Effects of small freshwater inflow volumes on water and sediment quality based on USGS gaged flows from 2015-09-30 to 2016-09-15

Discharge was sampled daily at two stations in the Guadalupe and Tres Palacios Rivers to estimate freshwater inflow to estuaries. The Guadalupe Estuary’s average monthly freshwater inflow rate was 92% higher than the Lavaca-Colorado Estuary, so a larger flow volume increase is necessary to affect estuarine health in the Guadalupe Estuary. This analysis indicated that an increased small volume, as low as 10% of freshwater inflow volume, can have positive benefits to estuarine conditions and health. Thus, hydrological protection or restoration projects based on small volumes can improve estuaries degraded by freshwater diversions. An accompanying study conducted simultaneously contains nutrient, chlorophyll, and benthic community data (HI.x962.000:0018, https://doi.org/10.7266/6ptst906).