Synthesis of Environmental Changes in Suwannee River Basin at Georgia and Florida

Title

Synthesis of environmental changes in Suwannee River Basin at Georgia and Florida

Lesley-Ann Jackson, Aavudai Anandhi

¹ Biological Systems Engineering Program, Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University, FL 32307, USA

Abstract

The Suwanee River Basin is 289 miles originating in Alligator Creek. Alligator Creek is located in the southern part of Georgia. The Suwannee River Basin then flows south to south west into the state of Florida. The depth of the river is more than seven feet high with a width of 250 to 1000 feet wide. The Suwannee River is the second largest river system in the state of Florida, the first largest river system is the Apalachicola. Its subtropical climate mixed with humidity is the ideal weather to go fishing and skiing. Home of three state parks, district owned land and conservation area. Even though the Basin might seem like a nice vacation spot agriculture accounts for 29% of the land use. The river basin is vulnerable to a changing environment. The objective of the study is synthesize literature on it impacts environmental changes in the basin With 11 million gallons of water used for industrial purposes. The upper region is low alkaline levels and extreme flow variations making the fish population little to none. However, in the middle to lower region it has an abundance of wildlife. With its limestone base the Suwannee River has major ecological significance. The results of the synthesis provides information to planners and decision makers on the work carried out so far on environmental changes as well as the knowledge gap for potential future research.