Water Resources Research Act Program

Details for Project ID 2006FL142B

Measurement of evapotranspiration, recharge, and runoff in a transitional water table environment

Institute: Florida
Year Established: 2006 Start Date: 2006-03-01 End Date: 2011-02-28
Total Federal Funds: $75,000 Total Non-Federal Funds: $150,000

Principal Investigators: Mark Ross

Project Summary: New technologies have been developed to measure hydrologic processes of runoff, recharge and evapotranspiration (ET) in shallow water table environments characteristic of much of the Gulf of Mexico coastal plain. These environments are typified by west-central and southern Florida sedimentary riverine systems. However, limited testing in deeper or transitional hill slope; deep-to-shallow water table environments has been conducted to date. This proposed research is to test the methodologies developed at USF to measure hydrologic processes in a small ecological study area lying within the Hillsborough River watershed in west-central Florida. Continuous soil moisture an pressure monitoring along hill slope transects that encompass characteristically deep (>2m) and shallow (<2m) water table depths and associated habitats will be conducted for a period of three years. Of interest is the dry/wet season and dry/wet year runoff, recharge and ET distributions for the transitional environment and especially the mover xeric (slash pine & scrub oak) habitats at this site. Results from this study will be critical new information and insight into magnitude and causative mechanisms of runoff, recharge and ET processes from these environments. Findings from the study should be of immediate importance and use to water management entities as well as provide useful paramertization and conceptualization of processes for emerging integrated surface and groundwater computer models of the region. After an initial first year testing period has elapsed, once or more additional suitable sites will be identified for measurements to gather replicate or comparable data to adequately characterize these environments.