Audubon's Everglades Science Center has 14 hydrostations, or water quality data collection stations, set up throughout the lower Everglades. Our hydrostations collect hourly data including water level, water temperature, salinity, dissolved oxygen, and water conductivity.

This data is correlated with the biologic data we collect (submerged aquatic vegetation, prey fish, and spoonbill nesting) to assess how the physical water conditions are affecting the wildlife that we monitor. Hydrostation data is also used to assess how natural weather phenomena and water management operations upstream in the freshwater Everglades are impacting hydrologic conditions in the downstream coastal mangrove zone. This data is used to guide water management decisions about Everglades restoration projects.

This past winter, the stand used to access the Lake Ingraham hydrostation needed replacement. Everglades Science Center staff Pete Frezza and Mike Kline set out to rebuild the stand. All materials were measured, cut and prepped at our office in Tavernier. Next the tools and materials were transported by truck to the dock, loaded into a motor boat and taken across the bay, then carried by canoe for the last leg of the trip. Finally they repaired the stand working from the canoe. Great work Pete and Mike!