Cave and river conditions after recent rains

[sandy]

We had a ton of rain in South Georgia this past weekend (12-28 to 12-30). It may be too early to ask but has anyone seen changes in flow and/or river levels in the Marianna and Peacock/Ginnie/Little River areas?

Hope all of you have a great 2008.

[Line Squirrel]

Little early to tell but nothing at Peacock. Peacock is so low it's going to take a tropical storm parked over S. Georgia & N. Florida for a couple days to make a difference.

Unless it fell in the Okefenokee <spelling> it will probably only affect Madison.

Just an interesting side note. I was on the SRWMD web page a couple days ago. Readings at the Dowling Park station, this past mid December the river was within 3" of the all time historical low.

[SuPrBuGmAn]

JB still had very little noticable flow as of Saturday(12/29). Some of the other springs in the panhandle may be flooded over(like Morrison for sure) and others as well. Might make them harder to find.

[RN]

The Chipola River is about 10-15' higher than it was before the rains. I was driving over it this morning and noticed the water in the trees. I had to turn around and go check out the boat ramp. Only the first 2' of the boat ramp are exposed to air. Before the rains, the entire boat ramp and some of the river bottom were exposed to air. I'm anxious to get a dive in JB to see if the flow is any different there now.

[kgault]

The Chipola River is about 10-15' higher than it was before the rains. I was driving over it this morning and noticed the water in the trees. I had to turn around and go check out the boat ramp. Only the first 2' of the boat ramp are exposed to air. Before the rains, the entire boat ramp and some of the river bottom were exposed to air. I'm anxious to get a dive in JB to see if the flow is any different there now.

JB was still very light flow yesterday.

Keith

[Sludge]

Here's an interesting page:

http://ahps.srh.noaa.gov/ahps2/hydro...tae&gage=malf1

But it's dynamic, so I don't know how long it will link.

That aside, I don't believe JB is affected by rain the way a lot of other caves are. I'm no geologist, so if anybody is, please point out which of my assumptions are erroneous.

Some caves are affected by river levels in that hydrostatic pressure is greatly increased when river levels go way up. Couple that with a depleted aquifer from a long drought, and the cave will reverse and go into recharge. We used to see that every spring at Little River when the "dry season" gave way to the "rainy season."

Merritt's Mill Pond is dam-controlled, and it's a spring run and not a river. I think the greatest difference between water levels I've seen in the eight years I've been going there is about a foot. Flow seems to be solely affected by the state of the aquifer. I believe it will take a long wet period before the flow starts to go up.

Again, somebody who knows about this, please chime in.

[RN]

Makes sense. I don't expect a huge increase in JB flow based on 1 weekend of rains, but I have noticed a slight increase over the past few months. Personally, I'd like to see the flow stay down for a few more months. I've got some dives planned that wouldn't work very well with the flow back up.