Alafia River Minimum Flows and Levels - Southwest Florida Water ...

potential for a climate change (oscillation) to affect river flows, and thus any
change (trend) in flow other than expected annual variability has typically been
assumed to be anthropogenic.
While much of Florida has a summer monsoon, the north to northwest portion of
the state experiences higher flows in the spring similar to most of the southeast
United States. Spatial and temporal differences in flows for southeastern rivers
were highlighted by Kelly (2004) who used a graphical approach not routinely
used to examine river flow patterns. By constructing plots of median daily flows
(in cubic feet per second), seasonal flow patterns were clearly illustrated, and by
dividing mean daily flows by the upstream watershed area, flows could be
compared between watersheds of varying size. One of the more interesting
features evident from this analysis was the existence of a distinctly bimodal flow
pattern (Figure 2-15) which characterizes a number of streams in a rather narrow
geographic band that extends from the Georgia-Florida border in the
northeastern part of the state, where the St. Mary's River discharges into the
Atlantic Ocean towards the mouth of the Suwannee River in the Big Bend area.
Rivers south of this line (most of peninsular Florida) exhibit highest flows in the
summer, while those north of the line exhibit highest flows in the spring (Figure 2-
15).
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