BESC 320 – Water and Bioenvironmental Science(Great Lakes)

Great Lakes: biology, geology, geography, cultural case studyThe Great Lakes occur on one of the world’s longest international borders:

Image: IJC 2015

Components of the issue: The long border Equal status of countries – both are developed, capitalistic,

democratic Despite the vastness of Canada, 90 percent of Canadians live within

100 miles of the U.S. border. Both countries use the water heavily and problems have manifested

due to actions on both sides of the border. Given the points above, it is in the interest of both countries to have

a system of guidelines and processes in place to both prevent and mediate conflicts...

The International Joint Commission (IJC)—is one of the best examples of binational cooperation and action (http://www.ijc.org/en/).

Read the 2015 Review of Accords up to and including the paragraph beginning “2015 RECOMMENDATION 2:” on page 7. Also read A Ci rc le of Blue article.

Reflect on this type of water resource management and contrast with uni-governmental regulation under centralized or other systems of government.

See the system and visualize its origins http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ibTWQogsbL8 & feature=player_embedded (5 min)

Understand the geological formation of this system Repeated glaciation Current form for 11K years All interconnected naturally to each other and the Atlantic Connected by man to MissR and GoMex

Anatomy— Learn the anatomy of the five lakes, major riverways, the basic navigation constrictions, and entry to the sea

The Chicago Sanitary Canal connects the Great Lakes and the Mississippi River.

Here is a good map and information on the St. Lawrence estuary (link).

Video describing river reversal (link)

Ecosystem Services Over 150 million tons of freight transported

annually (Water Atlas p. 70) Provides recreation (e.g. $2B to Michigan

economy per year for fishing alone) Provides water for industrial, agricultural and

domestic usage Provides hydropower Many other (reflect) ecosystem services

Trending environmental change in Great Lakes Effects of global warming on these Lakes is not well defined Likely: Warming of waters will reduce water quality (Water Atlas, p.

32) and favor non-native species Precipitation effect uncertain, but probably reduced Direct anthropogenic: expect increased withdrawal, nutrification,

emergent toxin issues (e.g. mercury? pesticide or industrial residues?)

A brief history of perhaps the world’s most damaged, managed, and resilient fisheries

(boom, bust, boom… stay tuned)Asian carp – 1st wave (late 1800s-1950s)Common carp (Cyprinus carpio)

centuries of aquaculture in China popular sport fish in Europe introduced to North America for sport

fishing never caught on in US or Canada now considered naturalized, though invasive

Goldfish (Carassius auratus) introduced through pet trade

Grass carp (Ctenopharyngodon idella) introduced for aquatic vegetation control now considered invasive triploid carp often used naturalized

Sea lamprey (Petromyzon marinus) – 1920-30’s

grow to 2' parasitize large fish sci-fi mouth destroyed commercial native fishery (whitefish, lake trout, walleye)

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lamprey controls investigated, such as electrical barriers control achieved using a selective pesticide (TFM) TFM effort required massive international coordination

Alewife (1949 ) planktivore invaded through Welland

Canal from the Atlantic population explosion because

lamprey decimated native predator population

massive fish kills on beaches (1970’s) and decimated state recreation money

massive reduction efforts employed to some avail

eventually controlled by introduced predators (salmon; see below)

now alewife are seen as desirable for supporting the salmon fishery

now alewife are subject to “restoration” efforts because their population has declined recently due to competition with new invasive species (e.g. zebra mussels; see below)∴ 1975—Alewife evil; 1985—Alewife saviors; 2005—Alewife victims

Salmon – late 1960’s, ongoing

salmonids (includes trout species) introduced to control alewife it worked restored fishery of Great Lakes in new form salmonid smorgasbord includes, for example, chinook, coho, sockeye,

and Atlantic salmon, and (German) brown trout

∴ commercial fishery (native species) recreational fishery (exotic salmon)

Round goby (1990)

benthic omnivore raids nests of native fishes realized to be beneficial for zebra mussel control

Zebra mussel (1992; spread to all 5 Great Lakes by 2002) highly effective planktivore global problem (broad latitudinal range) encrusting growth fouls equipment, etc. outcompetes native seafood mussels possible control through other invaders

round goby rusty crayfish

Mussel invasion 2 – quaggas (link) massive phytoplankton deficits

Asian carp – 2nd wave Silver carp (Hypophthalmichthys molitrix)

Bighead carp (H. nobilis)

Carpocalypse! constant threat to Great Lakes

—ONE metal door stands between these carpsand L. Michigan

ONE woman stands between these carps and human extinction

And other weekend warriors (video “redneck fishing” 2:19)

HUNGER GAMES

MOCKING CARPPART 1

recent range map

systematic control attempts include o electric weirs (link)o sonic weirs (link)o genetic and pathogen strategies (link)

daughterless + genetic drive (good explanation video; first 4 min) herpes (good reporting and caveat video; first 2:10)

o CSSC closure (see Great Lake states (OH, MI, PA, WI, MN) v. US Army Corps of Engineers & City of Chicago: http://www.greatlakeslaw.org/blog/asian-carp/

Further readingFYI only, here is a poster (JPG) on Great Lakes invasives (fyi)Here is a pamphlet (PDF) on GL invasives (see esp. the timeline)

PCB Story PCBs used in transformer coolants regular point source PCB contaminations of waterways, etc. fat soluble: bioaccumulation, biomagnification health consequences (cancer, immunodeficiency, birth defects,

endocrine dysfunction, dermal & ocular problems, liver toxicosis, blood imbalance)

prolonged persistence (half life 10-15 years)

Timeline: Massive use of PCBs for decades before we realized toxic effects and

environmental contamination In mid-late 1960’s we found out PCBs were very toxic

Key event: 1968 rice contamination—1200 people in Japan contracted various diseases linked to the contamination

In 1970 we found it was present in the environment 1972 Monsanto voluntarily imposed sales restrictions to “closed”

uses 1976 US & Canada passed legislation banning PCBs US & Canada work hard to assess and make recommendations

limiting intake of fish by humans

Here are examples of the data

BTW, data look similar for DDT

If the data look good, here is a sobering summary from a Canadian research report:

Canadian Council of Resources and Evnironment Ministers (link to source)

IJC instrumental in research synthesis and policy advising for cleanup and regulation. PCBs still high in many regions. Fish were basically inedible from Lake Erie when I was a kid. Search PCB at the IJC site: http://www.ijc.org/en/searchX/search_recherche_ac.htm

Extranational (Indigenous) conflict—Indians (E.g. Chippewa) granted soveriegn rights to fish. Local conflicts about harvested amounts. Good water topic.

In the news… Example of recent internal conflicthttp://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/03/28/great-lakes-water-levels-michigan_n_1384719.html (news report)

Trending topics in Water:http://theislandpresident.com/#!wp-video-lightbox[iframes]/0/

http://www.thedailyshow.com/watch/mon-april-2-2012/exclusive---mohamed-nasheed-extended-interview-pt--1