Oceanography and Atmospheric Sciences and Meteorology Commons^™

Trends In Cyanotoxin Production Potential In China Lake: An Edna Analysis Of Microcystis And Dolichospermum And The Environmental Drivers Of Cyanotoxin Production, Gennifer M. Rubin

Honors Theses

Episodes of cyano-harmful algal blooms (cyano-HABs) are hypothesized to be exacerbated by the effects of climate change. However, the dynamics of the interactions between elements of climate change and toxigenic cyanobacteria proliferation are not well defined. China Lake is the drinking water source for 7 municipalities in the Kennebec County and is one of many lakes in central Maine that has been subjected to high levels of cyano-HABs and microcystin toxin contamination in recent years. Monitoring the toxicity of these blooms in relation to various aspects of climate change may lead to identification of the major drivers of microcystin production …

Bathymetric Survey For Lakes Azuei And Enriquillo, Hispaniola, Michael Piasecki, Mahrokh Moknatian, Fred Moshary, Joseph Cleto, Yolanda Leon, Jorge Gonzalez, Daniel Comarazamy

Publications and Research

The two largest lakes on the Caribbean Island of Hispaniola, Lake Azuei in Haiti and Lake Enriquillo in the Dominican Republic, have experienced dramatic growth and surface area expansion over the past few years leading to severe flooding and loss of arable land around the lake perimeters. In order to better understand the reasons for this unprecedented rate of expansion and the resulting consequences a multi-disciplinary team comprised of researchers from Haiti, the DR, and the US have embarked on an extensive data collecting and hydrologic and climatological modeling campaign. While the sensor deployment entails stations that measure climatological data …

Evaluating The Assessment Methodology For The Chlorophyll-A And Secchi Transparency Criteria At Beaver Lake, Arkansas, J. Thad Scott, Brian E. Haggard

Technical Reports

No abstract provided.

The Champlain Sea/Lake Champlain Transition Recorded In The Northeast Arm Of Lake Champlain, Usa-Canada, Ashliegh Theresa Belrose

Graduate College Dissertations and Theses

Sediment accumulated on a lakebed archives information about past climate and changes in the regional environment. Previous studies (Burgess, 2007; Koff, 2011; Palmer, 2012) in the Northeast Arm of Lake Champlain, specifically Missisquoi Bay and Saint Albans Bay, showed a period (~9,400 - 8,600 yBP) of elevated organic matter deposition in both bays, indicating a productive event that pre-dated any possible anthropogenic influence. However, the record was abruptly cut off and any documentation representing the span of time leading up to this event was not found. The elevated organic matter levels were explained as being the result of a warm, …

Assessing Trichloromethane Formation And Control In Algal-Stimulated Waters Amended With Nitrogen And Phosphorus, Clinton Mash

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) enrichments can stimulate algal growth in drinking water sources, which can cause increased production of disinfection byproduct (DBP) precursors. However, the effect of systematic N and P enrichments on DBP formation and control has not been adequately studied. In this work, we enriched samples from a drinking water source - sampled on April 5, May 30, and August 19, 2013 - with N and P to stimulate algal growth at N:P ratios covering almost five orders of magnitude (0.2-4,429). To simulate DBP-precursor removal processes at drinking water treatment plants (DWTPs), the samples were treated with …

Landscape Limnology: Nutrient Fluxes & Biotic Stability In Complex Mountain Watersheds, Wayne A. Wurtsbaugh, Michelle Kang, Dave M. Epstein

Watershed Sciences Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Seasonal Changes In A Eutrophic Lake (Wilgreen Lake, Madison County, Kentucky) From Summer Stratification Through Fall Turnover, Richard D. Stockwell, Walter S. Borowski

EKU Faculty and Staff Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Seasonal Changes In A Eutrophic Lake, Wilgreen Lake, Madison County, Kentucky, Richard D. Stockwell, Walter S. Borowski

EKU Faculty and Staff Scholarship

WilgreenLake (Madison County, Kentucky) covers ~169 acres, formed in 1966 by damming Taylor Fork. The Wilgreen watershed drains residential developments, modified woodlands, cattle pasture, and some industrial/urban areas in the city of Richmond. The lake is deemed “nutrient impaired” by the EPA.

Our main objective is to document the seasonal changes in key lake parameters from summer stratification through fall overturn over 4 months of sampling, August through November, 2008. We collect temperature, oxygen, pH, and conductivity data from 19 stations at depth intervals of 1 meter using an YSI multi-probe. Concurrent with collecting these framework data, we take water …

Seasonal Changes In Stratification And Oxygen Content Of A Eutrophic Lake, Wilgreen Lake, Madison County, Kentucky, Jill Hunter, Walter S. Borowski

EKU Faculty and Staff Scholarship

Wilgreen Lake (Madison County, Kentucky) is listed by the Environmental Protection Agency as nutrient-impaired. The overabundance of nutrients is likely linked to the land-use practices in this area. Cattle pasture, residential developments served by septic systems, and urban/industrial areas lie in the lake’s watershed. We have studied the lake for two years to characterize its physical and chemical characteristics, and to identify nutrient sources.

The 2007 field season began in March and continued through October. We measured temperature and oxygen levels along with other parameters at 1-meter depth intervals at 19 stations distributed along the length of the lake and …

Dynamics Of A Eutrophic Lake (Wilgreen Lake, Madison County, Kentucky): A First Step In Cleansing A Lake System Impaired By Nutrient Loading, Erin C. Jolly, Walter S. Borowski

EKU Faculty and Staff Scholarship

Wilgreen Lake (Madison County, Kentucky) is a eutrophic lake formed by damming Taylor Fork, part of the Silver Creek watershed. The lake is listed “nutrient impaired” by the Commonwealth and the EPA, and it is likely that nutrient input from human activities is affecting water quality. Our study aims first to characterize the physical characteristics and water quality of the lake (2006), and then to determine the specific proportion of nutrient inputs (2007) to the lake with the ultimate aim of improving its water quality.

Research started in May 2006 with work occurring throughout the 2006 field season with the …

Onset And Persistence Of Biogenic Meromixis In A Filling Pit Lake-A Limnological Perspective , Oscar Flite

All Dissertations

Open pit mining usually results in a void that, over time, fills with water and becomes a pit lake. The goal for pit lakes is to create sustainable systems that positively contribute to local and regional watersheds. One long-standing hypothesis for attaining the goal of sustainability has been to create and maintain meromictic lakes (lakes that do not completely mix on a yearly cycle). It is believed that meromixis minimizes atmospheric oxygen exposure to pit walls and concomitant acid generation and minimizes reentrainment of metals to the upper waters during seasonal mixes. This seems to be a reasonable goal but …

Limnología De Las Lagunas Glaciales En El Páramo Del Chirripó, Costa Rica. (Limnology Of Glacial Lakes In The Chirripó Páramo Of Costa Rica.), Sally P Horn, Kenneth H. Orvis, Kurt A. Haberyan

Geography Publications and Other Works

More than 30 lakes of glacial origin exist within the Chirripó páramo in the Cordillera de Talamanca of Costa Rica. This chapter describes the geomorphic setting and physical and chemical limnology of 19 lakes located between 3450-3570 m elevation in the upper basins of five glaciated valleys. All lakes are clear, dilute, and apparently polymictic. Water chemistry data from 1998, 2000, and 2001 are similar from lake to lake and year to year, and are consistent with sparse prior measurements between 1966 and 1991. However, the lake water temperatures we have measured are much higher than those reported by earlier …

A Physiochemically Constrained Seawater Culturing System For Production Of Benthic Foraminifera, Christopher J. Hintz, G. Thomas Chandler, Jay M. Bernhardt, Daniel C. Mccorkle, Suzanne M. Havach, Jessica K. Blanks, Timothy J. Shaw

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Global Patterns Of Dissolved N, P And Si In Large Rivers, R. Eugene Turner, Nancy N. Rabalais, D. Justic', Q. Dortch

Faculty Publications

The concentration of dissolved inorganic nitrogen (DIN), dissolved nitrate-N, Total-N (TN), dissolved inorganic phosphate (DIP), total phosphorus (TP), dissolved silicate-Si (DSi) and their ratios in the world's largest rivers are examined using a global data base that includes 37% of the earth's watershed area and half its population. These data were compared to water quality in 42 subbasins of the relatively well-monitored Mississippi River basin (MRB) and of 82 small watersheds of the United States. The average total nitrogen concentration varies over three orders of magnitude among both world river watersheds and the MRB, and is primarily dependent on variations …

Nutrient Limitation In A Southwestern Desert Reservoir: Eutrophication Of Las Vegas Bay, Lake Mead, Nevada, Davine M. Lieberman

Publications (WR)

Algal bioassay tests were conducted with Selenastrum capricornutum and natural algae on inner Las Vegas Bay, Lake Mead, Nevada, from December 1992 through September 1993, to identify any nutrient limitation in an area of the reservoir that has experienced problems associated with severe nutrient enrichment. Three areas were sampled based on a gradient of water quality conditions that existed in Las Vegas Bay (LVB). Disodium ethylenedinitrilotetraacetate (EDTA) significantly stimulated algal growth compared to non-EDTA treatment. Algal bioassays indicated that phosphorus (P) was the primary limiting nutrient at all stations for most of the test dates. Chl a response with EDTA …

Snake River Sockeye Salmon Habitat And Limnological Research, David Teuscher, Doug Taki, Wayne A. Wurtsbaugh

Watershed Sciences Faculty Publications

Historically, thousands of Snake River Sockeye salmon returned to the Sawtooth Valley to spawn. Evermann (1896) reported that the Sawtooth Valley Lakes were teeming with red fish. Bjornn (1968) estimated that 4,360 sockeye returned to Redfish Lake in 1955. These numbers no longer exist. In the 1980's, less than 50 . Snake River sockeye salmon survived to spawn (Bowler 1990). Since 1990, only 14 sockeye have returned. Because of recent declines, the Shoshone-Bannock Tribes (SBT) petitioned the National - Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) to list · Snake River sockeye as endangered. As a result, Snake River sockeye were listed and …

Temporal And Spatial Variation In Pelagic Fish Abundance In Lake Mead Determined From Echograms, Gene R. Wilde, Larry J. Paulson

Publications (WR)

Echograms have been used extensively to locate and estimate the relative abundance of marine fish stocks (Cushing 1973). In freshwater, echograms have been used to describe vertical (Netsch et al. 1971; Eggers 1978; O'Brien et al. 1984; Matthews et al. 1985), spatial (O'Brien et al. 1984; Wanjala et al. 1986) and temporal (Baker and Paulson 1983) patterns in fish abundance. Although most uses of echograms have been qualitative, Mullan and Applegate (1969) and Matthews et al. (1985) obtained relative estimates of fish abundance by counting targets (fish) on echograms. However, neither Mullan and Applegate (1969) nor Matthews et al. (1985) …

Limnological Monitoring Data For Lake Mead During 1987: Technical Report No. 20, Larry J. Paulson

Publications (WR)

Limnological monitoring was conducted in Las Vegas Bay and Boulder Basin from April to December of 1987. The purpose of the monitoring was to (i) document possible changes in water quality resulting from decreased phosphorus loading in Las Vegas Wash, and (ii) establish a data base for evaluating the adequacy of water quality standards.

Appendices To Analysis Of The Water-Quality Standards Proposed By Nevada Division Of Environmental Protection, State Of Nevada: Division Of Environmental Protection

Publications (WR)

The appendices include the following:

Appendix A: Evaluation of proposed State of Nevada water quality standards for Ammonia, produced by CH2M Hill California for Clark County

Appendix B: Responses to comments by the Nevada Division of Environmental Protection on the draft final report prepared by CH2M Hill

Appendix C: Biases in the ammonia data and in the proposed ammonia TMDL

Appendix D: Application of dilution-ratio analysis to assertions made by the Nevada Division of Environmental Protection

Appendix E: Analysis of the dilution-ratio formula used by the Nevada Division of Environmental Protection in its TMDL calculations for phosphorus and ammonia in …

Lake Mead Cover Enhancement Project, Jennifer Stevens Haley, Suzanne Leavitt, Larry Paulson, Donald H. Baepler

Publications (WR)

Ninety-three wildlife agencies were surveyed for information on their attempts to improve fish habitat. In addition, an annotated bibliography including over 100 summaries was completed on:

1. largemouth bass cover requirements and preferences,

2. use and effectiveness of artificial cover,

3. aquatic plant introduction and species requirements for germination and establishment,

4. terrestrial plant introduction and species requirements for germination and establishment, and

5. nutrient exchange between sediment, aquatic plants, and water.

A reconnaissance of existing terrestrial and aquatic vegetation was completed in June 1986 including the production of a video tape of the Nevada shoreline of Lake Mead.

Cover …

Las Vegas Wash And Lake Mead Proposed Water Quality Standards: Revisions And Rationale, State Of Nevada: Division Of Environmental Protection

Publications (WR)

Rationale of review and for proposed changes to the Nevada Pollution Control Regulations (NAC 445.1354, 445.1355, 445.1356, 455.1367, 445.1352, 445.1353, 445.1350, 445.1351) before the State Environmental Commission on June 23 and 24, 1987.

A Proposal To Fertilize The Overton Arm And Gregg Basin Areas Of Lake Mead, Larry J. Paulson

Publications (WR)

Several limnological studies have been conducted in Lake Mead during the past decade. The recent studies clearly show that most of Lake Mead is deficient in nutrients, especially phosphorus, and very low in productivity. The reservoir-wide average total phosphorus concentration for 1981 - 1982 was only 9 mg/m³. This is below levels found In most oligotrophic lakes and reservoirs. Algal biomass, as measured by chlorophyll-a, averaged only 1.5 mg/m³. That also places Lake Mead in the oligotrophic range. Transparency, as measured by a Secchi disc, averaged 9-5 m in Lake Mead during 1981-1982. That far exceeds …

Seasonal And Spatial Heterogeneity In The Limnetic Zooplankton Community Of Lake Mead, Gene Robert Wilde

Publications (WR)

Zooplankton samples collected from throughout Lake Mead, in 1981-1982, demonstrate the presence of a statistically significant seasonal and spatial heterogeneity in zooplankton densities. Seasonally, the major zooplankton groups were most abundant in the spring and fall, coincident with maxima in chlorophyll-a concentrations. Successions among the various rotifers, cladocerans and copepods present in the reservoir were influenced by food availability, diapause, predation by planktivorous fish and, possibly, water temperatures.

Spatial heterogeneity in zooplankton densities was unrelated to water temperature, pH, conductivity and dissolved oxygen concentrations, but was related to the abundance of phytoplankton (chlorophyll-a concentrations) and fish. Statistical analyses indicate that …

Las Vegas Wash Multispectral Scanner Survey, T. H. Mace, M. V. Olsen, Environmental Protection Agency

Publications (WR)

At the request of the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, Boulder City, Nevada, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's Environmental Monitoring Systems Laboratory at Las Vegas collected multispectral scanner imagery of Las Vegas Wash on October 1, 1982.

A combined maximum likelihood classification and editing procedure was used to classify the multispectral scanner imagery into 12 categories of land cover. The classification identified four categories of marsh vegetation, one category of riparian, two categories of mixed scrub, and two desert categories. Turbid water and cultivated land formed an "other" category. Area tabulations were formed by georeferencing the classification to the Universal Transverse …

Water Quality Trends In The Las Vegas Wash Wetlands, F. A. Morris, L. J. Paulson

Publications (WR)

The Las Vegas Wash is a wetlands ecosystem that acts to buffer the effects of wastewater discharges on the receiving waters of Lake Mead. The wash is the terminus for the 4,144 km2 Las Vegas Valley drainage basin, emptying into Las Vegas Bay of Lake Mead (Colorado River). It is in the northern Mojave desert, which receives an average of only 10 cm of rainfall annually. The Las Vegas Wash is technically an artificial wetland supported almost entirely by the perennial flows from sewage treatment plants. These flows contribute an average of 3-7 t of nutrients (nitrogen and phosphorus) and …

Use Of Hydroelectric Dams To Control Evaporation And Salinity In The Colorado River System, Larry J. Paulson

Publications (WR)

The main stem reservoirs on the Colorado River comprise one of the largest and most heavily used freshwater bodies in the nation. These reservoirs (Lake Powell, Lake Mead, Lake Mohave and Lake Havasu) can store up to 53,590,400 acre-feet of water at their maximum capacities. Nonetheless, local water shortages still exist in some areas of the Colorado River Basin. There is also concern that salt concentrations are approaching levels that could severely affect municipal and agricultural uses. Water shortages will become even more acute as demands for water increase with continued urban and agricultural development in the basin.

Water conservation …

The Effects Of Impoundments On Salinity In The Colorado River, Larry J. Paulson, John R. Baker

Publications (WR)

The increase in salinity of our western rivers has been identified as one of the most serious water quality problems in the nation. This is of special concern in the Colorado River where salinity has increased from pristine levels estimated at 380 mg/1 to present-day levels of 825 mg/1 at Imperial Dam. Flow depletions, associated with decreased runoff and increased evaporation and diversions, coupled with high salt loading from natural and man-created sources are considered the primary causes for rising salinity in the river. The urban and agricultural development projected to occur in the basin through this century could deplete …

Effects Of Wastewater Discharges On Periphyton Growth In Lake Mead, Nevada-Arizona, Marsha Korb Morris

Publications (WR)

A study of the effects of secondary-treated wastewater on periphyton growth in Lake Mead, Nevada-Arizona was conducted from September 1979 to December 1980. Periphyton ash-free dry weight, chlorophyll-a, dominant species composition, and alkaline phosphatase activity were measured on fiberglass substrates. Substrates were incubated for two to four weeks in littoral and limnetic habitats. Physical and chemical variables and phytoplankton chlorophyll-a were measured concurrently.

Transparency increased with increasing distance from the discharge. Secchi depth ranged from 0.75 m at the discharge confluence (station 2) in August, to greater than 20 m at the most distant stations (stations 9 and 10) in …

Nutrient Interactions Among Reservoirs On The Colorado River, Larry J. Paulson, John R. Baker

Publications (WR)

Interactions among physical, chemical and biological processes in reservoirs can significantly alter the characteristics of the discharge (Neel 1963, Wright 1967, Hannan 1979) that, in turn, can influence the ecology of the river downstream .(Ward and Stanford 1979). Investigations of the Colorado River, system reveal that reservoir-induced changes in the river can also affect downstream reservoirs. The formation of Lake Powell, in 1963 was accompanied by reductions in suspended sediment and nutrient loading and changes in the seasonal temperature and discharge cycles of the Colorado River. In this paper, we evaluate how these changes have influenced the nutrient and trophic …

Evaluation Of Impacts Associated With Reregulation Of Water Levels In Lake Mohave, Larry J. Paulson, John R. Baker, U.S. Water And Power Resources Service

Publications (WR)

The U.S. Water and Power Resources Service is considering reregulating Lake Mohave water levels to increase the net power benefit from Hoover Dam. Reregulation will not increase the generation capacity of the Hoover powerplant but it will enable the plant operation to be increased when the energy has greater monetary value. Energy generated at different times of the year has different market value, the highest being in January-March and July- September. By generating more power during these periods more net monetary benefit can be derived from Hoover Dam. The total volume of water released from Hoover Dam over an annual …