Design of a Real-Time Ground-Water Level Monitoring Network and Portrayal of Hydrologic Data in Southern Florida

Project Investigator: Scott Prinos Project Start Date: 1999 End Date: 2002 Data Publications Related Links

Please visit our website at: http://www.sflorida.er.usgs.gov/ddn_data/index.html

One of the primary tools used by regional water managers to evaluate water conditions in south Florida is the End of the Month (EOM) report produced by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Miami Subdistrict office. This report is made available to the public through the Miami Subdistrict web page. It contains water-level information for 154 wells in the area of responsibility of the Miami Subdistrict. The data from this report are the principal data source for the monthly ground-water conditions report produced by the South Florida Water Management District (SFWMD) and are directly used by 25 other representatives of state or local agencies.

The report, however, has inherent drawbacks due to computer system and database limitations when the report was designed over 10 years ago.

While the USGS is not a regulatory agency and does not define specific limits concerning water levels, the current EOM report is used by those agencies that are regulatory in nature. Addressing the problems in the existing EOM report will aid water managers as they try to assess current conditions and attempt to make decisions based on these conditions.

Of primary concern to this project are areas on the lower west coast of Florida for which water restrictions have been imposed frequently by regulatory agencies. Water restrictions generally consist of a series of bans that are designed to reduce water usage by the public. Water restrictions such as these may increase in regularity and severity in south west Florida due to rapid population growth, and the reliance on ground water to meet increasing water supply needs. Assessment of the situation using only the current EOM report is problematic due to the deficiencies listed above. Although southwest Florida is now experiencing frequent water restricts, USGS monitoring efforts in this area have declined over the past few years. Additional measures are needed to aid water managers in these chronically affected areas.

Learn more about this project from the Miami USGS pages.

Data

Publications

Open File Reports

• Correlation Analysis of a Ground-Water Level Monitoring Network, Miami-Dade County, Florida (Open-File Report 2004-1412, available from the U.S. Geological Survey website)

Water Resources Investigations Reports

• Design of a Real-Time Ground-Water Level Monitoring Network and Portrayal of Hydrologic Data in Southern Florida (Water Resources Investigations Report 01-4275)

Related Links

• Florida Climate Center
• Palmer Drought Severity Index (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration)
• U.S. Drought Monitor (National Drought Mitigation Center)
• Water Shortages & Drought (SFWMD)