Alum efficacy 11 years following treatment: phosphorus and macroinvertebrates

Steinman, Alan D.; Hassett, Michael; Oudsema, Maggie; Rediske, Richard R.

doi:10.1080/10402381.2017.1402834

Cited by 7 publications

(1 citation statement)

References 2 publications

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“…Concentrations do decline at sites farther westward in the lake, presumably due to the settling out of particles and dilution from high quality Lake Michigan water advecting into the western end of Lake Macatawa. Despite occasional spikes in bottom water SRP and TP, overall there was no evidence of systemic internal P loading in Lake Macatawa, which if present, would be indicated by very high concentrations of SRP and/or TP (>400 µg/L) in bottom waters, as we have measured in other west Michigan drowned-river mouth lakes [ 26 , 27 ]. The influence of groundwater on the lake’s ecology has not been addressed and was not considered a major factor as part of the lake’s TMDL [ 10 ], presumably because the septic systems in direct lake discharge sub-basin ( Figure 1 ) have been replaced by sanitary sewers.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 46%

Effectiveness of Best Management Practices to Reduce Phosphorus Loading to a Highly Eutrophic Lake

Steinman

Hassett

Oudsema

2018

IJERPH

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Reducing nonpoint source pollution is an ongoing challenge in watersheds throughout the world. Implementation of best management practices, both structural and nonstructural, is the usual response to this challenge, with the presumption that they are effective. However, monitoring of their efficacy is not a standard practice. In this study, we evaluate the effectiveness of two wetland restoration projects, designed to handle runoff during high flow events and serve as flow-through retention basins before returning flow further downstream. The Macatawa Watershed is located in west Michigan, is heavily agricultural, and drains into Lake Macatawa, a hypereutrophic lake with total phosphorus concentrations usually exceeding 100 µg/L. We measured turbidity, total phosphorus, and soluble reactive phosphorus both upstream and downstream of these wetland complexes during base flow and storm events. While both turbidity and phosphorus increased significantly during storm events compared to baseflow, we found no significant difference in upstream vs. downstream water quality two years following BMP construction. We also measured water quality in Lake Macatawa, and found the lake remained highly impaired. Possible reasons for the lack of improved water quality: (1) The restored wetlands are too young to function optimally in sediment and phosphorus retention; (2) the scale of these BMPs is too small given the overall loads; (3) the locations of these BMPs are not optimal in terms of pollutant reduction; and (4) the years following postconstruction were relatively dry so the wetlands had limited opportunity to retain pollutants. These possibilities are evaluated.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 46%