Download or read book The 2004 & 2005 Hurricanes Impact on Groundwater Levels in South Florida written by Aaron P. Fister and published by . This book was released on 2006 with total page pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The South Florida Water Management area was impacted by eight hurricanes and tropical systems in 2004 and 2005. During the 2004 hurricane season, the District endured three hurricanes along with an extratropical system remnant from Hurricane Ivan. Hurricane Charley made landfall on the southwest coast during August 12-16, Frances on the northeast coast during September 4-8, and Jeanne taking a near identical path as Frances did on the northeast coast during September 24-28. A remnant storm from Hurricane Ivan passed through South Florida during September 19-23. All of these storms dropped heavy rainfall. In addition, high surface water flows and high lake levels were experienced. During the 2005 hurricane season, the District endured two hurricanes: Hurricane Katrina from the east during August 24-27, and Hurricane Wilma from the west during October 22-25. An earlier hurricane, Hurricane Dennis, contributed rainfall to the District in areas of southwest Florida and the Florida Keys during July 8-10, but made landfall in the Florida panhandle out of the District's boundaries. Hurricane Rita contributed rainfall to the District during September 19-21 as it headed west through the Florida Straits. Compared to historical data on tropical systems, the combined impact of the 2004 and 2005 hurricane seasons on the District was a rare event. The 2004 and 2005 hurricanes impacted groundwater by recharging the various aquifers. This report incorporates high resolution data collected from a number of South Florida Water Management District and U.S. Geological Survey groundwater monitoring wells that represent South Florida spatially and geologically. The groundwater level data for each well was analyzed for the 2004 and 2005 calendar years in order to associate changes that occurred and properly connect them to the tropical systems that occurred during that timeframe. Groundwater levels were taken before each tropical system occurred and compared to the maximum level occurring during the time to illustrate the changes in water levels resulting from rainfall and recharge. Historical data included maximum, minimum, and mean levels as well as changes in levels associated with each tropical system for each well. In addition, radar rainfall during the 2004 and 2005 hurricane seasons in the District area are presented to show intensity and spatial coverage. During the 2004 and 2005 hurricane seasons, recharge was most prominent for the surficial aquifer system when rains occurred near Lake Okeechobee and/or in the Upper East Coast Planning Area. Palm Beach County appears to be more responding for recharge and this is probably due to canal recharge as there are more canals in Palm Beach County than Martin and St. Lucie counties. The Biscayne aquifer system, much like the surficial aquifer system, also relies on canal recharge and, therefore, can benefit from rainfall north of Broward and Dade counties that is canalized through these counties. Most large increases in recharge came from rainfall that fell directly on Broward and Dade counties or in east Collier and Monroe counties over Everglades National Park and Big Cypress Preserve. The Intermediate aquifer system was the least represented geologic unit in the study with only two monitoring wells. For the most part, these groundwater wells did not recharge significantly with every tropical system. However, heavy rainfall in the Lower Kissimmee Basin and west of Lake Okeechobee showed a better response for these wells. This response is likely due to a relatively sparse expanse of this aquifer system compared to the other three aquifer systems. The Floridan Aquifer System recharged during periods of heavy rainfall in regions near southern Orange County and northern Osceola County also known as the Upper Kissimmee Basin. The Floridan aquifer runs beneath the Intermediate, thus, rainfall in the Upper Kissimmee Basin follows its lower confining unit and settles beneath the intermediate aquifers. This may be the reason that these wells displayed slight increases in elevation levels whereas others rose significantly.