tom_doyle@usgs.gov 20060807 Heather Henkel U.S. Geological Survey mailing and physical address

600 Fourth Street South

St. Petersburg FL 33701 USA 727 803-8747 ext 3028 727 803-2030 sofia-metadata@usgs.gov Content Standard for Digital Geospatial Metadata FGDC-STD-001-1998