WATER RESOURCES OF ORANGE COUNTY 49
Shingle Creek
Shingle Creek drains 83 square miles of Orange County west of U. S. Highway 441 and south of State Highway 50.
Altitudes range from 70 feet at the county line to 175 feet near Windermere. The basin is relatively flat and altitudes are generally less than 105 feet except for rolling hills on the western fringe. A closed depression occupies 3.3 square miles of the northern part of the basin. Figure 19 shows a profile of the bed of Shingle Creek.
Continuous records of stage and discharge for Shingle Creek near Kissimmee (station 38) have been obtained since October 1958. The average flow during the period October 1958 to September 1963 was 62.9 cfs. The long-term average is estimated to be 52 cfs, or 0.60 cfs per square mile, by comparison with records for Econlockhatchee River near Chuluota. Periodic observations of stage and discharge near Vineland (station 39) have been obtained since September 1959. The average flow here is estimated to be 27 cfs or 0.60 cfs per square mile. The unit values of runoff at the two sites show the hydrologic characteristics of the basin to be homogeneous. Average yearly runoff from the basin is about 8 inches. The maximum discharge during the period of record at station 38 was 3,320 cfs and at station 39, 1.740 cfs, both in March 1960. In most years, there is no flow for many days at either site. Curve No. 6 (figure 14) is the adjusted flow-duration curve for station 38 and curve No. 5 (figure 15) is the estimated flowduration curve for station 39. The similarity in the shape of the two curves is another indication of the homogeneity of basin characteristics. The fact that Shingle Creek is dry about 20 percent of the time points up the poorly developed state of its channel which is not incised deeply enough to intercept the water table when ground-water levels are low.
The water in Shingle Creek near Vineland (station 39) generally has a low mineral content and is soft. At low flow, however, the mineral content is as high as 150 ppm and the water is moderately hard, 66 ppm, which indicates that ground-water inflow occurs in this stream. At high flow the pH was low (5.7) and the color was high. The iron content was as high as 0.73 ppm. Some of the iron probably combines with organic compounds in the color. The relatively high sodium (35 ppm) and chloride (37 ppm) indicates pollution as the ground water in the area is generally less than 10 ppm in chlorides and low in sodium. Table 7 shows the ranges in quality for 22 water analyses from November 1959 to July 1963.