Fish and Wildlife Impacts in Apalachicola River due to Recent Droughts

1. Fish and Wildlife Impacts in Apalachicola River due toRecent Droughts

2. Gulf Sturgeon

3. Sturgeon Spawning Sites Reduced flow resulted in decreased habitat available for Sturgeon Spawning in mid-March through May. Spawning occurred at deep areas closer to higher velocity current.

4. 21,610 cfs 14,970 cfs 4.6 ft 4.6 ft 11,200 cfs Flow, Depth, and Habitat at Race Shoals, Chattahoochee, FL. 6,118 cfs

5. Federally Listed Mussels Fat Threeridge Purple Bankclimber

6. Fat ThreeridgePurple Bankclimber Extreme die-off in many sloughs and side channel habitat areas due to dewatering. Swift Slough fat threeridge population virtually eliminated- highest population on river. Extreme loss of greatest purple bankclimber population on Apalachicola River located at Race Shoals. USFWS/COE/FWC cooperated in conducting riverwide mussel surveys. Additional fat threeridge sites located along river.

7. Freshwater Fisheries Exposed Spawning Nests Sportfish spawning nest are exposed as water levels declined sharply (> 1 ft/day) in the main Apalachicola River (May 2002) about 20 km from the JWLD (Chattahoochee Discharge = 8000 cfs).

8. 85% of Apalachicola River fish species use floodplain habitats

9. Age-0 largemouth bass collected by electrofishing Apalachicola River (RM 80-20) Sept 2003 - 2008. A *Tukey’s Test - Same letters are not sign diff (p > 0.05) A AB B B B

10. Age-0 Largemouth bass CPUE vs Median Acres of Aquatic Habitat in the Middle River April-May (2003-2007) (2003) (2005) r = .96007 (2007) (2006) (2004)

11. Figure 12. Plot of mean age-0 largemouth bass catch per hour (y-axis) against the proportion of days during March 1-September 30 that met or exceeded a stream flow threshold criterion of 13,000 cfs (x-axis). Stream flow data were recorded at USGS gage 02358000, near Chattahoochee, FL. From Allen et al, 2009

12. Lower Junction Site- Future Jim Woodruff Dam location