Alto (Alachua County)

Alto (Alachua County)

Florida LAKEWATCH Water Chemistry Summary

Location: Latitude 29°46'46", Longitude 82°8'52"

Period of record: 139 sampling dates; December 30, 1987 to December 5, 1999

Surface area (LAKEWATCH): 573 acres / 232 hectacres (Go to Bathymetric Map)

Lake Region (Griffith et al. 1997): Upper Santa Fe Flatwoods

Geologic formation (Brooks 1981):

The geology is dominated by deeply weathered clayey sand and granular sand of the Hawthorne Formation.

Physiographic region (Brooks 1981):

The water body lies in the Perched Lake and Prairies division of the Central Lake District.

Supplemental, unpublished water chemistry data, University of Florida.

Numbers reported below are the average for 3 months sampled:

pH	5.9	Sulfate (mg/L)	6.3
Total alkalinity (mg/L as CaCO₃)	1.4	Calcium (mg/L)	2.9
Conductance (µS/cm @ 25 °C)	70	Magnesium (mg/L)	1.5
Color (Pt-Co units)	44	Sodium (mg/L)	7.6
Chloride (mg/L)	15.3	Potassium (mg/L)	0.8
Silicon (mg/L)	0.4

Long-term Florida LAKEWATCH Data

Numbers reported below are the minimum, average, and maximum value for the 139 months sampled:

	Minimum	Average	Maximum
Long-term total phosphorus concentrations (µg/L)	4	15	38
Long-term total nitrogen concentrations (µg/L)	360	560	880
Long-term total chlorophyll concentrations (µg/L)	2.7	10.2	57.3
Long-term Secchi depth (ft)	2.0	5.9	10.1

1999 Florida LAKEWATCH Data

Numbers reported below are monthly averages calculated from 3 stations for total phosphorus (TP, µg/L), total nitrogen (TN, µg/L), chlorophyll (CHL, µg/L) and Secchi depth (SECCHI, ft) during 1999:

Date	TP (µg/L)	TN (µg/L)	CHL (µg/L)	SECCHI (ft
Jan-08-99	17	470	5.7	5.5
Feb-07-99	19	490	11.0	5.7
Mar-17-99	26	880	57.3	2.0
Apr-14-99	22	640	9.3	5.8
May-09-99	19	650	6.7	5.7
Jun-06-99	23	550	14.7	5.3
Jul-04-99	22	590	14.3	4.8
Aug-08-99	20	560	16.0	6.1
Sep-05-99	15	620	17.3	5.0
Oct-10-99	10	560	9.0	7.9
Nov-08-99	10	430	5.3	9.3
Dec-05-99	13	610	10.7	7.8

1999 Average	18	590	14.8	5.9

Alto (Alachua County)

Florida LAKEWATCH Aquatic Plant Summary

Aquatic plant data collected on June 27, 1991

Percent area covered with aquatic vegetation (PAC, %)	4
Percent of lake's volume filled with vegetation (PVI, %)	2
Average emergent plant biomass (kg wet wt/m2)	2.8
Average floating-leaved plant biomass (kg wet wt/m2)	3.6
Average submersed plant biomass (kg wet wt/m2)	0.8
Average width of emergent and floating-leaved zone (ft.)	36
Average lake depth (m)	4

Frequency that plant species occur in 10 evenly spaced transects around the lake.

Common Name	Plant Species	Frequency (%)
maidencane	Panicum hemitomon	90
floating water-hyacinth	Eichhornia crassipes	70
pickerelweed	Pontederia cordata	70
water-pennywort	Hydrocotyle umbellata	60
common salvinia	Salvinia rotundifolia	50
slender spikerush	Eleocharis baldwinii	50
buttonbush	Cephalanthus occidentalis	50
spatterdock	Nuphar luteum	40
purple bladderwort	Utricularia purpurea	30
banana-lily	Nymphoides aquatica	20
cat-tail	Typha spp.	20
water primrose	Ludwigia octovalvis	20

Alto (Alachua County)

Florida LAKEWATCH Aquatic Plant Summary

Aquatic plant data collected on May 14, 1998

Percent area covered with aquatic vegetation (PAC, %)	30
Percent of lake's volume filled with vegetation (PVI, %)	5
Average emergent plant biomass (kg wet wt/m2)	7.8
Average floating-leaved plant biomass (kg wet wt/m2)	2.6
Average submersed plant biomass (kg wet wt/m2)	0.8
Average width of emergent and floating-leaved zone (ft.)	56
Average lake depth (m)	4

Frequency that plant species occur in 10 evenly spaced transects around the lake.

Common Name	Plant Species	Frequency (%)
maidencane	Panicum hemitomon	100
water tupelo	Nyssa aquatica	80
buttonbush	Cephalanthus occidentalis	70
slender spikerush	Eleocharis baldwinii	60
banana-lily	Nymphoides aquatica	60
spatterdock	Nuphar luteum	60
coontail	Ceratophyllum demersum	60
wax myrtle	Myrica cerifera	60
bald cypress	Taxodium distichum	60
pickerelweed	Pontederia cordata	50
red maple	Acer rubrum	50
common salvinia	Salvinia rotundifolia	40
baby-tears	Micranthemum umbrosum	40
cone-spur bladderwort	Utricularia gibba	40
floating water-hyacinth	Eichhornia crassipes	30
water-pennywort	Hydrocotyle umbellata	20
water primrose	Ludwigia octovalvis	20
knot grass	Paspalum distichum	20
elderberry	Sambucus canadensis	20
sweetbay	Magnolia virginiana	20
alligator-weed	Alternanthera philoxeroides	10
lizard's-tail	Saururus cernuus	10
cat-tail	Typha spp.	10
hydrilla	Hydrilla verticillata	10
tapegrass	Vallisneria americana	10
purple bladderwort	Utricularia purpurea	10
willow	Salix spp.	10
para grass	Brachiaria mutica	10
bur marigold	Bidens mitis	10
sedge spp.	Cyperus spp.	10

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