Water Resources Atlas of Florida (review)

Southeastern Geographer Vol. 25, No. 2, November 1985, pp. 150-158 REVIEWS Water Resources Atlas of Florida. Edward A. Fernald and Donald ]. Patton, Editors. Tallahassee: Florida State University, 1984. xi and 291 pp., maps, tables, diagrams, cross sections, references, photographs, appendix, glossary and index. $29.50 cloth (ISBN: 0-9606708-1-5) The stated purpose of this atlas is to display water and related phenomena in such a manner that it may serve not only as a general reference and educational primer on water resources but also as an aid to decision makers attempting to meet water related problems within the state. The producers of this atlas have accomplished their part of this formidable goal; now it is up to the users. Indeed the atlas is a tour de force, having replaced The California Water Atlas as the state-of-theart work for this genre of publication. In twenty-one chapters approximately eighty contributors present the many relevant aspects of the occurrence, use, and misuse of water and related phenomena within Florida. Printing and map registry throughout the three hundred pages are high quality. Cartographic presentation of numerous biophysical and human phenomena associated with water use is innovative, imaginative and usually clear. Moreover, the lengthy text abounds with cogent observations on water and related phenomena. The price of this mediumpriced atlas is $8.00 less than the production costs, making it clearly one of the better investments in today's atlas market. Chapters are organized in five sections. The first and last section each contain one chapter which clearly introduces and concludes the work. Section II, entitled "Florida's Water: Its Occurrence and Modifications ," addresses this topic in nine chapters, making it the most lengthy section. Section III, focussing on regional water management, is presented in six chapters, five of which are written by the state's water management districts. The last substantive section entitled "Policy Issues: Conflicts and Resolutions" shifts the focus back to the Keith W Muckleston, Department of Geography, Oregon State University Corvallis, OR 97331-5505. Vol. XXV, No. 2 151 state level. Students ofwater management will find this section valuable and applicable not only to Florida but also many areas outside the state and region. In Chapter 1 the editors introduce the topic of water problems by skillfully encapsulating first global and then national problems before focussing on water problems in Florida. In Chapter 2 an attempt is made to treat the hydrologie cycle, history of water use, and the structure and properties of water before turning to Florida's water budget. This is indeed a challenging task when compressed into seven pages. The goal of Chapter 3 is to present Florida's climate and its implications for water resources. Coverage of climatic phenomena is thorough, including hurricanes and rare events, but the more difficult task of clarifying the relationship between climate and water resources is carried out with less success. Chapters 4 and 5 treat ground water and surface water, respectively. Given the relatively heavy dependence on ground water in Florida, justifiably more text is devoted to this topic. Chapter 4 skillfully accomplishes one of the goals of the atlas: to provide a sharp definition of water problems as well as a technical discussion. This chapter will serve as an excellent primer on ground water in the state. While Chapter 5 contributes to the general thrust of the atlas, it is among the weaker contributions. Maps and graphs do not tie in clearly with the text, English and metric systems are not used consistently, and some errors in the scale of runoff and ordering of drainage basins are evident. Chapter 6 addresses water quality. It is authored by twelve members ofthe Florida Department of Environmental Regulation (FLDER). This chapter presents a wealth of information on water quality within the state. The contributors concentrate on water quality problems stemming from anthropogenic activities, thereby providing the basis for some of the management decisions that are addressed in later chapters. When this chapter is compared to its Californian counterpart, the Florida atlas is clearly superior. Chapter 7 addresses ecosystems of surface water, ordering the presentatoli in accordance with the general direction of flow: from wetlands, through lakes, rivers...