FAS Abstracts 2004 Meeting Page

Agricultural Sciences (AGR): AGR-20

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Trend analysis of specific conductance in farm canals in the Everglades Agricultural Area (EAA). M. CHEN, S.H. DAROUB, and T.A. LANG.  Everglades Research and Education Center, Univ. of Florida, Belle Glade, FL 33430. Specific conductance was monitored as a water quality parameter at 12 discharge sites on 10 farms in the EAA during 1997-2003. Elevated mean specific conductance (>1.275 mS/cm) was found at 3 discharge sites, which might be a result of geological influences. Specific conductance was impacted by water management practices: rainfall and pumping generally increased, while irrigation decreased specific conductance of canal water near the EAA farms. Seasonal trend analysis confirmed that rainfall was associated with elevated specific conductance in August, September, and October. Non-parametric Mann-Kendall trend analyses indicated that downward trends were significant at several discharge sites (UF9202A, UF9205A, and UF9207B), as a result of implementation of farm level agricultural best management practices.