Roy Sonenshein (no longer with USGS) Ronald Reese Unpublished Material none http://sofia.usgs.gov/projects/index.php?project_url=panther_refuge_hydro The objectives of this project are to 1. Inventory existing hydrologic data available in the vicinity of the Florida Panther National Wildlife Refuge (FPNWR) including all data that can be used for determining past and current conditions. 2. Design and install a hydrologic monitoring network for the FPNWR. The network will include continuous and intermittently monitored ground-water level and surface water stations. The network will be used to monitor hydrologic conditions within the FPNWR and to evaluate the relationship between ground water and surface water. 3. Collect other hydrologic data as needed to assist in determining the hydrologic conditions in the area. Examples of other types of data include stable isotopes, which can be used to determine sources of water in a sample, evapotranspiration data, surface and borehole geophysical data, seepage measurements. 4. Evaluate historical and current data to determine trends and baseline conditions at and in the vicinity of the FPNWR. The biologic communities of the Florida Panther National Wildlife Refuge (FPNWR) and surrounding areas have been historically impacted by the changes in hydrology associated with past highway and canal construction and will be impacted by future plans for hydrologic restoration. Currently, little hydrologic data is collected in the vicinity of the FPNWR. Two continuous recording stations located up gradient in Big Cypress National Park (stations A1 and A2) are the nearest wetland stations to the FPNWR. Additional stations are located in the canals near the FPNWR. Information on current hydrologic conditions and a monitoring network are needed in order to determine the impact of the planned Picayune Strand Hydrologic Restoration on the hydrology of the area. These hydrologic changes will have effects on the threatened and endangered species as well as other biologic communities in the FPNWR. There are two components to the hydrology of the area that have an impact on the ecology, surface water, and shallow ground water. The surface water consists of wetlands within and canals bordering the FPNWR. Canals bordering the refuge have a major impact on the hydrology in the area. The FPNWR currently maintains a hydrologic monitoring program of 8 stations (Larry Richardson, verbal communication). These hydrologic monitoring stations have not been surveyed to a vertical datum, which is required to adequately evaluate the data being collected. The survey information is required to determine the relationship between ground water and surface water in the area. Additional information needed to evaluate the hydrology of the area include stage and flow rates in the canals bordering the FPNWR. 20051001 20070930 ground condition Complete None planned -81.5 -81.3 26.25 26.15 none hydrology surface water groundwater monitoring Florida panthers ISO 19115 Topic Category environment inlandWaters 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 none SW Big Cypress USGS Geographic Names Information System Florida Panther National Wildlife Refuge none none Ronald Reese U.S. Geological Survey mailing and physical address

3110 SW 9th Avenue

Ft. Lauderdale FL 33315 USA 954 577-5921 rsreese@usgs.gov Project personnel include Larry Richardson (FPNWR) not available not available Differential GPS will be used to establish reference marks at key locations, traditional surveying will be used as needed to tie in all monitoring locations to the established reference marks. Literature search A literature search will be conducted in library databases and at the offices of the FPNWR to locate relevant historical information about the refuge. Important information includes historical water level and flow data and modification to the canals surrounding the refuge. 200603 Design and install monitoring network Existing hydrologic conditions will be evaluated to determine the data types and optimal design to monitor surface water flows and stage, ground-water levels, and ground-water / surface-water interactions. The existing water-level monitoring network will be evaluated to determine if it fits into the optimal design. Locations to drill new monitor wells will be determined. Locations to install stage and flow monitoring equipment in canals bordering the refuge and within the refuge will be determined. New monitoring wells will be drilled and instrumented. Wells installed near current real-time weather stations in the refuge will be connected, if feasible, to the refuge telemetry network. 200608 Surveying Differential GPS will be used to establish reference marks at key locations, traditional surveying will be used as needed to tie in all monitoring locations to the established reference marks. The elevations will be referenced to NAVD 88. Unknown Collection and analysis of monitoring data Continuous recording equipment will be operated for a minimum of one year. Data will be processed and posted on the SOFIA data exchange web site. Following FY07, it is anticipated that the monitoring network will be turned over to the FPNWR to operate. A review of the stations will be conducted to determine redundant stations to minimize the long-term expense required to operate the network. Unknown Additional data collection Various additional methods will be evaluated to determine if they will be useful in evaluating the hydrologic budget of the refuge. Among these techniques are seepage meters, surface and borehole geophysics, stable isotopes, evapotranspiration data, and satellite imagery. Unknown Ronald Reese U.S. Geological Survey mailing and physical address

3110 SW 9th Avenue

Ft. Lauderdale FL 33315 USA 954 577-5921 rsreese@usgs.gov 20100528 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 none This metadata record may have been copied from the SOFIA website and may not be the most recent version. Please check http://sofia.usgs.gov/metadata to be sure you have the most recent version.