The Efficacy of the Four-Part Test Network to Monitor Water Quality in the Loxahatchee National Wildlife Refuge
2012
Entry, James A.
The Loxahatchee National Wildlife Refuge (Refuge) is impacted by inflows containing elevated contaminant concentrations originating from agricultural and urban areas. Water quality was analyzed using the Enhanced Refuge (ERN), the four-part test (FPTN), and the Consent Decree (CDN) monitoring networks within four zones in the Refuge. The zones were defined as the canal surrounding the marsh, the perimeter, the transition, and the interior zones. Although regression coefficients for ALK and SpC, and Ca, Cl, and SO₄ concentrations with distance from the canal were lower using the FPTN than when using the ERN, using the FPTN to measure water quality parameters in the Refuge would give similar results as the ERN. Most of the ERN and FPTN sites are located in the northern and central areas of the Refuge. Water is deeper in the southern Refuge, and on an area basis contains a greater volume of water than the northern and central Refuge and therefore, water flow from the canal into the marsh in the northern and southern Refuge may differ. Numerous water quality monitoring sites must be added to the ERN and FPTN in the southern area to characterize water quality in the southern Refuge with confidence.
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