Lake Panasoffkee SWIM Plan - Southwest Florida Water ...

would include not only standing crop estimates (e.g., pounds per acre), but data on the age
structure.
Aaency or Local Government Partnerina:
The FWCC has begun some work to document fish populations in the Lake through creel
surveys. It is the intent of the District to contract with the FWCC to conduct more extensive
fisheries population studies.
Project Title: Water and Sediment Quality Monitoring
Summary:
Water quality of Lake Panasofkee is considered good; this is attributed largely to dense
stands of desirable aquatic plants and a large groundwater contribution. However, there is
evidence of groundwater quality degradation, especially with respect to nutrients, and there
are potential surface water quality impacts that may need further investigation.
Generally, the major sources of water quality data for Lake PanasofFkee consist of data
collected for special studies (Bays and Crisman 1981; CH2MHill 1995) and some data
collected by the USGS at irregular frequencies. Nitrate concentrations in Big Jones Creek
and Little Jones Creek increased during the time between the study conducted by Bays and
Crisman (1981) and the study conducted by CH2MHill (1995). Additionally, the CH2MHill
study (1995) documented copper concentrations in two Shady Brook water samples that
exceeded the Class 111 water quality standard for that metal. The apparent trend in increasing
nutrients and the incidence of copper in the Shady Brook water samples supports the need
to perform periodic monitoring of the lake and its tributaries for these parameters. Additional
parameters should be added, consistent with previous studies, to allow for comparative
analysis of existing and historic conditions.
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