Source Analysis of Canal Water Collected During Sediment and Water Sampling Events 1 and 2 in the Lake Worth Lagoon Modified Watershed, Florida, USA
Source Analysis of Canal Water Collected During Sediment and Water Sampling Events 1 and 2 in the Lake Worth Lagoon Modified Watershed, Florida, USA
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Original abstract
In 2024, the EPA South Florida Program awarded FIU funds to conduct a 2-year project designed to quantify the source of pollutants (e.g., nutrients, sediment) entering Lake Worth Lagoon (LWL) from an extensive surface water management canal network that extends from its lagoon confluence (e.g., the C-51E canal) westward to Lake Okeechobee (e.g., C-51W, L-8, S-5A). In Fall 2025, a no cost extension was approved through April 2027. This report quantifies conditions of canal water flow using DBHYDRO data coincident with two fieldwork campaigns conducted between 3 – 10 March (S&W #1; dry season, falling lake levels, high flow) and 5-7 August and 29-1 September/October (S&W #2; wet season, rising lake levels, low flow) of 2025. The fieldwork was conducted to collect sediment and water samples at all 35 sampling stations, including those located in Lake Okeechobee and Lake Worth Lagoon. Herein, we report on canal flow associated with the 21 sampling of stations established on each of the four canals located in the study domain (i.e., L-8, S-5A, C-51W, C-51E, and C-51OF). The goal of the flow analysis was to identify the source(s) of water collected from each canal during both sampling events. These source assignments are based on the relative proportion of inflowing water quantified at one or more DBHYDRO station.