2.7.30.1. About the Wills Branch
-
- West of downtown Jacksonville
Flows into the Cedar River - Primary Land Use: Residential
- Current TMDL reports:
Fecal Coliform with BMAP - Not included in 2022 Verified List of Impaired Waters
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Beneficial Use: Class III F
(Recreational – Freshwater)
- West of downtown Jacksonville
2.7.30.2. Data sources
2.7.30.3. Discussion
Water quality data for Wills Branch are presented in Table 2.34. Historically, average total phosphorus, dissolved oxygen and chlorophyll-aconcentrations were within acceptable limits. Fecal coliform levels were historically above the WQC. As a result, a TMDL for total and fecal coliform was published in 2006 (Wainwright 2006c) for Wills Branch, with an 80% reduction in contributing sources. (Note: the data analyses in the TMDL are based on different criteria than those used in this report). Subsequently, a BMAP for Wills Branch was legally adopted in 2010 (DEP 2010a). Average fecal indicator bacteria levels were higher than the WQC 2020-2022. In 2018, FDEP piloted microbial source tracking strategies in selected impaired waterbodies. They found that the strategies used could be used to narrow down areas suspected of containing sources that actively contribute fecal indicating bacteria to water in order to identify and remediate them, but this work is resource-intensive. Wills Branch was found to have known sources of untreated human waste present (DEP 2019a). In 2020, Wills Branch was added to FDEP’s study list to monitor the response in fecal coliform (E. coli) levels to ongoing restoration activities taking place as part of the existing BMAP (DEP 2020f). Additional information about fecal coliform in the tributaries can be found in Section 2.6 and Table 2.3.
Historical water quality data for these parameters in Wills Branch are available in previous versions of the River Report.
Table 2.34 Water quality data for Wills Branch.
| Water Quality | Average and Number of Samples º | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Parameter | Criteria | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 |
| Dissolved Oxygen (mg/L) | ≥34% sat. (≥3.0) | 5.36 (2 of 12 samples) | 7.26 (0 of 16 samples) | 6.58 ± 0.36 (0 of 16 samples) |
| Total Nitrogen (mg/L) | <1.54‡ | 1.03 (1 of 7 samples) | 0.87 (0 of 4 samples) | 1.17 ± 0.10 (0 of 9 samples) |
| Total Phosphorus (mg/L) | <0.12‡ | 0.12 (3 of 7 samples) | 0.08 (1 of 11 samples) | 0.08 ± 0.01 (0 of 9 samples) |
| Chlorophyll-a (µg/L) | <20‡ | 4.26 (0 of 6 samples) | 4.24 (0 of 9 samples) | 2.52 ± 0.82 (0 of 8 samples) |
| Arsenic (µg/L) | ≤50 | Not available | 0.31 (0 of 1 sample) | Not available |
| Cadmium (µg/L) | ≤0.3 | Not available | 0.01 (0 of 1 sample) | Not available |
| Copper (µg/L) | ≤9.3 | Not available | 1.46 (0 of 1 sample) | Not available |
| Iron (µg/L) | ≤1.0 | Not available | Not included in 2022 SORR | Not available |
| Lead (µg/L) | ≤3.2 | Not available | 0.30 (0 of 1 sample) | Not available |
| Nickel (µg/L) | ≤52 | Not available | 0.25 (0 of 1 sample) | Not available |
| Silver (µg/L) | ≤0.07 | Not available | 0.01 (0 of 1 sample) | Not available |
| Zinc (µg/L) | ≤120 | Not available | 12.50 (0 of 1 sample) | Not available |
| Fecal Indicator Bacteria (CFU / 100 mL) | E.coli <410 | 730 (6 of 11 samples) | 2060 (13 of 14 samples) | 1458 ± 192 (8 of 8 samples) |
| Turbidity (NTU) | <29 | 3 (0 of 6 samples) | 3.78 (0 of 11 samples) | 3.17 ± 0.34 (0 of 9 samples) |
° = Number of samples below Water Quality Criteria for Dissolved Oxygen; Number of samples above Water Quality Criteria for all other parameters.
FW = freshwater; SW = saltwater (marine). Values denoted with (*) indicate a proposed criterion, which has not yet been adopted.
Values denoted with (‡) are reference values based on EPA criteria (EPA 2010b), but the water body is not regulated by this standard.