The following data are summarized as seasonal average values for lake and river sampling locations located within the watershed. While these data are useful to serve as a general picture of watershed health, these data must be viewed with caution because these samples have been taken from ecologically different water resources.

Rivers:

Samples from most rivers located in this watershed are averaged as part of these data summaries.

Season	Total Nitrogen	Nitrate (NO3)	Total Phosphorus	Orthophosphate	Number of Sample Stations	Number of Samples
APR-JUN 2026	1,417 ug/l		297 ug/l		19	33
JAN-MAR 2026	855 ug/l		225 ug/l		21	52
OCT-DEC 2025	786 ug/l		274 ug/l		25	62
JUL-SEP 2025	954 ug/l		300 ug/l		26	57
APR-JUN 2025	1,101 ug/l		340 ug/l		26	57
JAN-MAR 2025	642 ug/l		260 ug/l		25	53
OCT-DEC 2024	1,351 ug/l		512 ug/l		5	7
JUL-SEP 2024	1,215 ug/l		380 ug/l		18	23
APR-JUN 2024	985 ug/l		336 ug/l		24	30
JAN-MAR 2024	1,205 ug/l		262 ug/l		27	38
Five Year Seasonal Graph	Graph		Graph
Five Year Graph of All Samples	Graph		Graph

Source(s): FDEP Historic Data from Legacy STORET, Lower watershed program (LWP), FDEP Watershed Monitoring Section, Manatee County Environmental Management Sampling Data, SWFWMD Water Quality Sampling Data, FDEP Southwest Regional Operations Center, FDEP, Water Quality Standards and Special Projects (Florida), FDEP Watershed Monitoring Section, Florida LAKEWATCH, Manatee County Environmental Management Sampling Data, Enviro-Audit, Southwest Florida Water Management District, FDEP - Southwest Regional Operations Center, FDEP - Watershed Assessment Section

Lakes:

Samples from most lakes located in this watershed are averaged as part of these data summaries.

Season	Total Nitrogen	Nitrate (NO3)	Total Phosphorus	Orthophosphate	Number of Sample Stations	Number of Samples
APR-JUN 2026	1,039 ug/l		164 ug/l		3	5
JAN-MAR 2026	803 ug/l		144 ug/l		3	10
OCT-DEC 2025	1,018 ug/l		195 ug/l		3	10
JUL-SEP 2025	1,295 ug/l		272 ug/l		3	7
APR-JUN 2025	932 ug/l		201 ug/l		3	7
JAN-MAR 2025	642 ug/l		146 ug/l		2	4
OCT-DEC 2024	1,523 ug/l				1	2
JUL-SEP 2024	1,071 ug/l		454 ug/l		2	2
APR-JUN 2024	1,096 ug/l		199 ug/l		3	5
JAN-MAR 2024	1,070 ug/l		228 ug/l		3	6
Five Year Seasonal Graph	Graph		Graph
Five Year Graph of All Samples	Graph		Graph

Source(s): Lower watershed program (LWP), Sarasota County Coastal Creeks, FDEP Watershed Monitoring Section, Manatee County Environmental Management Sampling Data, FDEP Watershed Monitoring Section, Florida LAKEWATCH, Manatee County Environmental Management Sampling Data, FDEP - Southwest Regional Operations Center, FDEP - Watershed Assessment Section

Southwest Florida Water Management District calculates the Aquifer Resource Indicator (ARI) for their three groundwater regions each month. The ARI was created to provide the public with a gauge of groundwater levels in their area, so they can develop an understanding of the severity and cycles of drought and recovery. The three regions include: North (Citrus, Hernando, Lake, Levy, Marion, and Sumter counties), Central (Hillsborough, Pasco, Pinellas, and Polk counties), and South (Charlotte, DeSoto, Hardee, Highlands, Manatee, and Sarasota counties). Learn More about the Aquifer Resource Indicator >>

To determine the ARI for a region, each well is compared weekly to its respective low-normal value and the difference is calculated. The weekly differences are reduced to a monthly value for all monitoring wells within a region, and the resulting ARI value represents how far water levels in the aquifer must rise or fall to reach their respective low-normal values.

Source: SWFWMD Hydrologic Data Section Data

River	Flows Whole River Range	Flows Data by Segment	Levels Whole River Range	Levels Data By Segment
Gamble Creek	In the past 30 days Average river flow is faster than it has been historically.	Flows Data Table and Graph	In the past 30 days Average water levels are higher than they have been historically.	Levels Data Table and Graph
Upper Manatee River	In the past 30 days Average river flow is faster than it has been historically.	Flows Data Table and Graph	In the past 30 days Average water levels are higher than they have been historically.	Levels Data Table and Graph
Braden River	In the past 30 days NO DATA Recent river flow data is unavailable.	No data table or graph available	In the past 30 days Average water levels are higher than they have been historically.	Levels Data Table and Graph

Source(s): Not Available

Source(s): Not Available