Today I will be sharing aerial photos of the recent plume along Jupiter Island south of the St Lucie Inlet, taken this past Saturday, October 10th at 9:34 am. These photos are courtesy of friend Mr. Cam Collins. My husband, Ed, took Cam up in an acrobatic plane, the Extra 300, a plane I have not flown in yet. Doing “Half-Cubans” and “Loops” over the Atlantic Ocean is not my favorite way to see the St Lucie River/Indian River Lagoon….
Typically I am sharing photographs taken in the Legend Cub, an open aircraft; most photos are taken at around 500 feet. Cam’s photos are taken at about 1000-1500 feet, thus there is a much broader perspective. The effect is powerful.
I was surprised to see the giant plume considering the major rain event from tropical activity occurred on September 17th, 2015, over three weeks ago. Out of curiosity, I went back and looked at the ACOE Periodic Scientists Call information to review what the release numbers from C-44, C-23, C-24, the Tidal Basin, and Ten Mile Creek have been. No Lake Okeechobee so far. This is what I found:
8-25-15/8-31-15 was reported at 1985 cfs (cubic feet per second)
9-8-15/ to 9-14-15 was reported at 2108 cfs
9-15-15/9-21-15 was reported at 5877 cfs (rain event)
9-22-15/9-28-15 was reported at 2311 cfs
9-29-15/10-5-15 was reported at 1418 cfs.
Cubic feet per second is very hard to understand. For reference, I can share that at the height of releases from Lake O during 2013, the cfs were between 5000 and 7000 cfs at S-80. (http://www.midtel.net/~dccinc/sample_graph.html)
So I wonder how long it takes the discharge water to travel through the St Lucie River/Southern Indian River Lagoon and out of the St Lucie Inlet? September 17th’s rain event was three weeks ago? It seems that water would have passed through by now…..what water is the water in Cam’s photographs? Is October’s plume September’s water? If you have an idea, please write in.
——In any case, thank you Cam and thank you Ed. We will continue to document the discharges, Lake O or otherwise, that are killing our St Lucie River and Indian River Lagoon.
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To get involved, advocate, and learn about St Lucie River/Indian River Lagoon issues please attend a Rivers Coalition meeting: (http://riverscoalition.org)
Canal and agency info:
South Florida Water Management District: (http://www.sfwmd.gov/portal/page/portal/sfwmdmain/home%20page)
Army Corp of Engineers, Lake O: (http://w3.saj.usace.army.mil/h2o/reports.htm)
Canal C-23: (http://www.dep.state.fl.us/southeast/ecosum/ecosums/c23.pdf)
Canal C-24: (http://www.dep.state.fl.us/southeast/ecosum/ecosums/c24.pdf)
Canal C-25: (http://www.dep.state.fl.us/southeast/ecosum/ecosums/c-25.pdf)
Canal C-44: (http://www.dep.state.fl.us/southeast/ecosum/ecosums/C-44%20Canal%20.pdf)
Reblogged this on Jacqui Thurlow-Lippisch and commented:
Correction. Loops and Half Cubans are done over the Atlantic Ocean
Yuck, muck heavy sediment is what that looks like to me. Be interesting to know what is on the bottom.
It is always best to get in and really see. That’s that only way to know what is happening below. Thank you Shrub Queen.
My idea is speculation only I need scientists to check it out, but I have been fishing the Indian River near Ft Pierce for the past few weeks and every time there have been the tide has been the highest I have ever seen it. 6 inches over the docks and halfway into the parking lot at the boat ramps. The water is a brown color like the plume. The tides got even higher the week after the super moon. Could it have to do with the combo of the super moon and the Northeast swell we had for the past 3 weeks?
Dear David, I hope an expert of sorts chimes in. This makes sense to me. Thanks for comments and observations. The water is incredible high still and streets in Sewall’s Point where I live remain flooded.