A study of the fish and invertebrates in the Weeki Wachee River estuary will help the Southwest Florida Water Management District in establishing minimum flows for the Weeki Wachee River.
Aimed at determining the freshwater needs of biological communities associated with the river, the study is being conducted by the University of South Florida’s College of Marine Science.
Researchers have been collecting fish and invertebrates, such as pink shrimp and blue crab, on a monthly basis for 19 months. This duration allowed collection during of two spring dry seasons, which are very sensitive to freshwater inflows, and two fall seasons.
The cost of the project, $108,874, was divided equally between the Southwest Florida Water Management District and the District’s Coastal Rivers Basin Board.
The District is scheduled to adopt minimum flow rules for the Weeki Wachee River by 2006. Minimum flows are defined by Florida Statutes as the limit at which further withdrawals would be significantly harmful to the water resources or ecology of the area.