This area covers the Banana River in the northern Indian River Lagoon. It contains 10 impoundments covering 2578 acres in Brevard County, and 14 impoundments covering 1411 acres in the MINWR. A majority of the impoundments outside of MINWR are privately owned except C2 (county) and C3 and C34 (state).

BREVARD COUNTY COMPONENT OF THE BANANA RIVER MANAGEMENT AREA.

ImpoundmentS C2 and C34 are under RIM management, with experimental water level manipulations for wood storks taking place in the south cell of C2. The dikes of impoundments C3, 2, and 10 have been breached, whereas the remaining impoundments are unmanaged. Most of the impoundments in the area have been heavily influenced by fresh water input. A portion of Sykes Creek empties into impoundment C2, and impoundments 1-5, 10, and 11 were formerly flooded by free-flowing wells. The wells have now been capped, and these marshes are now flooded primarily by rainfall.

Vegetation in the impoundments reflects the fresh water influence, with species such as Typha spp. and upland exotics dominating many of the areas. Exceptions occur at impoundment C2, which has a significant herbaceous halophyte cover, and C3 and C34, where black mangroves predominate.

Major features of the area include the Sykes Creek Parkway, which runs east of impoundment 1 to the south end of C2, where it connects with Audubon Rd.; the barge canal, SR528, and the 528 Causeway, which divide impoundment C2 into north and south cells; the Central Brevard Airport north of Impoundment 3; the 520 Causeway which crosses the Banana River north of C3; the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station; and the Kennedy Space Center at the northern limit of the management area. Part of Sykes Creek, empties into Impoundment C2, and Newfound Harbor divides the southern tip of Merritt Island into eastern and western halves, with land connections via the 520 Causeway, Sykes Creek Pkwy, and SR528.

Most of this area has been intensively developed except for some areas south of SR528, where approximately 50 ha of Batis- Salicornia marshes exists, and in the 1000-island area, near C34, where mangrove and herbaceous halophyte wetlands exists, mostly in islands within the Banana River.

MINWR COMPONENT OF THE BANANA RIVER MANAGEMENT AREA.

There are 14 impoundments within the MINWR covering 1411 acres (impoundments T-25B and T-25D are joined and listed as one). The T-28 impoundments are presently managed under RIM or under MINWR strategy 2, but could be managed differently if more culverts were available. Impoundments in the C-21 group are now closed all year and are being considered as potential dredge spoil sites. The T-25 group is being managed under MINWR strategies 1 or 2.