Charlotte Harbor National Estuary Program
Quarterly Environmental Monitoring Summary
July 1 through September 30, 2005
Degraded flow regime from the Caloosahatchee. High aquatic species mortality. Degraded water quality, except for dissolved oxygen.
Water Flows:
| Peace River Basin | High (Much higher than normal then normal) |
| Myakka River | Average (lower than normal, then higher than normal) |
| Caloosahatchee | Much higher than normal (exceeding recommended levels) |
| Estero Tributaries | Normal |
Water flows for the Peace and Myakka returned to normal. Caloosahatchee flows were much higher than normal exceeding recommended levels.
July-September Water Quality:
| Charlotte Harbor Proper/Lemon Bay | |
| Temperature | Normal but slightly high in July and August |
| Salinity | Lower than normal, returning to near normal in September |
| Color | Higher than normal, returning to near normal in September |
| Chlorophyll a | Slightly higher than normal, but low in September |
| Total Nitrogen | High, especially in July |
| Phosphorous | Higher than normal |
| Dissolved Oxygen | Better than normal |
| Near Bottom Dissolved Oxygen | Normal |
| Secchi Depth | Slightly worse than normal |
| Turbidity | Slightly worse than normal |
Nutrients and suspended/dissolved solids measures worse than normal. Measures related to flows returning to normal.
Habitat:
| Red Tide | Medium to High Counts in late September, low otherwise |
| Fish Kills | Numerous fish kills |
| Fish Lesions | Lesioned fish in July at Sarasota |
| Other kills | Turtle mortality in all months |
| Sewage Spills | None |
| Shellfishing | All areas closed. |
| Seagrasses | Stable totals of seagrass in Charlotte Harbor and Lemon Bay. 2003 map from South Florida Water Management District is close to being distributed. |
Aquatic species mortality very high. Red tide extremely high in late September.