would pass freely between the channel iand adjacent banks. During low vater periods adjacent ground water would be readily recharged from the canal with large accompanying losses to the conveyed supply. It is apparent that such an operation would have a direct relation to water control activities in the area adjacent to the channel. During other periods it is likely that considerable quantities of the highly mineralized water from the formations cut through would enter the channel giving the resulting mixture a quality poorer than the Lake water.
NORTH NEW RIVER CANAL
The North New River Canal has long been considered as a channel
through which to carry water, the greater part of the distance, from the Lake to the Miami area. The water carrying conditions of unlined channels described in the preceding section are applicable to this canal and to connecting canals south towards Miami.
The composition of water in the North New River Canal, under existing limited diversion from the Lake, varies between rather wide limits. Analyses show that during a period of one year the concentration of dissolved mineral matter ranged between 205 and 813 pdrts per million and that the hardness ranged between 126 and 456 parts per million with the higher concentrations occurring at times of low flow. Water in this canal is more difficult to treat during a greater part of the year than water currently pumped from the present Miami well field. Water having the composition of the average found in the North New River Canal would be of poorer quality than water in Lake Okeechobee or water now being used for the public supply of Miami. Increased diversion from the Lake through the canal might improve the quality of the canal water slightly during dry periods.