UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
GEOLOGICAL SURVEY MAP SERIES NO. 30, December, 1968


FLORIDA BOARD OF CONSERVATION
puhlishedb hv DIVTISIN OF GEOL Or.Y


ptibishic Isv Dl vTSII'SIN u(OP cR01 flE


SURFACE DRAINAGE CHARACTERISTICS IN VOLUSIA COUNTY, FLORIDA


BY
DARWIN D. KNOCHENMUS
U. S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY


INTRODUCTION

Volusia County is adjacent to the Atlantic Coast in east-
central Florida (location map). The county comprises about
1,200 square miles of which one-half is poorly drained. The
population had doubled in the last 15 years, and the area accord-
ingly is experiencing a demand for additional land for man's use
Some of the land being used is poorly drained.
The maps in this report delineate drainage basins, show the
real distribution of rainfall and runoff, show the position of
the piezometric surface' relative to land surface, and indicate
drainage feasibility This information on surface drainage can be
used by couny unty planners in planning land use of the County in
harmony with the natural hydrologic conditions The purpose of
the investigation on which this report is based, was to provide a
scientific basis for optimum development of the county's water
resources. Additional information resulting from the investigation
will be published in other miap reports and in a comprehensive
report on the occurrence, distribution, quality and utilization of
the water resources; and effects of drainage and development on
the water resources Prior to this investigation, a description of the
ti C urces of Volusia County was published by the
I, i i t- i .... i Ssurcy as Report of Investigation 22 (1960)

DRAINAGE BASINS
The malor topographic features in Volusia County that
influence surface drainage are shown on figure 1. The charac-
teristically flat marine terraces Talbot, Pamlico, and Silver
Bluff -- are drained by streams that flow through large areas
of swamp, haie low gradients, and have poorly defined channels
The terraces are separated by narrow sand ridges and are ar-
ranged in a step-like succession toward the coast, with the Talbot
terrace generally at an elevation of -i0 feet, the Pamlico terrace
generally at 25 feet, and the Silver Bluff at 10 feet (fig 4).
Rinia ridge, which separates the Talbot and Pamlico terrace, is
5 to 10 feet higher than the Talbot terrace; in some places the
Atlantic Coastal ridge. whichh separates the Pamlico and Silver
Bluff terraces, is as i, ach as 30 ifet higher hai the Pamhlico
terrace. The narrow sand ridges are characteristically devoid of
surface drainage, but at places are traversed by streams Tonaoka
Riser and Spruce Creek traverse the Atlantic Coastal ridge and
Tiger Bay Canal cuts across the Rima ridge. The narrow sand
ridges, aligned parallel to the coast, mark positions of ancient
shorelines.
The DeLand and Crescent City ridges, in the western third
of the county, are characterized by high relief, lakes and dry
depressions, and the lack of surface streams Relief of more than
1t0 feet is found on the DeLand ridge where the maximum
elevation is slightly greater than 120 feet and some ponds are
less than 20 feet in ele\ation. The topography of the DeLand
and Crescent City ridges is similar to the topography of other
major ridges in Florida and has been given the name karstt"
or "modified karst" topography. Karst topography as found in
Florida is characterized by numerous lakes and dry depressions in
areas of high relief wiith little external surface drainage. Karst
topography develops in an area which i s underlain by limestone or
other rocks susceptible to solution and where moderate to large
amounts of rainfall are diverted from surface flow to routes of
subsurface flow
The drainage basins of thle County are part of three major
drainage systems as shown on figure 1. Fifty-eight percent of the
County drains to the St Johns River or its tributaries, 31
percent drains directly to the Atlantic Ocean, and 11 percent
has no surface drainage. Rainfall on the internally drained area.
is absorbed and percolates as ground water into the St Johns
basin The drainage basins and their areas are listed in table 1

TABLE 1.-DRAINAGE BASINS, VOLtUSIA COUNTY
BASIN AREA
NO. BASIN DESIGNATION (SQ MI))
St. Johns River Basin
I Hull Cypress Swamp 2
2 Cow Creek 28
3 St. Johns River (Lake Harney) 30
4 St. Johns River (Lake George) 37
5 Deep Creek (Barberville) 39
6 Middle Haw Creek 41
7 St. Johns River (Puzzle Lake) 62
8 Little Haw Creek 102
9 St Johns River (Floodplain) 153
10 Deep Creek (Osteen) 157*
Atlantic Coastal Area
11 Groover Branch 13
12 Little Tomoka River 15
13 Turnbull Creek (Turnbull Bay) 17
1.1 Mosquito Lagoon 34
15 Turnbull Creek (Indian River) 47
16 Halifax River . 48
17 Spruce Creek 96
18 Tomoka River 121**
Internally Drained Alea
19 Area of no surface drainage 126
Includes area of Cow Creek.
* Includes areas of Groover Branch and Little Tomoka River.
The drainage basins in general have elongate shapes trending
north-south, parallel to the trend of the topographic features and
the seashore. Divides which separate the headwaters of the drain-
age basins on the marine terrace are characterized by low swampy
ground rather than a ridge, and are indefinite. Such low-level
divides between drainage basins actually migrate back and forth
a short distance depending upon the pattern of rainfall.
The basins east of the DeLand ridge are bounded by narrow
north-south trending sand ridges which present the development
of eastward flowing streams. Rina ridge acts generally as the
surface drainage distde between the Talbot and Pamlico terraces
except where the headwaters of the Middle Haw Creek basin have
been dterted through a low in the Rima ridge to the Tomoka
River basin by Tiger Bay Canal (fig. 1).
Topographically high DeLand ridge, which has no surface
drainage, is also elongate in a north-south direction, and prevents
streams from flowing westward from the center of the county.
The streams in Volusia County have low gradients, large
channel storage capacities in sn.unpy areas and undefined or
poorly defined channels These characteristics describe a non-
integrated system. The main stem of streams have only a few
'level of water in wells penetrating the limestone aquifer


short tributaries relative to the size of the drainage basin.
Streams that drain swampy areas react slowly to heavy rains.
They rise slowly during the rain and fall slowly after the storm
passes In their natural state, the streams of Volusia County react
slowly to storm events, but because of channel modifications
designed to speed runoff Tomoka River and Spruce Creek haie
become quicker acting

RUNOFF
Runoff is the water that leaves an area via its surface streams.
On figure 2, runoff is expressed as the depth of water in inches
that would cover the area if all the flow from the area for a
year was distributed on it The pattern of shaded areas depicts
the distribution of runoff in the County. The values of runoff
shown are average annual runoff for that whole area, and not
the runoff at any given point within the area. Average annual
runoff was derived by adjusting short-term records to the long-
term record at Spruce Creek for the period 1951 to 1966
Factors which influence runoff are rainfall, topography, and
hydrogeology. The runoff pattern of figure 2 shows significant
real differences in runoff, from no runoff from the DeLand ridge
to 18 inches on parts of the Talbot and Pamlico terraces. The
hydrgeologic influences of thickness of unsaturarated zone, and
permeability of the surficial material and underlying limestone
are the controlling factors in runoff differences and mask the
influences of real differences in rainfall and topography For
instance, runoff is lowest from the DeLand ridge which is in
the area hathe area haing the highest rainfall
Annual rainfall distribution for the climiatic period 1931-60
is shown on figure 2 The normal annual rainfall for the county
is 52 inches with Daytona Beach receiving 50 inches and DeLand
55 inches Precipitation increases from abour 50 inches on the
coast to 54 inches along the DeLand ridge in the western part
of the County.
In peninsular Florida, and especially in Volusia County, the
topographic influence on runoff is subordinate to the hydrogeologic
influence-areas of high relief ha\e less runoff than areas of low
relief lee rn-crl the flat swampy marine terraces are areas or
higher ** I the ridges have lower runoff. Crescent City
ridge like DeLand ridge has areas of no runoff but they are too
small to map at the scale shown Many of the lakes on the
Crescent City ridge are connected by streams and have an outlet
and therefore Crescent City ridge has more runoff than the DeLand
ridge which has none. The Rima and Atlantic Coastal ridges
have low runoff as shown on figure 2.
Hydrogeology has the greatest influence on the runoff dis-
tribution pattern in the county The surface material is predomi.
nantly permeable sand so that rain can readily seep into the
ground. The thickness of the unsaturated zone under the terraces
is less than 5 feet. while it reaches 30 feet under the DeLand
ridge. This unsaturated zone acts as a temporary reservoir to store
infiltrating rain water As water percolates through the surficial
material, it reaches I 1 .1 .. limestone where solution
activity has increased 1, i water transmitting capacity
of the rocks. The topography of the DeLand ridge also promotes
the near surface temporary storage of water The many lakes and
depressions store water until it can seep into the ground or
evaporate The permeability of the surficial materials and the
thickness of the unsaturated zone are the major factors which
result in the Crescent City and DeLand ridges having low or
no runoff

DRAINAGE FEASIBILITY
Volusia County receives most of its ground water from re-
charge of local rainfall, and in the center of the County, farthest
from areas of discharge along the St. Johns River and the Atlantic
Ocean, the piezometric surface is the highest In many places the
piezometric surface is less than 5 feet below the land surface
(fig. 3)-a potentially beneficial situation in obtaining a ground-
water supply but a detrimental factor when draining swaampy areas.
The hydrogeologic section in figure 4 shows the land surface,'
piezometric surface, and generalized geology. As is shown, the
areas just east of the DeLand, Rima, and Atlantic Coastal ridges:
are low relative to the adjacent ridges and the piezometric surface
is at or above the land surface. These areas are poorly drained
not only because they are low in elevation and collect surface'
water but also because the high piezometric surface allows no
downward percolation of water. At times there is even an upward
movement of water which keeps the area water logged The
sediments above the Floridan aquifer are semi-permeable and
allow water to move up or down depending on the differences
in elevation between the shallow ground water and the piezo-
metric surface.
Rainfall is more than sufficient to keep the aquifer full and
the piezometric surface near the top of the ground under the flat
terraces. The excess water either runs off or evaporates from the
swamps.
A map (fig 5) showing drainage feasibility was drawn from
figure 3 which shows the relative position of the piezometric
surface to the land surface. Figure 5 depicts areas which would
be difficult to drain, areas which could be drained where needed,
and areas where drainage is not needed. The two maps are similar
in that, where the piezometric surface is near the land surface the
area would be difficult to drain using surface canals. Where the
piezometric surface is at some distance below the top of the
ground the land is essentially well drained and drainage is not
needed.
The land is wet and swampy where the piezometric surface
is near land surface. Where this hydraulic condition exists, drain-
age by surface canals would be essentially ineffective. When the
shallow ground water is lowered a little, upward movement of
deeper ground water is increased nullifying any substantial
lowering of shallow water levels.
Effective drainage of dtfficult-to-drain areas can be accom-
plished only by lowering the piezometric surface perhaps by
pumping water from the underlying aquifer As the piezometric
surface is lowered, the shallow ground water will percolate
downward and relieve the water logging condition.

REFERENCES
Wyrick, Granville G.
1960 The giound-uater resources of Volusia County,
Florida, Florida Geol Survey Rept. Inv. 22.
Purn, Harbans S. and Vernon, Robert 0.
1964 Summai y of the geology of Florida and a guide-
book to the classic exposures, Florida Geol.
Survey Special Pub. 5.










Prepared by
UNITED STATES GEOLOGICAL SUREY
in cooperation with the
DIVISION OF GEOLOGY
FLORIDA BOARD OF CONSERVATION
and the
BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS OF VOLUSIA COUNTY

TALLAHASSEE, FLORIDA


Location Map


A DELAND RIDGE

7-A TALBOT TERRACE RIMA W ATLANTIC
o RIDGE PAMLCO COASTAL

EVEL- SURFICAL DEPOSITS EA






FIGURE 4-Generalized Profile Along Line A-A


FIGURE 1-Drainaae Basins


FIGURE 3-Piezometric Surface Relative to Land Surface


FIGURE 2-Average Annual Rainfall and Runoff


FIGURE 5-Drainage Feasibility


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