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The Efficacy of the Four-Part Test Network to Monitor Water Quality in the Loxahatchee National Wildlife Refuge

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Abstract

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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Acknowledgments

We would like to thank Dr. Rebekah Gibble, Grant Gifford, Angie Markovich, Serena Rinker, Robert Smith, and Tiffany Trent for water quality sampling and collection; the SFWMD and Columbia Analytical Services for water chemistry analyses; SFWMD for access to their DBHYDRO for database; Leslie MacGregor for GIS; and April Ostrem for data QA/QC analyses. Funding was provided by the US Congress P.L. 108-108 and the Department of Interior Appropriations Act of 2004. The opinions expressed herein do not necessarily reflect those of the Department of Interior.

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  1. James A. Entry

    Present address: , Nurtigrown LCC. 9250 Bendix Road, North, Suite 545, Columbia, MA, 21045, USA

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  1. Department of Interior, Everglades Restoration Team, Everglades National Park, 950 N. Krome Avenue, Homestead, FL, 33030, USA

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Entry, J.A. The Efficacy of the Four-Part Test Network to Monitor Water Quality in the Loxahatchee National Wildlife Refuge. Water Air Soil Pollut 223, 4999–5015 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11270-012-1252-z

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