Kissimmee (Osceola County)

Florida LAKEWATCH Water Chemistry Summary

Location: Latitude 27°56'10", Longitude 81°17'26"

Period of record: 25 sampling dates; April 12, 1995 to December 6, 1999

Surface area (LAKEWATCH): No data available.      Bathymetric Map

Lake Region (Griffith et al. 1997): Kissimmee/Okeechobee Lowland

Geologic formation (Brooks 1981):

The geology is dominated by coastal sand and shelly silty sand of the preglacial Pleistocene.

Physiographic region (Brooks 1981):

The water body lies in the Kissimmee Valley division of the Eastern Flatwoods District.
 
 

Supplemental, unpublished water chemistry data, University of Florida.

Numbers reported below are the average for 4 months sampled:
 
pH
8.3
 Sulfate (mg/L)
11.7
Total alkalinity (mg/L as CaCO3)
23.0
 Calcium (mg/L)
10.7
Conductance (µS/cm @ 25 °C)
127
 Magnesium (mg/L)
10.4
Color (Pt-Co units)
51
 Sodium (mg/L)
10.3
Chloride (mg/L)
14.2
 Potassium (mg/L)
1.6
Silicon (mg/L)
1.6
    

Long-term Florida LAKEWATCH Data

Numbers reported below are the minimum, average, and maximum value for the 25 months sampled:

 
Minimum
Average
Maximum
Long-term total phosphorus concentrations (µg/L)
27
47
94
Long-term total nitrogen concentrations (µg/L)
910
1170
1500
Long-term total chlorophyll concentrations (µg/L)
6.0
24.3
45.7
Long-term Secchi depth (ft)
2.0
3.1
4.8

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
Apr-13-99
46
1370
35.7
3.0
Jun-09-99
67
1330
45.7
2.3
Dec-06-99
27
1130
26.7
3.3
         
1999 Average
47
1270
36.0
2.9

Kissimmee (Osceola County)

Florida LAKEWATCH Aquatic Plant Summary

Aquatic plant data collected on June 9, 1999

Percent area covered with aquatic vegetation (PAC, %)
48
Percent of lake's volume filled with vegetation (PVI, %)
14
Average emergent plant biomass (kg wet wt/m2)
3.8
Average floating-leaved plant biomass (kg wet wt/m2)
2.5
Average submersed plant biomass (kg wet wt/m2)
2.6
Average width of emergent and floating-leaved zone (ft.)
410
Average lake depth (m)
2

Frequency that plant species occur in 20 evenly spaced transects around the lake.

Common Name Plant Species
Frequency (%)
knot grass Paspalum distichum
95
duck-potato Sagittaria lancifolia
75
pickerelweed Pontederia cordata
75
maidencane Panicum hemitomon
75
spatterdock Nuphar luteum
55
cat-tail Typha spp.
50
water primrose Ludwigia octovalvis
45
torpedograss Panicum repens
45
wax myrtle Myrica cerifera
40
tapegrass Vallisneria americana
30
giant bulrush Scirpus californicus
30
hydrilla Hydrilla verticillata
25
buttonbush Cephalanthus occidentalis
25
willow Salix spp.
25
alligator-weed Alternanthera philoxeroides
20
American lotus Nelumbo lutea
20
smartweed Polygonum hydropiperoides
15
club-rush Eleocharis cellulosa
15
slender spikerush Eleocharis baldwinii
10
fragrant water-lily Nymphaea odorata
10
water-pennywort Hydrocotyle umbellata
10
dwarf arrowhead Sagittaria subulata
10
coontail Ceratophyllum demersum
10
Illinois pondweed Potamogeton illinoensis
10
big rose mallow Hibiscus grandiflorus
10
banana-lily Nymphoides aquatica
5
bacopa Bacopa monnieri
5
baby-tears Micranthemum umbrosum
5
southern cutgrass Leersia hexandra
5
elderberry Sambucus canadensis
5
jointed flat sedge Cyperus haspan
5

 

Kissimmee (Osceola County)

Electrofishing Data

     
Canfield and Hoyer (1992) Ranges
Species1
#/hr
kg/hr2
min weight (kg/hr)
mean weight (kg/hr)
max weight (kg/hr)
Black crappie
10
2.3
0.1
6.4
28.7
Bluegill
82
5.9
0.3
50.3
447
Bowfin
1
1.5
3
54.5
225
Brown bullhead
1
1.7
0.1
14.5
72.1
Chain pickerel
1
0.5
0
17.5
57.1
Florida gar
15
8.2
0.8
50.1
328.6
Gizzard shad
8
1.2
0
10.3
39.5
Golden shiner
13
0.2
0
6.9
65
Lake chubsucker
12
4.6
0.1
40.7
161.9
Largemouth bass
40
21.5
1.1
82
284.6
Longnose gar
1
1.2
16.5
16.5
16.5
Redear sunfish
10
1.7
0.1
24.3
183.1
Spotted gar
2
0.9
.
.
.
Threadfin shad
16
0.1
0
2.7
10.9
Warmouth
5
0.4
0
1.5
12
           
Total
217
51.9
      

 

1 Total # of species = 15.
2 Weights calculated using regressions from Hoyer and Canfield 1994 and from Bill Schaeffer, Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (personal communication).
 
 


 
 

Catch per unit of effort (kg of fish / hour of sampling) versus total chlorophyll (mg/m3) and number of fish species collected versus surface area of lake for 60 Florida lakes sampled by Canfield and Hoyer (1992) (•) and Lake Kissimmee (Osceola County) electrofishing sampling (o). The lines represent linear regressions for logged values of the 60 Florida lakes.

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