June 2, 2019
The University of Floria research crew, Drs. Joann Mossa and Yin-Hsuen Chen, Ph.D. students Charles Wu and Amobi Amanambu, went out to Bristol to meet with Dan Tonsmeire unsure of what we would find. Our last visit in early November 2018 had been somewhat promising as the vast majority of our plantings had survived Hurricane Michael, which brought tremendous devastation to the region. The willows withstood the same high winds that blew down millions of trees as well as a hydrograph bump up to 63,000 cfs associated with flow releases upstream. Although the plantings survived Michael, most did not survive the events of winter. By January, flow levels reached nearly 100,000 cfs with water levels 7 feet higher than Michael. About every three years, flows reach this level at Blountstown.
We found only two plantings that survived, but are hopeful next year will have a better survival outcome based on long-term flow and stage range statistics. One positive is that we are planting earlier, which means that the roots will have more time to establish. A second sign that willows could have better success in establishing is that the flow levels this June are less than those last June, which could mean a drier year overall. If this year is similar to last, we realize that a 20-foot change in stage elevation across the year may be hard for willow survival until the plantings become deeply rooted. For this reason, we might add a comparison downstream site that has less stage variation, knowing that last year Wewahitchka had a less severe 13-foot stage change range.   One uncertainty and concern is the presence of vehicle tracks on all three of the sand bars near our planting sites. We may consider marking off the sites more clearly to prevent people from unknowingly driving over young plantings. Although we are unsure how our plantings disappeared, whether by Mother Nature or human nature, we are going to try again and stay hopeful and work hard for a positive outcome and more learning. So, we collected eight buckets of willow cuttings to start the new planting year off with a bang. Georgia Ackerman is “babysitting” our willow cuttings, helping their roots grow while soaking between trips to increase their chances of survival.
Read Dr. Mossa’s August 2018 update.
