Water budget model for a remnant northern Everglades wetland

Abstract

The Arthur R. Marshall Loxahatchee National Wildlife Refuge overlays Water Conservation Area 1, a 580 km2 freshwater wetland remnant of the northern Everglades in Palm Beach County, Florida, USA. Changes in water quantity and quality have impacted the Refuge ecosystem. Ensuring appropriate management to maximize benefits for wildlife whilemeeting flood control and water supply needs is a refuge priority. The Simple Refuge Stage Model described herein supports these management decisions. The two-compartment model with a daily time step predicts temporal variations of water level in the refuge rim canaland interior marsh, based on observed inflows, outflows, precipitation and evapotranspiration. The model was used to evaluate various water management scenarios. The modelling approach applied herein may have utility in managing other wetland systems where over-bank flooding is a dominant mechanism, affecting hydrology and water quality.