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WHY ARE WE HERE??

1. Philosophical2. Historical3. Practical

PhilosophicallyHistoricallyPractically

Summer is over!

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Previous work: Wetlands

Wetlands are a common f t f th l d ifeature of the landscape in northern Michigan as well as numerous other locations. Wetlands, besides being important habitat for wildlife, are important in preserving water quality. I have studied the susceptibility of wetlands p yto acid rain, the ability of wetlands to retain nutrients and trace metals, and the quantity and types of organic matter exported from wetlands.

Previous work: Little Rock Lake, WI

Little Rock Lake, near Rhinelander, WI, is a seepage lake situated in glacial outwash gsands. Such lakes have very little capacity to neutralize acid rain. This lake was divided in two with an artificial curtain, and one half was experimentally acidified for six years and then allowed to recover in order to study the effects of acid rain on lakes Weeffects of acid rain on lakes. We studied the processes in the lake that neutralize acid inputs and that determine the rate at which this lake is acidified.

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Previous work: Lake Sempach, Switzerland

Lake Sempach is a deep, pre-alpine lake in the heart of lush farmlands in Switzerlandfarmlands in Switzerland. Agricultural runoff and sewage inputs caused severe eutrophication of the lake. Building tertiary sewage treatment plants was not enough to solve the problem, and in-lake treatment (aeration) also was ineffective. This situation has led the Swiss government to pass legislation stating that farmers cannot apply more fertilizer to the land than the land can absorb. I studied the processes in the sediments that promoted internal recycling of nutrients and exacerbated the eutrophication problem.

Previous work: Silbersee, Germany

This lake has an interesting history as well as a terrible problem with high sulfide concentrations resulting from leaching of gypsum and nutrients from a nearby landfill. I studied carbon cycling as a means of understanding the relations between sulfide and nutrient inputs.

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Case Study Case Study -- Lake SuperiorLake Superior

Lake Superior is the largest lake in the world by surface area and the most pristine of the Great Lakes. It is also the least well known of these precious resources. Because of its relatively undeveloped watershed, most pollutants reach the lake from the atmosphere. Under grants from the National Science Foundation and the Michigan Great Lakes Protection Fund, we have been working to better understand how pollutants reaching the lake are transported from site to site and cycled within the food web.

Previous work: NYC ReservoirsPrevious work: NYC ReservoirsThe New York City drinking water supply system is composed of 19 reservoirs and three controlled lakes located in southeastern upstate New York. The system has a usable capacity of 580 billion gallons and supplies an average of 1.4 billion gallons per day to 9 million people. Since 1992, we have been working with the NYC D t t fNYC Department of Environmental Protection to assure a high quality source water despite increasing land use and pollution pressures in the watershed. I have studied sedimentation rates and nutrient burial in sediments.

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Previous work: Torch Lake, MITorch Lake is a Superfund site on the Keweenaw Peninsula that had 20% of its volume filled with mine tailings (stamp sands). Trace metals have leached from these mine residues and reached toxic concentrations particularly in the sediments. The U.S.EPA elected not to remediate the lake because of the expense involved. However, our work has shown that the time required for the lake tothe time required for the lake to recover on its own is a few hundred years. Senior design classes have examined the feasibility of capping the sediments of the lake to hasten its recovery.

Current & future work• Sedimentation in Schoharie Reservoir, NYC

DEP, **• The carbon balance of Lake Superior:• The carbon balance of Lake Superior:

Modeling lake processes and understanding impacts on the regional carbon budget, NSF, * Comparison of L.Michigan & Superior C & P cycling; (Lake Acidification)Acidification)

• Recovery of Torch Lake from Copper Mining Impacts, MI DEQ Remediation, Gay Stamp Sand site.

• Hg TMDLs for S.Dakota lakes

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Environ. Engineering Course Sequence

P-Chem

CE3501

CE3502

Fluids

CE3620

Thermo

CE4501Env.Chem

4505

CE4506Regs,P2,3

Water Resources

GE3850Geohydrol.

CE4508Drinking&WasteWtr

CE4507Distribution.

ce4505Surf.Water

CE4504Air Quality

BL4451Limnology

FW4220Wetlands

CE4620 Open Channel Flow

CE4630 Hydraulic structures

CE5508: Biogeochem., CE5504: Surf.Water Qual. Modeling

COURSE OBJECTIVES (re SWQ):

Why should environmental engineers be concerned with surface water

What can environmental engineers do to protect (maintain) surface water quality?

be concerned with surface water quality?

quality?What can environmental engineers do to restore impaired surface waters?

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Other course objective:

• Learn to construct computerized mass• Learn to construct computerized mass balance models;– Distinguish and be able to implement

steady-state and nonsteady-stateapproaches;L i l i l th d( ) f– Learn simple numerical method(s) for implementation of nonsteady-state models.

Issues for this week:

• When is water availability limited?

• Who (should) own(s) surface waters?

• Whose job is it to protect surface waters?

• What are “reasonable” goals for surface water protection?

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WORLD WATER SUPPLY

SALT WATER (97.1%)

FRESHWATER (2.9%)

ICE CAPS (78%)Ground water (21%)

SURFACE WATER (~1%)L.Baikal

AfricanRiftLakes

Smaller Lakes

L.Su

perio

rOt

her

Grea

t Lak

es

Surface water is 1% of 3% (i.e., 0.03%) of earth’s total water

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ARAL SEA

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FOR WHAT IS SURFACE WATER QUALITY

IMPORTANT?• DRINKING WATER • RECREATION (SWIMMING, BOATING,

FISHING, AESTHETICS)• INDUSTRIAL PROCESSESINDUSTRIAL PROCESSES• WASTE REMOVAL• WILDLIFE HABITAT

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SURFACE WATER QUALITY PROBLEMS

• Eutrophication ( ) • Species loss• Eutrophication ( )• Toxic chemicals ( )• Siltation ( )• Bacterial

contamination ( )

• Species loss ••••

• Wetland loss• Exotic (invasive)

species ( )

••• Compartmentalization

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Air, radiation

WaterSolid waste

Toxics, pesticides, prevention

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RECITATION

• WHOSE JOB IS IT TO PROTECT• WHOSE JOB IS IT TO PROTECT SURFACE WATERS?

• WHO (SHOULD) OWN SURFACE WATERS?

• HOW SHOULD SURFACE WATER BE OW S OU SU C WPROTECTED (I.E., WHAT GOALS, APPROACHES)?

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COMMAND & CONTROL

COMPARTMENTALIZATION

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SUCCESS?

FAILURE?