Grantee Research Project Results
2005 Progress Report: Adaptive Management for Improved Water Quality in Multi-Use Watersheds
EPA Grant Number: CR830653Title: Adaptive Management for Improved Water Quality in Multi-Use Watersheds
Investigators: Lehman, John
Institution: University of Michigan
EPA Project Officer: Packard, Benjamin H
Project Period: January 1, 2003 through January 1, 2006 (Extended to January 31, 2007)
Project Period Covered by this Report: January 1, 2005 through January 1, 2006
Project Amount: $745,883
RFA: Nutrient Science for Improved Watershed Management (2002) RFA Text | Recipients Lists
Research Category: Water , Watersheds
Objective:
The objectives of this research project are to: (1) identify sources and sinks of nitrogen, phosphorus, silicon, and biologically important trace metals through a heterogeneous watershed containing multiple impoundments; (2) measure transformation rates of the nutrient elements, biological availability, anaerobic metabolism, biomass production, and community composition; (3) identify potential modes of intervention that could ameliorate nuisance algae conditions; and (4) communicate findings and recommendations to municipal and state officials, citizen advisory commissions, and environmental advocacy groups. The work is centered on the Huron River of southeastern Michigan, but results are generalizable to regional and national scale.
Progress Summary:
Many of the scientific research results from this study are publicly available at http://www.umich.edu/~hrstudy/. In addition, this project has developed strong working relationships with municipal and state officials based on openness and a great deal of communication and public education. These partnerships have made possible a new round of efforts to improve water quality through whole-lake manipulation.
Public presentations to municipal advisory boards and governing representatives are reproduced in the Reports and Results section of the project Web site.
Sample sites, logistics, measured parameters, and methods were described in the Year 1 Annual Report Summary and are described on the project Web site. Components added in 2005 were microcystin toxin assay by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay, sediment core analysis for nutrients and metals, X-ray fluorescence analysis of lake sediments, and rates of oxygen and nutrient flux at the sediment-water interface. The sediment-water data were used as input to a computer simulation model of Ford Lake. This two-dimensional multicompartment model treats physical exchange, chemical sources and sinks, and biological rates. It also has an economic optimization component worked out with the cooperation of officials operating the hydroelectric facility at the Ford Lake dam.
Nuisance cyanobacterial blooms (mainly Aphanizomenon or Microcystis) in Ford Lake are triggered after a prolonged period of stagnation when a physical mixing event stirs large quantities of phosphate and ammonium from the anoxic hypolimnion into the epilimnion. The stratification that sets up the anoxic, nutrient-charged hypolimnion is partly a consequence of dam operation combined with state regulation.
The dam is constructed such that the turbines draw their water mainly from the top 6 m. There are discharge gates at the bottom of the dam, but water discharged there does not generate power. The municipality that operates the dam has a contract with Detroit Edison that yields it 4.5 cents per KW-h generated. It also has regulations imposed by the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) to maintain dissolved oxygen at or above 5 mg/L in its tailrace.
During the summer, the municipality has a financial incentive to curtail hypolimnetic discharge and draw water exclusively from the surface. The gates at the bottom of the dam stay closed unless river flow is too great for the turbines to handle. Inevitably, deep water anoxia sets in and the sediments release inorganic phosphorous and nitrogen. At this point the officials are doubly hesitant to discharge from the hypolimnion because the foul, sulfide-rich water will lower oxygen immediately downstream, kill fish, and trigger potential fines.
As a result of information sharing we have been able to model the optimal real time solutions for turbines and generators as a function of available water (the dam is licensed as “run of the river” so stage height must remain constant). We simultaneously model the effects on hypolimnetic oxygen and nutrients, as well as tailrace oxygen, for different hypolimnion discharge scenarios. In December 2005 the Board of Trustees of the township that owns and operates the dam voted unanimously to work with us in an experimental way and to forego some revenue from power generation in the hope of reducing algal blooms, state DEQ officials have expressed willingness to relax tailrace oxygen enforcement, and Department of Natural Resources (DNR) fisheries officials have expressed willingness to accept the risk of loss of several thousand fish if we apply the models and theory to an adaptive management scheme. Obviously, the idea is to keep oxygen high, nutrients low, and not kill any fish, but this is still theory-driven experimental research with inherent uncertainty.
Project Status
Monitoring of river stations other than the inlet and outlet of Ford Lake ended in 2005. Mass balance summaries have been calculated, source and sink regions identified, and the results have been shared with municipal and state officials. They are using the information to develop new storm water management plans.
Routine sampling continues on Ford Lake, the intended experimental lake, and on Belleville Lake, the lake downstream from Ford Lake. It will be important to document that any intentional improvement in one lake does not lead to deterioration downstream. Moreover, township officials made a special appeal to the principal investigator to continue measurements owing to their perceived public benefits (including their incorporation in some school curricula), and they have used township personnel to collect and transport data and samples.
The City of Ann Arbor Water Utilities has taken great interest in our studies of Barton Pond, the main drinking water supply for the city. Barton Pond is upstream from the intended experimental lake, and it will be monitored as a control. City personnel perform sampling during the ice-free season, facilitate the installation of our data loggers, and cooperate with our studies of microcystin, including assessment of the efficacy of their treatment processes against the toxin. This work is in review for journal publication.
Work continues to improve and perfect the Ford Lake physical-chemical-biological-economic model in anticipation of whole lake experiments during summer 2006.
Survey results obtained from 642 residents in the vicinity of the affected lakes demonstrate that 73.8 percent consider the algae to be a serious problem, serious enough to affect their recreational activities (83.9% of n = 641), including swimming, fishing, boating, water skiing, and contact recreation in general. Fully 86.1 percent of 633 respondents reported that they would not eat fish from these lakes. Of 566 respondents, 54.8 percent believe that current efforts to improve the situation are too little (36.3% say they do not know what is being done). Significantly, 71.7 percent of 424 respondents said that they would be willing to pay $50 per year or more in additional taxes (37% said $100 or more) if improvements could be made. Complete survey results are posted at http://www.umich.edu/~hrstudy.
Partnerships and Communications
We have enjoyed continuing, fruitful interactions and cooperation with Michigan DEQ, Michigan DNR, County Drain Commission, and a host of municipalities, their environmental commissions, environmental directors, and other officials, most notably from Dexter, Loch Alpine, Ann Arbor, Ypsilanti Township, and Van Buren Township. In addition, our partnership with a nongovernmental, the Huron River Watershed Council, has proven to be especially productive in outreach, education, and public relations.
Future Activities:
Our lake model will be tested through field trials. Whole lake experiments are planned for summer 2006, using Barton Pond (upstream) as control, Ford Lake as the experimental basin, and Belleville Lake (downstream) as a reference with respect to previous years to detect unexpected results. These experiments continue to involve discussions and information sharing with municipal officials and citizen advisory groups.
Journal Articles on this Report : 2 Displayed | Download in RIS Format
Other project views: | All 15 publications | 2 publications in selected types | All 2 journal articles |
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Type | Citation | ||
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Lehman JT, Abella SEB, Litt AH, Edmondson WT. Fingerprints of biocomplexity: taxon-specific growth of phytoplankton in relation to environmental factors. Limnology and Oceanography 2004;49(4, Part 2):1446-1456. |
CR830653 (2005) |
not available |
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Lehman JT, Bell DW, McDonald KE. Reduced river phosphorus following implementation of a lawn fertilizer ordinance. Lake and Reservoir Management, 2009;25(3):307-312. |
CR830653 (2005) |
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Supplemental Keywords:
water, drinking water, watersheds, soil, sediments, adsorption, absorption, chemical transport, ecological effects, bioavailability, metabolism, organism, cellular, population, enzymes, stressor, chemicals, toxics, particulates, metals, heavy metals, effluent, discharge, dissolved solids, ecosystem, indicators, restoration, regionalization, scaling, terrestrial, aquatic, habitat, integrated assessment, innovative technology, remediation, oxidation, public policy, decision making, community-based, cost benefit, survey, preferences, environmental assets, environmental chemistry, biology, physics, mathematics, ecology, hydrology, geology, limnology, zoology, modeling, monitoring, analytical, surveys, measurement methods, remote sensing, Great Lakes, Midwest, Michigan, MI, EPA Region 5, Huron River, Barton Pond, Ford Lake, Belleville Lake, Secchi depth, nutrient flux, watershed assessment, watershed management, watershed restoration, anaerobic nitrate respiration,, RFA, Scientific Discipline, INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION, Water, ECOSYSTEMS, Ecosystem Protection/Environmental Exposure & Risk, POLLUTANTS/TOXICS, Water & Watershed, Aquatic Ecosystems & Estuarine Research, Arsenic, Aquatic Ecosystem, Water Quality Monitoring, Environmental Monitoring, algal blooms, Terrestrial Ecosystems, Ecology and Ecosystems, Water Pollutants, Watersheds, anthropogenic stress, bioassessment, anthropogenic processes, bloom dynamics, ecosystem monitoring, watershed management, biodiversity, conservation, nutrient kinetics, biota diversity, redox chemistry, diagnostic indicators, ecosystem indicators, watershed sustainablility, dissolved organic nitrogen, aquatic ecosystems, bioindicators, water quality, ecosystem stress, watershed assessment, biological indicators, conservation planning, restoration planning, watershed restoration, nitrogen, ecosystem responseRelevant Websites:
http://www.umich.edu/~hrstudy Exit
Progress and Final Reports:
Original AbstractThe perspectives, information and conclusions conveyed in research project abstracts, progress reports, final reports, journal abstracts and journal publications convey the viewpoints of the principal investigator and may not represent the views and policies of ORD and EPA. Conclusions drawn by the principal investigators have not been reviewed by the Agency.