difficult to characterize a riverine floodplain with a limited number of cross-sections, alternatives

to linear measures of spatial habitat were sought.

 Utilizing LiDAR data, gathered in the Braden River basin, a digital terrain model of the

Braden River corridor was generated. This was done to examine how useful digital terrain

models might be in examining floodplain wetland inundation in a GIS environment, rather then

simply along linear cross-sections. The accuracy of the digital terrain model was limited by the

quality of the LiDAR data, which were among the earliest such data collected in southwest

Florida. Inaccuracies were due mainly to the lack of bare earth data, collected in the canopied

floodplain.

 Cross-sections from the digital terrain model were imported into the HER-RAS hydraulic

model and water surface profiles were calculated. These profiles were then exported into GIS

where a digital elevation model of the water surface was created. The water surface map was

then layered with the terrain map and the extent of inundation at different flows was assessed.

This was done to develop a better measure of spatial habitat loss, which could ultimately lead to

a better understanding of the inundation requirements of riverine floodplains.

 Conclusions

* The 1997 legislative mandate to develop minimum flows and levels in Florida has placed
 the state among the leaders of forward-looking water resources protection in the United
 States.

* Minimum flow requirements, for protection of riverine wetland protection, are
 conceptually understood but poorly quantified.

* The measure of temporal loss among rivers in this study are highly similar due to
 similarities in flow characteristics of the rivers and do not account, directly, for differences
 in floodplain morphology.

* Abrupt changes in slope, when plotting spatial measures of habitat loss, are likely
 associated with variations in channel and floodplain morphology, and not accounted for
 with the temporal measure of habitat loss.