Surface/groundwater water interactions are defined as the exchange of water across the soil/sediment water interface. In the Everglades National Park (ENP), these interactions may be important not only for the transport of water, but also for the transport of nutrients and chemicals. The Everglades ecosystem is drained by two major water ways: Shark and Taylor Slough. Sloughs are depressions with slightly deeper water than in the adjacent marshes. Taylor Slough is located in the southeastern corner of ENP and regulates Florida Bay fresh water inflows. This research contributes to the understanding of the regions and timing of surface/groundwater interactions in Taylor Slough.

There are a wide variety of tools and approaches applied at different time and spatial scales that can be used to estimate these interactions. For this investigation, four methodologies such as a water budget, hydraulic gradient, hydrochemistry and temperature as a tracer have been chosen and implemented following a longitudinal transect along Taylor Slough. Along this transect, 3 research sites have been selected. The northern site is located in the vegetated freshwater region and the other two are located in the brackish mangrove ecosystem. The sites are equipped with piezometers, pressure transducers, temperature sensors and a meteorological tower, all the equipment are recording data every 30 min. In addition, monthly surface water, groundwater and three days surface water composite samples are analyzed for major anions, cations, H and O stable isotopes. Preliminary results show that surface/groundwater interactions occur depending on season, surface water elevation in the Slough and proximity to Florida Bay.