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TEMPORAL VARIABILITY OF WATER QUALITY IN THE ST. LUCIE ESTUARY, SOUTH FLORIDA 1
Author(s) -
Doering Peter H.
Publication year - 1996
Publication title -
jawra journal of the american water resources association
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.957
H-Index - 105
eISSN - 1752-1688
pISSN - 1093-474X
DOI - 10.1111/j.1752-1688.1996.tb03498.x
Subject(s) - tributary , estuary , environmental science , turbidity , hydrology (agriculture) , water quality , seasonality , discharge , salinity , freshwater inflow , nutrient , dilution , total suspended solids , oceanography , drainage basin , ecology , geography , geology , chemical oxygen demand , cartography , geotechnical engineering , environmental engineering , wastewater , biology , physics , thermodynamics
ABSTRACT: Four years of monthly freshwater discharge and constituent concentration data from three tributaries were related to a concurrent series of data for three segments of the St. Lucie Estuary in South Florida using multiple regression and time‐series analysis techniques. Water quality parameters examined were dissolved inorganic and total nitrogen and phosphorus, chlorophyll a, total suspended solids, turbidity, and color. On monthly time scales, a multiple regression, which included freshwater discharge, freshwater constituent concentration, and dilution with ocean water (salinity) as independent variables, explained 50 percent or less of the variability in estuarine constituents. No single independent variable explained more variation than another. By contrast, on seasonal (wet, dry) time scales, freshwater discharge explained the bulk of variation in estuarine water quality (up to 93 percent). On monthly time scales, variability in concentrations of nutrients and other constituents may be largely controlled by processes internal to the system. At seasonal time scales, freshwater discharge appears to drive variability in most estuarine water quality parameters examined. Results indicate that management of tributary input on a seasonal basis, with the expectation of achieving seasonal concentration goals in the estuary, would have a higher probability of success than managing on a monthly basis.