Peace and Myakka River Water Quality Summary 2002 - Southwest ...

Yields of total suspended solids (TSS) showed a pronounced spike at the Saddle Creekgaging station during water year 1998, presumably due to episodic discharges fromLake Hancock during El Niño-related storm events. Other stations and years thatproduced relatively high TSS yields (in comparison to other stations and years)included:• Shell Creek near Punta Gorda (2001)• Myakka River at Myakka City (2001)• Peace River at Bartow (1998)• Saddle Creek at Structure P-11 (1999, 2000)• Peace River at Fort Meade (1998)• Big Slough Canal near Myakka City (2001).Watershed managers can gain additional insights into spatial and temporal pollutantdischarge patterns by examining the annual ‘flow-adjusted’ loads of important waterquality constituents that are discharged from gaged sub-basins. These values arecalculated by dividing a sub-basin’s estimated annual constituent load (in milligrams) byits measured annual discharge (in liters). The result, expressed in units of mg/L, givesan estimate of the annual average mass of the constituent that was discharged from asub-basin per unit water flow.In cases where managers wish to reduce the loads of a particular constituent to areceiving water body, the most cost-effective approach is often to focus on areas thatexhibit the highest flow-adjusted loads of that constituent. If effective load reductionmethods are available, projects implemented in those areas should tend to produce thelargest load reductions per volume of water treated.For dissolved inorganic nitrogen forms, the largest estimated flow-adjusted loadsobserved in the Peace-Myakka monitoring program during water years 1998 – 2001occurred at the following stations:• Joshua Creek at Nocatee (water years 1999, 2000, and 2001)• Peace River at Zolfo Springs (1998-2001)• Big Slough Canal near Myakka City (2000)• Peace River at Arcadia (1998-2001)• Peace Creek Canal near Wahneta (2000).The largest estimated flow-adjusted loads of dissolved inorganic phosphorus wereobserved at the following stations:• Peace River at Bartow (1999, 2001)• Peace River at Fort Meade (1998 – 2000)• Peace River at Zolfo Springs (1998 – 2001)• Charlie Creek near Gardner (1999)• Peace River at Arcadia (1998, 1999, 2001)• Myakka River near Sarasota (2001)• Big Slough Canal near Myakka City (2001).ix