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» Peace River Water Quality Degradation: 

Water Quality Degradation (Eutrophication/Nutrient Enrichment, Hypoxia,  Anoxia, Sedimentation)

Anon.  (1987).  Environmental and water quality considerations in relations to withdrawing freshwater from the Peace River and Myakkahatchee Creek.  116 pp.  Technical Memorandum for General Development Utilities, Inc.

Chapman, Phil.  (1973).  Pollution investigation, Peace River and Whidden Creek: Cities Service Company incident, December 3, 1971.  51 pp.  [Tallahassee, FL:] Florida Game and Fresh Water Fish Commission.
(In December 1971, an earthen dam surrounding a 250 acre phosphate slime pond, owned by Cities Service Company of Ft. Meade, ruptured.  An estimated one billion gallons of phosphatic clays were released into Whidden Creek, a tributary of the Peace River.  The Florida Game and Fresh Water Fish Commission investigated to determine the extent of damages incurred by the Peace River ecosystem and to provide a monetary assessment of environmental losses and resultant fish kill.  The findings of the investigation are presented in this report.)

Charlotte Harbor National Estuary Program.  (2000).  Committing to our future: a comprehensive conservation and management plan for the Greater Charlotte Harbor watershed.  2 vols.  North Fort Myers, FL: The Program.

(Volume I is the main part of the management plan.  The management plan has goals, quantifiable objectives, and priority actions.  These priority actions are the specific strategies for achieving the goals and quantifiable objectives for each of the three priority problems: hydrologic alterations, water quality degradation, and fish and wildlife habitat loss.

Volume II describes each preliminary implementation project, as provided by its sponsoring organization.  The projects in Volume 2 are organized first by the basin where the project is located, and then by sponsoring organization.  The basins include (1) Regionwide; (2) Caloosahatchee River and Watershed; (3) Lower Peace and Myakka Rivers; and (4) Upper Peace and Myakka Rivers.  To assist the reader in finding the page number for a particular project, several indexes of the projects are provided in Volume 2.  Also, an extensive list of acronyms is provided in both volumes of this document.)

Coastal Environmental.  (1996).  Review and analyses of meteorological, tributary flow, and water quality data from the Charlotte Harbor Estuarine System.  Final Report.  Tampa, FL: South Florida Water Management District.

Daltry, W. E. and David Y. Burr.  (1998).  Base Program Analysis: Volume 1: Description of the existing laws, policy and resource management structures in the Greater Charlotte Harbor watershed.  Charlotte Harbor National Estuaries Program Technical Report No. 98-01. 162pp.  North Fort Myers, FL: Charlotte Harbor National Estuary Program.

(The purpose of the base programs analysis is to recognize the current public and private environmental regulatory programs, provide an assessment of the overall programs that are in place, and identify the gaps in the existing institutional framework for resource management.  Provides a snapshot of the Charlotte Harbor National Estuary Program's socioeconomic conditions.  It reviews the current institutional management of the natural resources in the greater Charlotte Harbor watershed.  This analysis is performed within an outline of the three major priority problems: hydrologic alterations; water quality degradation; and fish and wildlife habitat loss.)

Dragovich, A. and J. A. Kelly, Jr.  (1968).  Hydrological and biological characteristics of Florida's west coast tributaries.  Fisheries Bulletin,  66(3): 463-477.
(The study examined the variations in temperature, salinity, chlorophyll a, dissolved oxygen, total phosphorus, inorganic phosphate-phosphorus, copper, and iron in the  Hillsborough, Alafia, Little Manatee, Manatee, Myakka, Peace, and Caloosahatchee Rivers and the The possible relation between the mean input of various materials by the tributaries, and the presence Gymnodinium breve was tested.  A correlation between iron and G. breve was significant at the 80-percent level.(DBO).)

Environmental Quality Laboratory.  (1978).  Supplemental water quality: presentation to the Charlotte Harbor 208 Advisory Committee.  25 pp.  Port Charlotte, FL: The Laboratory.
(This is a critique of the 208 Water Quality Model that was used to propose nitrogen and phosphorus standards for Charlotte Harbor.  The document suggests that this model cannot be used in either the Caloosahatchee or Charlotte Harbor estuary.  An alternative is proposed and limitations are discussed.  An example is presented to show how this new method could be applied to Charlotte Harbor.  Nutrient reductions are indicated for the Peace River, which contributes about 77% of all runoff to Charlotte Harbor.)

Estevez, E. D. J. Miller and J. Morris.  (1984).  Charlotte Harbor Estuarine Ecosystem Complex and the Peace River.  2 vols.  Fort Myers, FL: Southwest Florida Regional Planning Council.
(This is a 1984 review of published and unpublished scientific information on the Charlotte Harbor estuarine ecosystem complex and the Peace River.  It covers the entire coastal area of the Charlotte Harbor region, including Gasparilla Sound, the Peace and Myakka River estuaries, Charlotte Harbor proper, Matlacha Pass and Pine Island Sound, the Caloosahatchee River estuary, San Carlos Bay and Estero Bay.  A special chapter has been prepared for the Peace River.  Information has been reviewed in the disciplines of meteorology, topography, geology, hydrology, water chemistry, and biology.)

Fraser, Thomas H. and Ralph T. Montgomery.  (1997).  Compendium of existing monitoring programs in the greater Charlotte Harbor watershed.  187 pp.  North Fort Myers, FL: Charlotte Harbor National Estuary Program.

(This report describes monitoring programs for the Charlotte Harbor National Estuary Program study area.(including the Myakka River).The objectives of this report are to: 1) identify and describe all existing land, air, terrestrial and aquatic wildlife and vegetation, and water monitoring programs that pertain to the study area; 2) provide a summary of those programs both temporally and geographically; 3) help identify areas where monitoring is lacking or where protocols are inconsistent; and 4) assist existing programs in coordinating their efforts and increase understanding of programs across organizations.)

Fraser, T. H. and W. H. Wilcox.  (1981).  Enrichment of a subtropical estuary with nitrogen, phosphorus and silica.  In B. J. Neilson and L. E. Cronin, (Eds.).  International Conference on the Effects of Nutrient Enrichment in Estuaries (pp. 481-489).  Williamsburg, VA, 29 May 1979.
(Covers seasonal pulses of nutrients delivered to Charlotte Harbor from the Peace River and other tributaries.)

Garlanger, John E.  (2002).  Effects of phosphate mining and other land uses on Peace River flows.  20 pp.  Tallahassee, FL: Florida Phosphate Council.
  http://www.ardaman.com/pubs/Peace%20River%20Paper.pdf
(Looks at phosphate mining and the potential impact on the flow of the Peace River.)

German, E. R. and Donna M. Schiffer.  (1988).  Application of National Stream Quality Accounting Network (NASQAN) station data for assessing water quality in the Peace River basin, Florida.  U. S. Geological Survey water-resources investigations report ; 87-4167.  73 pp.  Tallahassee, FL: U. S. Dept. of the Interior, U. S. Geological Survey.
(Selected water-quality data for the Peace River basin at and upstream from Arcadia, Florida, are analyzed to determine water-quality conditions, basin yields, and stream loadings.  Data are examined for trends and to determine if the periodic sampling at the National Stream Quality Accounting Unit station at Arcadia adequately represents the range of discharge conditions and of water quality throughout the basin.  In addition, data from two intensive reconnaissance studies performed in February 1983 and May 1983 are evaluated to determine the locations of sources and sinks of selected water-quality variables.)

Goodwin, Carl R.  (1996).  Simulation of tidal-flow, circulation, and flushing of the Charlotte Harbor estuarine system, Florida.  92 pp.  Tallahassee, FL: U. S. Dept. of the Interior, U. S. Geological Survey.
(Examines the simulation of tidal-flow, circulation, and flushing of the Charlotte Harbor estuarine system.)

Grace, Scott R.  (1977).  Sedimentary phosphorus in the Myakka and Peace River estuaries, Charlotte Harbor, Florida.  Unpublished master's thesis, University of South Florida, Tampa.

Hammett, H. T.  (1988).  Land use, water use, streamflow, and water quality characteristics of the Charlotte Harbor inflow area, Florida.  104 pp.  Tallahassee, FL: U. S. Dept. of the Interior, U. S. Geological Survey.  213 pp.  Tallahassee, FL: U. S. Geological Survey.
(The report discusses land use, water use, streamflow, and river water quality in the Charlotte Harbor inflow area.  Previously published studies were reviewed.  Graphical techniques and statistical procedures were used to evaluate and interpret the data.  The compilation and analyses of data are based on the following time frames: land use (1972-73 and 1984); water use (1975 and 1980); streamflow (through 1984); and water quality (through 1985).)

Kim Y. S. and D. F. Martin.  (1974).  Interrelationship of Peace River parameters as a basis of the iron index:a predictive guide to the Florida red tide.  Water Research, 8(9): 607-616.
(The significance of the Fe variation in terms of the red tide outbreak was considered.  The maximum observed Fe index immediately preceded the red tide outbreak, supported the predictive value of the Fe index.)

Levesque, V. A. and K. M. Hammett.  (1997).  Comparison of two methods for estimating discharge and nutrient loads from tidally affected reaches of the Myakka and Peace rivers, west-central Florida.  27 pp.  Tallahassee, FL: U. S. Geological Survey.

(The purpose of this report is to describe and compare two methods (the tidal-estimation and basin-ratio methods) that were used for estimating discharge and nutrient loads for the tidal reaches of the Myakka and Peace River Basins.  Data were collected during four separate 30-day periods during 1994 and 1995; two of the periods represented low-flow conditions and two represented high-flow conditions.  Both methods were used to compute discharge and nutrient loads for the data-collection periods, and the results were then compared.)

Lewelling, B. R.  (1997).  Hydrologic and water-quality conditions in the Horse Creek basin, West-Central Florida, October 1992-February 1995.  72 pp.  Tallahassee, FL: U. S. Geological Survey.
http://fl.water.usgs.gov/Abstracts/wri97_4077_lewelling.html 
(Describes a baseline study of the 241-square-mile Horse Creek basin to assess the hydrologic and water-quality conditions.)

Lipp, E. K., et al.  (2001).  Effects of seasonal variability and weather on microbial fecal pollution and enteric pathogens in a subtropical estuary.  Estuaries, 24(2): 266-276.
(In this study, Charlotte Harbor estuary was sampled monthly for one year at twelve stations, in the lower reaches of the Myakka and Peace Rivers.)

Martin, D. F. and Y. S. Kim.  (1977).  Long term Peace River characteristics as a measure of a phosphate slime spill impact.  Water Research, 11(11): 963-970.
(Selected chemical analyses were carried out to determine the long-term effect of the phosphate slime spill.)

Miller, R. L., T. F. Kraemer and B. F. McPherson.  (1990).  Radium and radon in Charlotte Harbor Estuary, Florida.  Estuarine, Coastal and Shelf Science, 31(4): 439-457.
(Radium-226 and super(222)Rn activities are greater in the estuarine waters of northern Charlotte Harbor and the lower tidal Peace and Myakka Rivers, Florida, than in either the freshwater reaches of the rivers or waters of the lower estuary and the Gulf of Mexico.)

Miller, R. and McPherson, B.  (1987).  Concentration and transport of phosphorous and radium-226 in the Peace River and Charlotte Harbor, Southwest Florida.  In Proceedings of the American Chemical Society (pp. 389-391).  New Orleans, LA, August 30-September 4, 1987.

Post, Buckley, Schuh and Jernigan.  (1999).  Synthesis of technical information.  Charlotte Harbor Estuaries Program.  Technical Report No. 99-02.  2 vols.  North Fort Myers, FL: Charlotte Harbor National Estuary Program.

Vol. 1. Characterization of water quality, hydrologic alterations, and fish and wildlife habitat

(This document comprises the characterization element of the National Estuary Program process.  It synthesizes available information about the water quality, hydrologic alterations, and fish and wildlife habitat in the Greater Charlotte Harbor watershed.  It covers the Caloosahatchee River, Charlotte Harbor, Estero Bay, Lemon Bay, Myakka River, Peace River,  Pine Island Sound and  Coastal Venice.)

Shrader, Jay.  (1891).  Hidden treasures: the pebble phosphates of the Peace River Valley of South Florida.  59 pp.  Bartow, FL: Varn.

(Description of the phosphate industry in Florida in the 1890's.)

South Florida Water Management District.(2003).  Peace River Pilot Discussion Group.  South Florida Water Management District Web site.  http://www3.swfwmd.state.fl.us:8080/~basinboards.  (Accessed February 12, 2003).
(Provides access to view topics within a Peace River Discussion Group conference.)

Ware, F. J.  (1969).  Effects of phosphate clay pollution in the Peace River, Florida.  In Southeast Association Game and Fish Commission Procedure, 23rd Annual Conference (pp. 359-373).