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Weeki Wachee River System Recommended Minimum Flows and ...

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The loss of thermal refuge was determined for a range of assumed flow reductions (e.g.<br />

5, 10, 25 <strong>and</strong> 50 percent) applied to the adjusted baseline flows. The results are given<br />

in Table 7-2. While shallower minimum depths (ca 2.7 feet) can be justified (Worthy,<br />

2005) refuge volume <strong>and</strong> area were determined for a minimum depth of 3.8 feet<br />

(Rouhani et. al. 2006) for comparison with the Blue Springs evaluation. As stated in<br />

Chapter 6, initially the intention was establish a 15% loss criterion, but based on<br />

manatee usage in Blue Springs Florida the area <strong>and</strong> volume of refuge remaining even<br />

after significant flow reductions are much more than adequate for the relatively small<br />

population of animals using the <strong>Weeki</strong> <strong>Wachee</strong> <strong>and</strong> are adequate for the entire<br />

northwest Florida manatee population.<br />

Table 7-2<br />

Thermal Refuge Reductions Due to Reduced <strong>Flows</strong><br />

3.8 ft Min.<br />

% Flow<br />

High Flow Scenario Low Flow Scenario<br />

Reduction Volume (m 3 ) Area (m 2 ) Volume (m 3 ) Area (m 2 )<br />

0 92,000 37,200 55,700 27,500<br />

5 85,900 34,900 46,100 21,100<br />

10 77,400 33,500 37,900 18,200<br />

25 43,000 18,900 11,300 6,000<br />

50 27,400 10,700 - -<br />

WW_Refuge.xls<br />

Several pertinent benchmarks can be characterized from the manatee usage of Blue<br />

Springs (ibid) which has been monitored on a regular basis since 1978. Figure 7-3<br />

provides insight into actual space utilization during the day of maximum density of each<br />

manatee season for the period 1981-2001. Figure 7-4 depicts the density on the<br />

coldest day or each manatee season for the same period. The combined results<br />

suggest an areal use rate of between 0.006 <strong>and</strong> 0.010 manatee / ft 2 (15- 9 m 2 / animal).<br />

The more conservative usage (15 m 2 /manatee) was used to estimate the number of<br />

animals that could be supported by the baseline <strong>and</strong> reduced refuge areas presented in<br />

Table 7-2. The results are given in Figure 7-5 along with estimates based on volume<br />

usage (3.1 m 3 /animal) reported for Blue Springs. Based on a comparison of current use<br />

<strong>and</strong> refuge available within the <strong>Weeki</strong> <strong>Wachee</strong>, an MFL was not proposed for the<br />

purpose of manatee protection in the <strong>Weeki</strong> <strong>Wachee</strong> <strong>River</strong>.<br />

____________________________________________________________________________________________<br />

Proposed <strong>Minimum</strong> <strong>Flows</strong> <strong>and</strong> Levels for <strong>Weeki</strong> <strong>Wachee</strong> <strong>River</strong><br />

Technical Approach Page 104 of 164

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