Lake Erie Basin Update - U.S. Side
The State of Lake Erie
By Sandy Bihn,Western Lake Erie Waterkeeper
The fire on the Cuyahoga River, a Lake
Erie tributary, got needed national
attention in the 60’s – some of the same
signs and new ones are showing up in
the research now. Then, phosphorous
from wastewater plants and pollution
were the major issues. Great progress was made to bring the
lakes back. But Lake Erie is again showing signs of the past.
How serious is it? Why Lake Erie? Lake Erie is the warmest and
shallowest of all the Great Lakes with the highest percentage of
agricultural and residential development in all the Great Lakes.
Lake Erie’s basin is but 21% forested while Lake Superior is
91% forested.
The western basin of Lake Erie, with an average depth of twenty
four feet, requires one million cubic yards to be dredged annually
from the Maumee River and Maumee Bay (with an average depth
of but five feet) to maintain the Toledo shipping channel. It is the
most dredged area in the Great Lakes. The root of this problem is
the Great Lakes largest watershed – the Maumee with sediments
from draining the old Black Swamp pouring into the ditches,
creeks, rivers, bays and ultimately the lake. Draining the swamp,
dredging, introduction of invasive species, wastewater
discharges, nonpoint sources and toxics are all contributing to
warning signs for Lake Erie and particularly for the western basin.
What are the issues causing concern? They include algae blooms,
growing percentages of phosphorous and nitrates in the waters,
nonnative white perch dominating the fish population in the
Basin and invasive species. The dominant fish in the western
basin of Lake Erie are for the first time, the white perch, which are
known to eat walleye larvae. Many believe the white perch will
significantly reduce the walleye population. White perch began
to overtake Lake Ontario until a cold winter that froze the lake for
two months and killed the white perch. Such a scenario in
Western Lake Erie to control the white perch population seems
unlikely.
Lake Erie is the most biologically productive Great Lake and
produces more fish than all of the other Great Lakes combined. It
is very important to watch Lake Erie to know whatmay be in store
for the other Great Lakes.
Phosphorous was key to turning around Lake Erie in the 60’s.
Ongoing studies by Heidelberg College show that dissolved
phosphorous has been increasing in western Lake Erie tributaries
since 1995. Now ten years later, with the phosphorous problem
again growing, Lake Erie is experiencing dead zones (a lack of
oxygen) in Sandusky Bay and the central basin of Lake Erie.
The source of the phosphorous may be wastewater plants, zebra
mussel excretions, and nonpoint sources including ‘factory
farms.’
Researchers also believe that Lake Erie’s ‘warning signs,’ in
addition to those already mentioned stem from water level
fluctuations, global warming, and dredging (increasing flows and
decreasing the normal water flow patterns into marshes and
wide dispersion patterns). In the extreme western basin there are
three coal-fired power plants that use about three billion gallons
of water a day. Two of the plants discharge the heated waters
into the very shallow Maumee Bay. The three plants entrain an
estimated ten billion fish per year and impinge hundreds of
thousands fish. The cumulative impacts of heating the water
and killing these fish, in the shallowest and warmest area in the
Great Lakes are unknown.
Lake Erie is the only Great Lake above sea level with waters
turning over every two to three years. The clock is ticking on the
Great Lakes and Lake Erie with the ‘warning’ signs: phosphorous,
pollution, algae, dead zones, large fish kills, heated waters from
power plants, and invasive species. Great Lakes restoration
funding was needed yesterday. Every day we wait increases the
vulnerability and future of all the Great Lakes, but particularly
Lake Erie.The burning of the Cuyahoga will not happen again, but
will it take another Lake Erie major event to motivate congress,
states, and local governments to provide the resources necessary
to clean up and preserve the world’s greatest fresh water supply?
The wake-up call is before us.The only question is will we respond
quickly enough?
For more information:
Western Lake Erie Waterkeeper
6565 Bayshore Rd. • Oregon, Ohio 43618
PH: 419-691-3788 • E. migima@aol.com
Disclaimer:
The interpretations and conclusions presented in this newsletter represent the opinions of the individual authors. They in no way represent the views of the Tip of the Mitt Watershed Council, the C.S. Mott Foundation, subscribers, donors, or any organization mentioned in this publication.
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