Jan 27, 2012

Hydrologist ponders infinity

The first step is always the hardest:

From there are infinite paths you can take.




It's fun blazing a trail through new ground ...

Even if, invariably, I end up focusing on one thing.

More winter mosaic

dome, pineland, dome, pineland (repeat)

Jan 26, 2012

Winter vs summer swamp

Here's a quick comparison between the winter and summer swamp.


The swamp mosaic is easiest to see during winter.

That's because the cypress trees lose their needles and turn gray.

Pine islands are harder to see during summer.
During the winter they really jump out.

But the true difference is most evident on the ground:

Cypress domes are filled with water during the summer whereas by the end of winter they are at various stage of drying down.

Cypress knees stand as tall as their name,
but water rises up them only shin deep.
There is also that temperature thing ...

And mosquitoes.

Mullet Slough below!

Mullet slough is a sea of mostly cypress
as far as the eye can see

Jan 25, 2012

Mosaic-less swamp?

Winter is the best time for viewing the swamp mosaic ...

Unless you're in a spot where it isn't there.



This video explains.

Kingsley Lake

Can you see St Johns River, too?

Jan 24, 2012

Do two negatives make a positive?

Of all the lakes you see when flying over Florida ...

One of them in particular doesn’t look right.

Lake Apopka looks as thick as pea soup

It’s Lake Apopka.

No, it’s not short for Apopkalypse, but some would argue it’s reached that point. Once a popular fishing destination, over nutrification fueled algae blooms which, decades later, have accumulated into a thick layer of benthic muck.


The result?

The lake just won’t heal because the water’s too murky for native submerged aquatic plants.  I could literally see that muck swirling like pea soup from the 35,000 feet in the air.


The solution?

Could an invasive exotic aquatic plant called hydrilla suffice instead? It thrives in murky and would make the water less so by taking root, plus provide habitat for fish and waterfowl ... but it could prove difficult to control or fully reverse, too.  Click here to read a newspaper article in the Orlando Sentinel that describes more.

The road south of the lake leads east to Orlando

Do two negatives make a positive?

In the mathematics of modern-day water management they just might.

Lake Mead stages a comeback

Lake Okeechobee rose three ft after October.
Lake Mead rose around 50 ft in 2011.