Lake Erie Update--2013

Dr. Jeffrey M. ReutterDirector, Ohio Sea Grant College

Program

Blue-green Algae Bloom circa 1971, Lake Erie

Photo: Forsythe and Reutter

June 22, 1969

Lake Erie wasn’t always the Walleye Capital of the World

• Phosphorus reductions from point sources (29,000 metric tons to 11,000).

What brought about the rebirth (dead lake to Walleye

Capital)?

Spr

ing

TP

load

, M

aum

ee R

.2012

TP loading during March-June 2012 was one of the lowest on record, resulting in a much smaller algal bloom.

Source: Tom Bridgeman, UT

Photos: Jeff Reutter

Microcystis, Stone Lab, 8/10/10

Photo: NOAA Satellite Image

October 9, 2011

Microcystis near Marblehead

October 9, 2011

Photo: Richard Kraus, United States Geological Survey

Microcystis, Stone Lab, 9/20/13

2013 Microcystis open water bloom

2013 open water bloom was second only to 2011 over last 12 years. Source: Tom Bridgeman, UT.

2013 Forecast: Significant bloom.similar to 2003, much milder than 2011

2013

• 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.

Toxicity of Algal Toxins Relative to Other Toxic Compounds

found in Water

Dioxin (0.000001 mg/kg-d)

Microcystin LR (0.000003 mg/kg-d)

Saxitoxin (0.000005 mg/kg-d)

PCBs (0.00002 mg/kg-d)Cylindrospermopsin (0.00003 mg/kg-d)

Methylmercury (0.0001 mg/kg-d)

Anatoxin-A (0.0005 mg/kg-d)

DDT (0.0005 mg/kg-d)

Selenium (0.005 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)

Botulinum toxin A (0.001 mg/kg-d)

Toxin Reference Doses

• Serious problem in US and Canada• 21 states and Canada in 2012• Global problem• Chaired Loadings and Targets

Subcommittee for Ohio P Task Force• Now US Co-Chair of the Loadings and

Targets Task Team of Annex 4 (nutrients) Subcommittee of GLWQA

• Weather can determine how we experience a bloom

Are HABs only a Lake Erie and Ohio Problem?

11 years of satellite data provide bloom extent

Data from MERIS 2002-2011, MODIS 2012

high

medium

low

2013 prediction for western Lake Erie:similar to 2003, <1/5 of 2011, 2X 2012

low medium high

concentration

2013 may resemble 20032011 for comparison

9/14/13

October 12, 2013

R. Stumpf, NOAA National Center for Coastal Ocean Science

2013• Only blooms in 2011 and 2013 extended well

into October. • Toxins appeared in treated drinking water in

2013.• Meris vs. Modis Limitations• Greater recognition of of their role by

agriculture community, but clearly not enough action.– When nutrients leave fields they are pollutants.– Goal should be no nutrients leaving fields

1972 Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement

• Signed by President Nixon & Prime Minister Trudeau

• Purpose: – Control Pollution– Research Problems– Measure Cleanup Progress

• Standing Reference (Task) for IJC– Established Great Lakes Regional Office in

Windsor & advisory boards

• Results: Ban of phosphorus in detergents, increased treatment levels, point source controls & dramatic improvements

New Agreement Signed in 2012

June 2009 The U.S and Canada agree to renegotiate the Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement

Great Lakes Water Qual Agreement--2012

• 10 Annexes• Each annex has several Task Teams• Gail and I serve on Annex 4—Nutrients

– I am US Co-chair the Objectives and Loadings Task Team

– Nutrient problems are different in each basin of Lake Erie and in each Great Lake

• I also serve on Annex 2—LaMPs

For more information:Dr. Jeff Reutter, Director

Ohio Sea Grant and Stone Lab

Ohio State Univ.

1314 Kinnear Rd.

Col, OH 43212

614-292-8949

Reutter.1@osu.eduohioseagrant.osu.edu

Stone Laboratory

Ohio State Univ.

Box 119

Put-in-Bay, OH 43456

614-247-6500

Image: Ohio Sea Grant

Southernmost

Shallowest and Warmest

Photo: Ohio Sea Grant

• 80% of water from upper lakes• 10% direct precipitation• 10% from Lake Erie tributaries

–Maumee • Largest tributary to Great Lakes

–Drains 4.5 million acres of ag land

• 3% of flow into Lake Erie

80:10:10 Rule

Superior Michigan Huron Erie Ontario0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

Residential Cropland PastureForest Brush/Wetland

Major Land Uses in The Great Lakes

Therefore,

• The 80% we get from the upper lakes and the 10% that represents precipitation is likely much cleaner than the 10% that comes in from the small tributaries around Lake Erie. Why—those lakes have lots of forest cover and very little agriculture.

• 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!!

Because of Land Use, Lake Erie Gets:

Lake Superior: 50% of the water and 2% of the fish

Lake Erie: 2% of the water and 50% of the fish

(Not exact, but instructive)

50:2 Rule

• Sedimentation• Phosphorus and nutrient loading

– Harmful algal blooms– Western, Central, and Eastern Basin Differences– Different problems in different lakes (possibly more

difficult than Lake Erie)

• Aquatic invasive species• Dead Zone—exacerbated by nutrients• Climate Change—Makes the others worse• Coastal Economic Development

Lake Erie’s 7 Biggest Problems/Issues

(see Twine Line, Spring/Summer, 2012)

Events Leading to the Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement

• 1940-1960 Rapid industrial growth - excessive nutrient loading, high algal growth, low oxygen & massive fish kills

• 1946 IJC Reports on Pollution of Connecting Channels (1950)

• DDT and other pesticides cause deformities; reproductive failure in fish and birds

• 1964 IJC Reports on Pollution in Lake Erie & Lower Lakes (1970)

• Lake Erie declared dead & Cuyahoga River Fire (1969)

• Intense public outcry over the environment

Organization

3 international agreements between U.S. and Canada serve as platform for managing most water resources

The IJC and the Governments share common goals of the agreement, but have different responsibilities.

The IJC monitors progress and reports to the governments.

The Governments are responsible for implementing the agreement.

IJC reports are released to both the governments and the public; the IJC depends upon public opinion to compel government action.

Oversight & Implementation

Background—CSMI

• Cooperative Monitoring Initiative (CMI) started in 2002 to coordinate monitoring

• Expanded mandate of CMI to include research coordination resulted in CSMI in 2006

• In 2009, connecting channels (including St. Lawrence) were added to CSMI process

• CSMI follows a 5 year rotational cycle• CSMI does NOT set priorities

Rotational CSMI Cycle

* Canada will participate in another lake

LakeSuperior

LakeHuron Lake

Ontario

LakeErie

LakeMichigan*

CSMI Cycle

Ohio Sea Grant Projects 2014-16R/MD-002• Beneficial reuse of dredged material in manufactured soil blending: Economic/logistical and

performance considerations• PI: Elizabeth Dayton, Ohio State University 

R/ES-012 • Impacts of climate change on public health in the Great Lakes due to harmful algae blooms• PI: Jay Martin, Ohio State University

 

R/ER-097• Should nitrogen be managed in Lake Erie? The potential role of nitrogen fixation by cyanobacteria• PI: Darren Bade, Kent State University

  

R/ER-104• Source tracking and toxigenicity of Planktothrix in Sandusky Bay• PI: George S. Bullerjahn, Bowling Green State University

R/PS-049• Mapping drain tile and modeling agricultural contribution to nonpoint source pollution in the

western Lake Erie basin• PI: Kevin Czajkowski, University of Toledo•  

R/ER-103• The role of nitrogen concentration in regulating cyanobacterial bloom toxicity in a eutrophic lake• PI: Justin Chaffin, Ohio State University

•