OHIO SEA GRANT AND STONE LABORATORY OHIO SEA GRANT AND STONE LABORATORY

Transcription

1 OHIO SEA GRANT AND STONE LABORATORY Framing the Issue: Current State of Nutrient Management and Great Lakes Water Quality

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3 OSU s Island OHIO SEA GRANT AND STONE LABORATORY Campus

4 Southernmost Image: Ohio Sea Grant

5 Shallowest and Warmest

6 Discuss 3 Basins & Retention Time Photo: Ohio Sea Grant

7 80:10:10 Rule Source Understanding where your water comes from Retention time or flush out rate Lake Erie 80% of water from upper lakes 10% direct precipitation 10% from Lake Erie tributaries Maumee Largest tributary to Great Lakes Drains 4.2 million acres of ag land 3% of flow into Lake Erie

8 Discuss 3 Basins & Retention Time Photo: Ohio Sea Grant

9 Major Land Uses in The Great Lakes 100% 90% 80% 70% 60% 50% 40% 30% 20% 10% 0% Superior Michigan Huron Erie Ontario Residential Cropland Pasture Forest Brush/Wetland

10 Because of Land Use, Lake Erie Gets: More sediment More nutrients (fertilizers and sewage) More pesticides (The above 3 items are exacerbated by storms, which will be more frequent and severe due to climate change.) And Lake Erie is still biologically the most productive of the Great Lakes And always will be!!!

11 Blue-green Algae Bloom circa 1971, Lake Erie Photo: Forsythe and Reutter

12 Major groups/kinds in Lake Erie Diatoms Greens Blue-greens Source: Tom Bridgeman, UT (Cyanobacteria)

13 Toxin Reference Doses Toxicity of Algal Toxins Relative to Other Toxic Compounds found in Water Reference Dose = amount that can be ingested orally by a person, above which a toxic effect may occur, on a milligram per kilogram body weight per day basis. Dioxin ( mg/kg-d) Microcystin LR ( mg/kg-d) Saxitoxin ( mg/kg-d) PCBs ( mg/kg-d) Cylindrospermopsin ( mg/kg-d) Methylmercury ( mg/kg-d) Anatoxin-A ( mg/kg-d) DDT ( mg/kg-d) Selenium (0.005 mg/kg-d) Botulinum toxin A (0.001 mg/kg-d) Alachlor (0.01 mg/kg-d) Cyanide (0.02 mg/kg-d) Atrazine (0.04 mg/kg-d) Fluoride (0.06 mg/kg-d) Chlorine (0.1 mg/kg-d) Aluminum (1 mg/kg-d) Ethylene Glycol (2 mg/kg-d)

14 Microcystin Concentrations 1 ppb WHO drinking water limit 20 ppb WHO swimming limit 60 ppb highest level for Lake Erie till ppb highest level for Grand Lake St. Marys till Grand Lake St. Marys Lake Erie Maumee Bay area 2011 Currently no national standard

15 What brought about the rebirth (dead lake to Walleye Capital)? Phosphorus reductions from point sources (29,000 metric tons to 11,000).

16 Why did we target phosphorus? Normally limiting nutrient in freshwater systems P reduction is best strategy ecologically and economically Reducing both P and N would help

17 Impacts of Increased Phosphorus Concentrations HABs If P concentrations are high (regardless of the source, Ag, sewage, etc.) and water is warm, we will have a HAB (nitrogen concentration will likely determine which of the 7-10 species bloom) Nuisance Algae Blooms Cladophora Whole lake problem. An attached form. Winter algal blooms Dead Zone in Central Basin

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19 Joe DePinto, LimnoTech

20 Major Sources of Phosphorus Lawn fertilizer going down Sewage treatment plants (stable load) and CSO s (2-8% of load) Non-point source runoff from urban Non-point source runoff from agriculture (huge variation driven by precipitation) 1970s 2/3 poor sewage treatment Today 2/3 agricultural runoff

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22 Indicators of non-point sources e.g., land runoff Example: Maumee River Where OHIO SEA did GRANT the dissolved AND STONE LABORATORY phosphorus come from? Dissolved phosphorus is highly bioavailable to algae Indicators of point sources e.g., effluent Example: Cuyahoga River 1) Concentration increases during storms 1) Concentration increases during low flow 2) Concentration increases with flow 2) Concentration decreases with flow

23 Nutrient Loading Majority of loading occurs during storm events 80-90% of loading occurs 10-20% of time 2012 = dry spring and low load a very good thing!!

24 2013 Maumee River Spring Cumulative Discharge and Dissolved Phosphorus Loads 2013 discharge 2013 dissolved P Daily Discharge (km 3 ) Cumulative Discharge (km 3 ) Daily Load (metric tons/day) Cumulative Load (metric tons) Mar 01-Apr 01-May 01-Jun 01-Jul 01-Aug Mar 01-Apr 01-May 01-Jun 01-Jul 01-Aug 2013

25 11 years of satellite data provide bloom extent high medium Data from MERIS , MODIS 2012 low

26 Microcystis, Stone Lab, 8/10/10 Photos: Jeff Reutter

27 October 9, 2011 Photo: NOAA Satellite Image

28 Microcystis, Stone Lab, 9/20/13

29 Are HABs only a Lake Erie and Ohio Problem? Serious problem in US and Canada Global problem Chaired Loadings and Concentrations Subcommittee for Ohio P Task Force Now US Co-Chair of the Objectives and Targets Task Team of Annex 4 (nutrients) Subcommittee of GLWQA Weather can determine how we experience a bloom

30 Target Loads to Solve Problem Leading subcommittee of the Ohio Phosphorus Task Force to identify both spring and annual target loads of both total P and DRP (Reutter comment) to prevent or greatly reduce HABs Target is 40% reduction (Ohio Phosphorus Task Force II, 3/14/13)

31 Expect Rapid Recovery in Lake Erie, but must act quickly Due to rapid flush out rate Lake Erie = 2.7 years Western Basin = days Other Great Lakes could be over 100 years

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33 2008 TP Load (MTA)

34 TP (mg/l) OHIO SEA GRANT AND STONE LABORATORY Other Tribs, 694, 11% Detroi t, 2460, 39% TP Maum ee, 3171, 50% Detroit, 2731, 33% TP Other Tribs, 1367, 16% Maume e, 4226, 51% Othe r Tribs, 410, 10% TP Detr oit, 2652, 65% Mau mee, 1035, 25% Other Tribs, 567, 11% Detroit, 2629, 49% TP Maum ee, 2169, 40% Other Tribs, , 13% Average -TP (MT) Other Tribs, 4,050.33, 2% Average - Flow (cfs) Maumee, 6,894.03, 4% Detroit, 2,617.90, 43% Maumee, 2,650.34, 44% Detroit, 178,604.56, 94% Flows into Western Basin Maumee Detroit Other Tribs

35 Timing of Phosphorus Load HABs Primary Cause is phosphorus load from 1 March-31 July from Maumee River DRP is most important Can be forecast by load from Maumee River Cannot be forecast by load from Detroit River Dead Zone and Cladophora Annual phosphorus load is more important than spring load

36 OHIO SEA OHIO SEA GRANT AND STONE LABORATORY - Ann. discharge = 8.0 billion m 3 - Spring discharge = 3.4 billion m 3 - Ann. P load = 3,800 tonnes - Spring P load = 1,300 tonnes - Ann. discharge = 6.2 billion m 3 - Spring discharge = 5.0 billion m 3 - Ann. P load = 3,100 tonnes - Spring P load = 2,300 tonnes - Ann. discharge = 6.1 billion m 3 - Spring discharge = 1.0 billion m 3 - Ann. P load = 2,500 tonnes - Spring P load = 400 tonnes

37 Frequency of WHO risk (>10 5 cells/ml) during years with significant blooms. OHIO SEA GRANT AND STONE LABORATORY OHIO SEA GRANT AND STONE LABORATORY During development period blooms are most common along the coast (Wynne & Stumpf submitted) %

38 2014 NOAA forecast OHIO SEA GRANT AND STONE LABORATORY Merged NOAA-U.Toledo severity index 2014 severity was predicted within expected uncertainty Includes U.Michigan model

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40 13% Increase in TP

41 144% Increase in DRP

42 Immediate Needs Arm water treatment plants with tools, technology, and training to remove toxins Assures that plants produce safe drinking water Reduce load of P into Lake Erie by 40% Eliminates HABs and toxins Target bioavailable P PP is 25-50% bioavailable DRP is 100% bioavailable 1 pound of DRP = 2-4 pounds of PP

43 Research Needs Toxicity of algal toxins National guidelines on toxin levels Finger printing phosphorus Separating manure vs commercial phosphorus quantifying nutrient sources Value of N reductions in addition to P N impact on speciation and toxicity BMPs targeting DRP vs PP BMPs targeting drain tiles Impact of toxins on specific human populations and fish Role of mussels in cycling and nearshore to open lake transfer Understanding benthic algal nutrient limitations and targets Technology development Toxin removal water treatment plants Rapid toxicity measurement

44 Management and Policy Needs Voluntary vs incentives vs regulations Intense monitoring programs to understand and quantify nutrient loading Heidelberg quality data National guidelines for toxin levels

45 For more information: Dr. Jeff Reutter, Director Ohio Sea Grant and Stone Lab Ohio State Univ Kinnear Rd. Col, OH ohioseagrant.osu.edu Stone Laboratory Ohio State Univ. Box 119 Put-in-Bay, OH