SELECTED FLOW CHARACTERISTICS of FLORIDA STREAMS and CANALS by Donald W. Foose U.S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY Water-Resources Investigat
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SELECTED FLOW CHARACTERISTICS OF FLORIDA STREAMS AND CANALS By Donald W. Foose U.S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY Water-Resources Investigations Report 83-4107 Prepared in cooperation with the FLORIDA DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENTAL REGULATION Tallahassee, Florida 1983 UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR JAMES G. WATT, Secretary GEOLOGICAL SURVEY Dallas L. Peck, Director For additional information Copies of this report can be write to: purchased from: District Chief Open-File Services Section U.S. Geological Survey Western Distribution Branch Suite 3015 U.S. Geological Survey 227 North Bronough Street Box 25425, Federal Center Tallahassee, Florida 32301 Denver, Colorado 80225 (Telephone: (303) 234-5888) CONTENTS Page Abstract --------------------- ___________________ _ ____ _ j Introduction ------------------ -------- -_____-_____-__ ________ j Purpose and scope - - -- ----------------- ___-_ __________ j Acknowledgments ---------- - ------ ____ __ _____ _________ j Selection of discharge records ----- --------------------------- - 2 Data by station -------------------- ------ _______ _ _ _ __ -- 2 Station descriptions -- -- - --- ----- -- _____ _ 2 Hydrographs --- - - 2 Flow duration - -- -- ---- - __________ ___ --- -- g Low flows 10 Technique for constructing flow-duration curves -- -- ---- - -- 10 References -- ----- ____ ____ ____ _ _ ___ _ _ __ 12 Streamflow stations -------- - -- -- - - _____ 13 Index of stations --- --- - - - ----- - _____ 26! ILLUSTRATIONS Page Figure 1. Plot of duration curves for representative streams in Florida II 2-19 Map showing stations in the: 2. St. Marys River basin and the coastal area between the St. Marys and St. Johns Rivers - -- - -- 14 3. St. Johns River basin above the Oklawaha River 21 4. Oklawaha River basin - - -- ------ -- --- 31 5. St. Johns River basin below the Oklawaha River ------ 45 6. Coastal area between the St. Johns and St. Lucie Rivers -- 52 7. Kissimmee River, Taylor Creek, and Fisheating Creek basins 63 8. Everglades and the southeastern coastal area north of latitude 26 degrees 95 9. Everglades and southeastern coastal area south of latitude 26 degrees 118 10. Big Cypress Swamp and southwestern coastal area, including the Caloosahatchee River ----- -- --- - 129 11. Peace and Myakka River basins ----- -- - -------- -- 149 12. Manatee, Little Manatee, Alafia and Hillsborough River basins, Tampa Bay and coastal areas - - 163 13. Coastal area from Tampa Bay to Withlacoochee River and the Withlacoochee River basin ---- -- - --- - - - 187 14. Waccasassa and Suwannee River basins - --------- ----- 206 15. Coastal area between the Suwannee and Aucilla Rivers, and the Aucilla River basin - --- -------- ____ 221 16. St. Marks and Ochlockonee River basins and the coastal area between the Ochlockonee and Apalachicola Rivers --- 227 17. Apalachicola River basin including the Chipola River basin - - - - 236 18. Choctawhatchee River basin below Pea River, and inflow areas for St. Andrew and Choctawhatchee Bays ------- -- 240 19. Yellow, Blackwater, Escambia and Perdido River basins - - 248 III TABLES Page Table 1. Streamflow records for selected stations ------------------- 2. Duration tables of daily values for Kissimmee River at S-65E near Okeechobee, Fla. ------- -----___________-____-__--_ CONVERSION FACTORS [Factors for converting inch-pound units to International System of Units (SI) and abbreviation of units] Multiply By_ To obtain foot (ft) 0.3048 meter (m) mile (mi) 1.609 kilometer (km) square mile (mi 2 ) 2.590 square kilometer (km2 ) cubic foot per second 0.02832 cubic meter per second (ft3/s) (m3/s) inch per year (in/yr) 25.4 millimeter per year (mm/a) acre-foot per year 0.001233 cubic hectometer per year (acre-ft/yr) (hm3 ) IV SELECTED FLOW CHARACTERISTICS OF FLORIDA STREAMS AND CANALS By Donald W. Foose ABSTRACT This report contains data and statistics on low-flow frequency for 254 stream-gaging stations on Florida streams and canals. The selected stations have 10 or more years of continuous record. A site description, a 10-year hydrograph, and a table of flow duration are presented for each station. A computed monthly 7-day, 10-year low flow is presented for stations when flow is not significantly altered by dams, increased or decreased significantly by diversion, or influenced by tides. INTRODUCTION The flow of water in streams and canals is not constant. The flow fluctuates naturally because of variations in precipitation and because of man's activities. The effective management of surface waters depends upon a knowledge of the characteristics of the flow in the individual stream or canal. A knowledge of the frequency, duration, and amount of high, low, and sustained flow in the stream is necessary for the design and operation of structures to control the flow of water for municipal, industrial, and irrigation uses; for disposal of sewage and other wastes; for the construc tion of bridges and highways; and for recreational use. Purpose and Scope This report presents statistical summaries of flow duration and low flows at gaging stations in Florida with 10 or more years of record. These summaries provide a common foundation for use in hydrologic investigations and management of surface-water resources, and for administration of laws governing Florida's water resources. It updates a previous report, similar in content and scope, by Heath and Wimberly (1971). This report contains station descriptions; hydrographs for the latest 10-year period; and duration tables for stream-gaging stations with 10 or more complete years of daily discharge records through October 1979; and for gaging stations where flow is not controlled by dams, increased or decreased significantly by diversion, or influenced by tides. A monthly summary of 7-day, 10-year low flow statistics is also given. An alphabet ical listing of stations at the back of this report gives the page number where the station data are found. Acknowledgments Appreciation is extended to Martha Thagard of the U.S. Geological Survey in Florida who retrieved the basic data used in this report and who plotted the hydrographs, and to Linda Geiger, also with the Survey in Florida, who determined the monthly 7-day, 10-year low flow statistics. SELECTION OF DISCHARGE RECORDS Discharge records, from a network of gaging stations on streams and canals in Florida, have been collected and published by the U.S. Geological Survey on a continuing basis since about 1930. Records for a few stations are available prior to 1930. Table 1, period of record for selected stations, lists gaging stations in Florida that have 10 or more years of record. The stations are listed in the table in downstream order by hydrologic unit (Conover and Leach, 1975). The list indicates the ranking of streams, with each tributary indented two spaces. Also shown are the years of record for each gaging station. The "X" indicates flow in unaltered streams and the "R" indicates regulated flow. DATA BY STATION Station Descriptions The description of each gaging station includes information that should be considered when using the data. The "location" and "drainage area" were determined by inspection of the site and from U.S. Geological Survey 7.5-minute, 1:24,000 scale, topographic maps. The location is shown by latitude and longitude, by the nearest quarter section within the township and range, by county, by hydrologic unit, and by distance to a nearby town and distance to the mouth of the stream. The "Period of record" shows the periods for which there are published streamflow records. Circumstances that affect flow, such as diversion of water to or from another basin, transfer of water (after use) from a ground-water source to a surface-water source, or from a surface-water source to a ground-water source, or reversed flow caused by wind or tide, or interconnection between basins, are described in "Remarks." When these circumstances so alter the flow that reasonable annual low-flow frequencies could not be determined by Hughes (1981), or for the monthly summary included in this report, that also is noted in "Remarks." "Average discharge" is the mean discharge for the entire period of record. Under "Extremes for period of record," the maximum and minimum discharges and gage heights for the period of record are listed. When a maximum discharge or gage height that predates the period of record has been determined either by direct or indirect measure ments, it is listed under a separate heading, "Extremes outside period of record." Hydrographs The station description is followed by a plot of monthly mean flow, from October 1969 through September 1979, for stations in operation at the end of water year 1979. For stations not in operation then, the hydrograph is for the final 10 years before the station was discontinued. The flow is termed discharge and is plotted arithmetically for some stations, typically stations with a moderate range of flow and some negative discharge (reverse flow), and logarithmically for other stations. The units of discharge are listed along the ordinate as "Discharge in CFS," (cubic feet per second), Table 1. Streamflow records for selected stations. PERIOD OF RECORD 1 1 1 I 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 GAGING STATION 2 2 1 3 4 4 S S 6 6 7 7 e NAME AND LOCATION 0 5 0 5 0 5 0 5 0 5 0 5 0 PAGE ST. MARYS RIVER BASIN NORTH PRONG ST MARYS RIVER AT MONIAC GA ..... XXX XXX XX xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx MIDDLE PRONG ST MARYS RIVER AT TAYLOR FLA . XXXXXXXXXXXX I XXXX SOUTH PRONG ST MARYS RIVER: TURKEY CREEK AT MACCLENNY FLA ........ XXXXXXXXXXXXXXI XXX SOUTH