US EPA, Great Lakes National Program Office

Collaborations- Lake Erie 2014Cooperative Science and Monitoring Initiative

Intensive Sampling Year

CSMI Rotational CycleCSMI Rotational Cycle

LakeSuperior

LakeHuron Lake

Ontario

LakeErie*

LakeMichigan

Cooperative Science and Monitoring

Cycle

Cooperative Science and Monitoring

Cycle

LaMP Management Committee identifies key Science and Monitoring

Needs** for Lake

CSMI-SC will facilitate coordination of

priority ONGOING science

CSMI-SC vets list to

determine how science

priorities can be

addressed: ONGOING

work or NEW work

required

Feedback: binational CSMI workplan presented to

LaMP Management Committee and CGLRM

and GLRRIN

ONGOING ScienceNEW Science

CSMI -SC vets list to determine what NEW

science can be initiated to address priority information needs, based on available

resources and expertise

Laboratory Analysis Phase

Data Analysis and Report Writing Phase

Each LaMP, with BTS, GLFC and SOLEC and support from CGLRM, GLRRIN organizes Lake Based Forum to discuss Science of the lake

Communicating Out

CSMI -SC will identify

where multiple

agencies are

conducting ONGOING

science that will benefit

from coordination

CSMI facilitates the development and

implementation of NEW science activities

Year of Field Activity

YEAR 2:

YEAR 3:

YEAR 4:

YEAR 5:

YEAR 1:

YEAR 1:

Cooperative Science and Monitoring Initiative Process

1. BEC

2. Primary literature publications;

3. Conference presentations/posters; joint synthesis reports

4. Outreach – CGLRM/GLRRIN

Subproject 1: Quantifying the internal nutrient loads to the water column in the western basin.

Assessing Nutrient / Eutrophication Dynamics in Western Lake Erie

Ohio Lake Erie Commission Gail P. Hesse, Executive Director

Sample/experimental sites for internal load measurements

Subproject 2: Evaluating the important factors of river hydrology and/or seasonality of loads to harmful algal bloom formation and dynamics in the western basin of Lake Erie, including the effects of storm and other meteorological/climatological forcing events

This project will couple a Bayesian Hierarchical SPARROW (BH-SPARROW) fit for the Great Lakes region and SWAT models calibrated for the Maumee and Sandusky River basins to quantify both N and P loadings.

Subproject 3: Developing a nutrient mass budget for the western basin of Lake Erie which includes sub-watersheds AND overall modeling synthesis

This is a fine-scale linked hydrodynamic –sediment transport –advanced eutrophication model suite for the lower Maumee River and the entire Western Basin of the lake. The model, called the Western Lake Erie Ecosystem Model (WLEEM)

11

19821986

19901994

19982002

20062010

0

5

10

15

20

25

Central Basin of Lake ErieSpring Annual Basin Averages for

Total Phosphorus1983-2012

TPTarget ConcLinear (Target Conc)

μg

P•L

-1

Dissolved oxygen data loggers

• At all ten Lake Erie Central Basin stations• Depths of ½ and 3 meters from bottom• Will be in place all season, June through September• Provide information on rate of oxygen loss, changes over season

US Geological Survey

• Ring Lake Erie’s central basin to look at extent of hypoxic zone.• Transects (not shown) to look at extent and potential effect of hypoxic

zone on fish• Lower food web and fisheries work requiring several ships/boats

Long-Term Water Quality Monitoring, Offshore – consistent sampling and analyses.

• Lakes Michigan, Huron and Erie started in 1983

• Ontario began in 1986• Lake Superior began in 1992

TRIAXUS 3D Towed Undulating Vehicle

Specifications

• Triaxus is a towed instrument platform that houses several sensors:• SeaBird CTD & D.O. probe• Active Fluorometer• Laser Optical Plankton Counter (LOPC)• Nitrate Analyzer• Side-Scan Sonar• Fluoroprobe• Transmissometer

• Towed behind the R/V Lake Guardian

Benthos survey – Buffalo State University and U.S. Geological Survey

140+ stations

Mussel population estimates

Entire benthic community

US Geological Survey – David Krabbenhoft• Mercury monitoring/research to take place in September• Where is the mercury coming from• How is it becoming methylated (made more toxic)?

Total Mercury by Lake Layer in the Great Lakes (note: these do not include Western Lake Erie)

Same results plotted with Western Lake Erie included

US Geological Survey – Dale Robertson• Developing techniques to estimate the load of

nutrients entering Lake Erie from the main rivers.

• Extending work of Dr. Dave Dolan, whose last estimates are from 2008.

• SPARROW model, but stepped down to a daily estimate

Lake of the Year (LOY) Program

Pushing the Science

Perform a detailed bioaccumulation study• Water (dissolved and particulate) • Phytoplankton• Zooplankton• Mussels • Benthic macro invertebrates• Forage fish• Lake trout

Started with Lake Superior in the summer of 2011

Top to bottom lake snapshot

Great Lakes Fish Monitoring Program (GLFMP) Contaminant List

• PCB congeners

• PCB co-planers

• Hexachlorobenzene

• Octachlorostyrene

• Lindane

• Alpha BHC

• Dieldrin

• Heptachlor epoxide-b

• Cis-chlordane

• Trans- chlordane

• Oxychlordane

• Cis-nonachlor

• Trans- nonachlor

• pp,-DDT

• pp,-DDE

• pp,-DDD

• Endrin

• Mirex (Lake Ontario Only)

• Toxaphene& homologs

• PBDEs

• Hg

• PCDD/Fs

PFOA, PFOS* Fluorotelomer alcoholsPolychlorinated naphthalenesDacthalMusksAlkyphenolsNon-PBDE BFRs Polybrominated BiphenylsPharmaceuticalsSiloxanesTrace metals including thallium

Comprehensive and Quantitative Screening for Emerged and Emerging Contaminants of

Concern

Pushing the Science

* Also measured in routine samples

Sediment Survey

• Sediment cores taken throughout lake.• Cores sectioned, dated and analyzed for contaminants.• Determines history and current inventory of contaminants in the lake.