Compiled by Brian Katz and Ellen Raabe—ONLINE ONLY
This workshop is co-sponsored with the
Suwannee River Water Management District
Florida Marine Research Institute
This report is available as a pdf.
ABSTRACT
In response to the growing number of environmental concerns in the mostly pristine Suwannee River Basin and the Suwannee River Estuary system, the States of Florida and Georgia, the Federal government, and other local organizations have identified the Suwannee River as an ecosystem in need of protection because of its unique biota and important water resources. Organizations with vested interests in the region formed a coalition, the Suwannee Basin Interagency Alliance (SBIA), whose goals are to promote coordination in the identification, management, and scientific knowledge of the natural resources in the basin and estuary. To date, an integrated assessment of the physical, biological, and water resources has not been completed.
A holistic, multi-disciplinary approach is being pursued to address the research needs in the basin and estuary and to provide supportive data for meeting management objectives of the entire ecosystem. The USGS is well situated to focus on the larger concerns of the basin and estuary by addressing specific research questions linking water supply and quality to ecosystem function and health across county and state boundaries. A strategic plan is being prepared in cooperation with Federal, State, and local agencies to identify and implement studies to address the most compelling research issues and management questions, and to conduct fundamental environmental monitoring studies.
The USGS, Suwannee River Water Management District and the Florida Marine Research Institute are co-sponsoring this scientific workshop on the Suwannee River Basin and Estuary to:
- Discuss current and past research findings,
- Identify information gaps and research priorities, and
- Develop an action plan for coordinated and relevant research activities in the future.
This workshop builds on the highly successful basin-wide conference sponsored by the Suwannee Basin Interagency Alliance that was held three years ago in Live Oak, Florida. This year’s workshop will focus on identifying information needs and priorities and developing partnerships. The USGS is seeking to define the role of the USGS Florida Integrated Science Center (FISC) in conducting integrated research in the Suwannee River Basin, and to establish a cooperative program with other agencies. Participants interested in river, floodplain, springs, estuary, or basin-wide issues are encouraged to attend. Topics for this year’s workshop include:
- Water quality and geochemistry: nutrient enrichment, reduction of
nutrient loading to ground
water, contaminants, and land use, - Hydrogeology: interactions among ground water, surface water and ecosystem, modeling, and baseline mapping,
- Ecosystem dynamics: structure, process, species, and habitats (estuarine, riverine, floodplain, and wetland), and
- Information management: data sharing, database development, geographic information system (GIS), and basin-wide models.
CONTENTS
Map of Suwanee River Basin
Introduction to Suwannee River Basin and Estuary Initiative
HYDROGEOLOGY ISSUES
The future of the Suwannee River Sill - A review and update
By S.B. Aicher
Surface and ground water mixing along the Cody Scarp: An example
from the Santa Fe River
sink-rise system
By J.B. Martin, E.J. Screaton, and P.J. Moore
Using synthesized data to quantify surface-water / ground-water
relationships between
Madison Blue Spring and the Withlacoochee River of north Florida
By J.C. Schneider, S.B. Upchurch, K.M. Champion, J. Good, and
D. Hornsby
Development of minimum levels and flows for Blue Spring, Madison
County, Florida
By S.B. Upchurch, M. Farrell, A. Janicki, J. Good, R.A. Mattson,
D. Hornsby,
J. Schneider, D. Wade, and K. Malloy
Delineation of the Fanning and Manatee Spring Basins in the
Suwannee River Water
Management District
By R. Ceryak
Extension of minimum flows from the lower Suwannee River
to upstream tributaries and
springs using a reach-based method
By J. Good and Robert Mattson
Exchanges of water between the Upper Floridan aquifer and
the lower Suwannee and
lower Santa Fe Rivers, Florida
By J.W. Grubbs and C.A. Crandall, C.A.
Geologic setting, depositional environments, and geologic
history of the Suwannee River
Delta; Present understanding and proposed work
By A.C. Hine, S.D. Locker, E.E. Wright, and S.L. Goodbred
Ecological characteristics and forcing functions of
the Suwannee River Estuary
By R.E. Edwards and E.A. Raabe
Toward a hydrologic observatory in the Suwannee River
watershed
By J.B. Martin
WATER QUALITY AND GEOCHEMISTRY
Hydrodynamics and salt transport
in the Suwannee River estuary
By J. Bales
The impact of nutrient loading and hydrodynamics
on algal biomass in the Suwannee
River Estuary
By E.L. Bledsoe and E.J. Philips
Source tracking and microbial water quality
in three Florida springs
By D.W. Griffin and M.A. Gray.
Risk of phosphate movement from soils in
the Suwannee River Basin
By W. Harris and V. Nair
Understanding contaminant sources, ground-water
residence time and flow patterns in
a
karstic springshed
By B.G. Katz, R. Copeland, T. Greenhalgh,
W. Swanka, and S.B. Upchurch
Impacts of riparian ecosystems on water quality in the western
upper Suwannee
River watershed
By R. Lowrance, G. Vellidis, D. Bosch, J. Sheridan, R. Williams, and
R. Hubbard
Evidence for rapid transport of recharge from onsite sewage treatment
and disposal systems
to groundwater at Manatee Springs State Park
By E. Roeder, H.S. Harden, J.P. Chanton, and M. Hooks
Identifying water-quality domains near Ichetucknee Springs, Columbia
County, Florida
By S.B. Upchurch, K.M. Champion, J.C. Schneider, D. Hornsby, and R. Ceryak
Assessment of nitrate-nitrogen variability in soils of the Santa
Fe River watershed in
north-east Florida
By S. Lamsal, S. Grunwald, C.M. Bliss, I. Lopez-Zamora, N.B. Comerford,
and M.W. Clark
ECOSYSTEM DYNAMICS
Long-term and large-scale trends in mercury bioaccumulation
in the Suwannee River
Basin, Florida
By L.C. Chasar, T.R. Lange, J.W. Grubbs, and J.P. Chanton
Gulf sturgeon
By R.A. Brooks, and K. Sulak
Benthic macroinvertebrate and periphyton monitoring in the Suwannee
River Basin in Florida 1:
Overview and biogeography
By R.A. Mattson, D. Wade, and K. Malloy
Benthic monitoring in the Suwannee basin in Florida 2: Relationships
between physical and
chemical variables and biology
By K. Malloy, D. Wade, T. Janicki, and R.A. Mattson
Benthic monitoring in the Suwannee basin in Florida 3: Spatial
and temporal trends
By D. Wade, K. Malloy, T. Janicki, and R.A. Mattson
Aquatic invertebrate communities as tools for establishing minimum
flows and levels in
Suwannee River Basin streams
By G.L. Warren and T. Ferring
Submerged aquatic vegetation mapping in the Ichetucknee Springs
and river system, Florida
By R.C. Kurz, R.C., P. Sinphay, W.E. Hershfeld, and D.C. Woith
Factors influencing the submersed aquatic vegetation of the Ichetucknee
River
S.K. Notestein and T.K. Frazer
Lower Suwannee River floodplain, Florida: Hydrology, topography,
and soils of riverine and
tidal floodplain forests and ecological consequences of potential flow
reductions
By H.M. Light
Lower Suwannee River floodplain, Florida: Canopy, subcanopy,
and ground cover vegetation
and potential impacts of flow reductions on plant distribution
By M.R. Darst
Structural and dynamic habitat in the Suwannee Estuary: An application
of remotely sensed
imagery to integrated habitat mapping
By E.A. Raabe, R.E. Edwards, and C.C. McIvor
The Florida Salt Marsh Vole on the Lower Suwannee National Wildlife
Refuge
By S.E. Barlow, and M.W. Mitchell
The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission’s Fishery-Independent
Monitoring
Program, Cedear Key, Florida
By D. Nemeth
Gulf Sturgeon - The central role of an iconic species in the
Suwannee River Initiative
By R.E. Edwards, K.J. Sulak, M.T. Randall, and R.A. Brooks
The Florida manatee in the Suwannee River and estuary: Past,
present, and future
By C.A. Langtimm, A. Beck, R.K. Bonde, and J.P. Reid
Effects of water level fluctuations on year class strength of
sport fish in four Florida rivers
By M.S. Allen and T.F. Bonvechio
“
Where are the fish?” An angler survey of the Lower Suwannee River
By D.P. Dorosheff
Application of the Physical Habitat Simulation Model (PHABISM)
to the Santa Fe River
By E. Nagid, and G. Warren
INFORMATION MANAGEMENT, MODELING, NEW TOOLS
Suwannee River Partnership
By K.B. Webster
Watershed assessment model (WAM) evaluation of the Suwannee River
Basin
By A.B. Bottcher, B.M. Jacobson, and J.G. Hiscock
A Suwannee River Basin geodatabase archetype
By A.W. Coffin, and A.M. Foster
Integrating information for watershed management: A Suwannee
River Basin watershed atlas
By B.S. Poore
Existing geospatial data sets covering the Suwannee River Basin
By M. Crane
An airborne high resolution thermal infrared and multi-spectral
mapping system trials
over the Suwannee River Basin, FL (2002)
By D. Stonehouse
POSTERS
Stable carbon and nitrogen isotope composition of organic
aggregates produced by salinity
induced flocculation of dissolved organic matter from the Suwannee
River
By E.R. Hall, T.K. Frazer, J.P. Montoya, and J.J. Delfino
Utilization of GIS methodologies to evaluate the relationship
between land use and aquatic
ecosystem health
By A.M. Foster, N.J. Kernaghan, and R.A. Mattson
Florida’s first magnitude springsheds
By T.H. Greenhalgh
Seagrass mapping within the Big Bend region
By K. Patterson and M. White
Occurrence of herbicide degradation compounds in streams
and ground water in
agricultural areas of south Georgia, 2002
By J.R. Pittman and M.P. Berndt
Pesticide fate and transport in coastal plain watersheds
By T.L. Potter, D.D. Bosch, D. Sullivan, and R.D. Wauchope
Suggested citation:
Katz, B.G., and Raabe, Ellen, Compilers, 2004, Suwanee River Basin and Estuary Integrated Science Workshop: September 22-24, 2004: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 2004-1332, 65 p.
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