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Winter 2001 - V.16 N.4

THE LAGOON MONITOR

Report from the Indian River lagoon Watch, by Dr Gerry Rosebery and Jim Egan

Water Clarity, Southern lagoon and St. Lucie river.

Dissolved Oxygen - it keeps the fish from suffocating.

Report from the Indian River lagoon Watch .
by Dr Gerry Rosebery and Jim Egan
Welcome Aboard to our new monitors Lee Cottle and Pam Knott, Pam Schnetzler, Mary Carol Poynter and Phillip and Joan Newell. The low rainfall during the drought of 1998-2001, led to a buildup of both sediment and nutrients, such as fertilizers, throughout the land area that drains into the Indian River Lagoon. In the spring of 2001, rainfall was higher than normal, leading to large discharges of fresh water into the lagoon in a very short time period. This discharged water carried with it a load of sediment and fertilizers that had been building up over the past three years. This flush of material entering the lagoon, particularly the fertilizer, impacted both the water clarity and the dissolved oxygen levels in the lagoon.

Next Article: Water Clarity, Southern lagoon and St. Lucie river.