Freshwater Research
Past & Current Projects
Client:
Lake Simcoe Clean-Up Fund, Joint project with project manager Lewis
Molot, York University
Scope: Internal phosphorus inputs
are to be quantified by two different approaches. The first approach
uses P monitoring data collected for Lake Simcoe since the early
1980s to determine past internal inputs. The second approach relies
on measuring P release from lake sediments during laboratory
incubations and then extrapolating the release rates to the lake
taking into account changes in temperature and anoxia.
Client:
Township of Barkmere, Laurentian, Quebec
Scope:
Lac des Écorces (Bark Lake)
monitoring support, limnological assessment and phosphorus budget
modeling is to be provided with the goal of determining lake capacity
for shoreline and road development. Available and new data from Bark
Lake and its many upstream lakes are to be collected from
municipalities, lake associations and the ministries, including
water quality data sets, flow rates,
number of septic systems, and other development as input to the model
and potential validation of monitored data of the major inflows. In
this way, a capacity study of the larger watershed including Bark
Lake and the upstream watercourses will be attempted.
Several approaches used in Quebec and Ontario watersheds will
be investigated and applied.
Client:
Township of Johnson, Desbarats, ON
Scope:
A history of summer and fall algal blooms and turbid water, mostly
from Cyanobacteria blooms exists.
The causes of the low water quality are to be determined in this
oligomictic, meso- to eutrophic lake.
Client:
Town of Huron Shores, Ironbridge, ON
Scope: A lake shore
capacity model such as that employed by the Ontario Ministry of the
Environment (MOE) or the District of Muskoka will be employed to
determine the sources of phosphorus entering the lakes (external
phosphorus load). Such a model can also estimate pre-development
water quality and determine, whether any further development around
the lake would noticeably reduce its present water quality. Internal
phosphorus load will be incorporated in shallow mesotrophic Bright
Lake as described in Nürnberg & LaZerte 2004 and results of such
a model will be compared to those of a more simply estimated internal
load by the typical MOE capacity model equations. In addition to the
phosphorus mass balance, late-summer volumetric dissolved oxygen
concentration will be assessed in deep oligotrophic Basswood Lake to
determine its manageability for Lake Trout, according to the Ontario
Ministry of Natural Resources guidelines.
Client:
Municipalité de St-Aimé-des-Lacs, Quebec
Scope:
Supervision of various monitoring
approaches that are to be used to determine sediment released
phosphorus which contributes to cyanobacterial blooms in this
otherwise oligotrophic lake.
Client:
The Club Willowells, Waterloo,
ON
Scope:
Cyanobacterial
blooms
in some summers. Setting up a monitoring plan to serve for a basic
limnological assessment, including water and sediment phosphorus
sampling for internal load analysis. Quantification of external and
internal load. Four Wells includes a series of small ponds in a
park-like setting connected to tributaries of the Grand River in
southern Ontario.
Client:
Bright Lake Association Inc., Ironbridge, ON
Scope:
Problems: Cyanobacteria blooms in
late summer and fall. Setting up a monitoring plan to serve for a
basic limnological assessment, including water and sediment
phosphorus sampling for internal load analysis. Quantification of
anoxia, external and internal load. Support in securing grants from
governmental agencies.
Client:
British Columbia Ministry of Environment, Williams Lake, BC
Scope:
Problems: Summer and winter fishkills and cyanobacteria blooms.
Based on previously collected water quality data, studies, and
reports a limnological assessment was conducted for the shallow but
often hypoxic Bouchie Lake and possible remediation options were
presented. In a further study, internal phosphorus load was estimated
from sediment fractions and in situ phosphorus increases and
its effect on Bouchie Lake water quality evaluated.
Client:
Emmons & Olivier Resources, Inc.
Scope: For 12
lakes in the Minneapolis, St. Paul Area, MN, sediment fractionation
provided information for the determination of internal load and its
contribution to the total phosphorus concentration of these lakes.
Client:
State of Minnesota, Department of Natural Resources and
Minnesota Pollution Control Agency
Scope: Sediment
phosphorus release rates are expected to increase with sulfur
additions. Simple mass balance modeling of internal P load resulting
from increased sulfur is used to quantify likely impacts on the water
quality of Trout Lake, MN.
Client:
Cherry Creek Basin Water Quality Authority, Greenwood Village,
Denver, Colorado.
Scope: Development and validation of a
steady state annual mass-balance model to determine permissible
phosphorus loadings to the Cherry Creek Reservoir. Components
involving internal fluxes (sedimentation and internal load) were used
to predict July-September total phosphorus (TP) and chlorophyll
averages. Based on the analysis of 15 years of data including
phosphorus, chlorophyll and hydrology a methodology that considers
average inflow TP concentration (instead of a load) as control
variable was proposed. Further, a significant regression of seasonal
average chlorophyll on average inflow TP concentration was determined
and proposed to be used for the establishment of a chlorophyll
standard.
Client:
The Friends of the Coves
Subwatershed, Inc., London Ontario, Canada
Scope:
Determination of
limnological characteristics of the Cove ponds and development of a
technical implementation plan for surface water treatment.
Client:
Le Comité Paritaire du Lac Heney
Scope:Review of the
recommendations for a proposed iron chloride treatment of the lake by
estimating the potential for internal P load and hypoxia.
Client:
Michalski Nielsen Associates, Bracebridge, Ontario.
Scope:
Provide a long-term statistical analysis of water quality trends in
Lake Wilcox Ontario using 14 years of available data, including a
comparison of pre- to post-treatment water quality with respect to a
destratification treatment.
Client:
Upper Thames River Conservation Authority, London Ontario, Canada and
the Sierra Club, Canada.
Scope: Examine existing
information on upstream (of Fanshawe Reservoir) river sections of the
Upper Thames River, its tributaries and reservoirs, including those
at St. Mary's, Mitchell and Stratford, propose and supervise
supplemental sampling and provide recommendations as to the most
effective water quality treatment options for these sections, using a
watershed modeling approach.
Client:
Upper Thames River Conservation Authority, London Ontario, Canada and
the Sierra Club, Canada.
Scope: Examine existing
information on Fanshawe, Wildwood and Pittock Reservoirs on the Upper
Thames River, propose and supervise supplemental sampling and provide
recommendations as to the most appropriate water quality treatment
options for each of the three lakes, using a phosphorus budget
approach.
Client:
Pyhäjärvi Institute, University of Turku, Geological Survey of
Finland.
Scope: An international multidisciplinary team
uses Lake Pyhäjärvi in southwest Finland as a case study to
evaluate the recovery from eutrophication. Freshwater Research will
support following activities: 1. Determination of the importance of
internal phosphorus loading in the eutrophication of Lake Pyhäjärvi,
2. Long-term analysis of lake water quality with respect to
hydrological and climatic conditions, and 3. Evaluation of present
restoration attempts and proposal of future options.
Client:
Dr. Patricia Chambers, National Water Research Institute, Burlington,
ON, Canada.
Scope: Joint collaboration with Dr. Horst
Behrend, the Institute for Freshwater Ecology and Inland Fisheries in
Berlin, Germany. The watershed model MONERIS has been developed for
the predictions of phosphorus and nitrogen in large European
watersheds. Its application to more pristine Canadian watersheds is
being tested.
Client:
Michalski Nielsen Associates, Bracebridge, Ontario.
Scope:
Provide a long-term statistical analysis of water quality trends in
relation to flow rates and other hydrological conditions in Lake
Wilcox, Ontario.
Client:
Pam Carnochon,The Morgan House, Huntsville, Ontario.
Scope:
Morgan Pond is a former sewage lagoon that is to be rehabilitated
for contact recreation. Based on the evaluation of water and sediment
quality an alum treatment is proposed.
Client:
With Ecosystem Strategies for the Town of Mitchell, South
Dakota.
Scope: Evaluation and modeling of existing
lake/watershed system to be used to recommend a remedial treatment
system, under special consideration of alum addition.
Client:
Dr. James Michaels, Oconomowoc, Wisconsin.
Scope: Determine
the best method for the remediation of Lake Lynn Louise with a
detailed evaluation of Sulfur Dioxide (SO2) addition.
Client:
Michalski Nielsen Associates, Bracebridge, Ontario.
Scope:
Provide a long-term statistical analysis of water quality trends in
Lake Wilcox Ontario using ten years of available data.
Client:
Michalski Nielsen Associates, Bracebridge, Ontario for Neamsby
Investments Inc.
Scope: Limnological understanding and
modeling is used to guide the design and maintenance of an urban lake
to be created in the Rouge River watershed, City of Markham, Ontario.
Water quality is predicted from current quality and flow data of the
upstream waters and future changes due to development.
Client:
The City of Boise, Idaho.
Scope: Facilitating the
development of total phosphorus standards for the Brownlee Reservoir
on the Snake River above the Hells Canyon Complex via field studies,
long-term data evaluation, and modeling. Limnological assessment of
Brownlee Reservoir with special emphasis on hypoxia, anoxia, and
vertical fluxes of phosphorus (sedimentation and internal phosphorus
loading). Mass balance and empirical modeling of phosphorus average
concentrations, algal biomass, turbidity, hypoxia and anoxia.
Client:
Joint project of the North American Lake Management Society,
US-EPA and Terrene Institute.
Scope: Possible ways of
modeling water quality in lakes and reservoirs with special emphasis
on nutrients and algae biomass (incl. TMDL's) are discussed for the
interested layman and professional.
Client:
Michalski Nielson Associates, Ontario.
Scope: Literature
review of the major pollutant concentrations in urban, suburban and
commercial stormwater runoff. The effectiveness of common and
recently developed engineering BMPs (Best Management Practices) on
the reduction of these pollutants is also examined.
Client:
Cherry Creek Basin Water Quality Authority, Greenwood Village,
Denver, Colorado.
Scope: Expert advice at the hearing on
the setting of phosphorus and chlorophyll standards and phosphorus
TMDLs.
Client:
Cherry Creek Basin Water Quality Authority, Greenwood Village,
Colorado.
Scope: Development of a steady state annual
mass-balance model to determine permissible phosphorus loadings to
the Cherry Creek Reservoir. Components involving internal fluxes
(sedimentation and internal load) as determined by the Time Dynamic
Model (previous project) were used to predict July-September TP
averages. Scenarios, modeled according to past 40 year hydrology and
future projections of development, predicted lowest July-September TP
averages when both, external and internal phosphorus sources were
decreased.
Client:
Cherry Creek Basin Water Quality Authority, Greenwood Village,
Colorado.
Scope: Development of a time-dynamic (weekly)
model for Cherry Creek Reservoir (CCR) that quantifies (1) how
in-lake total phosphorus concentration (TP) in polymictic CCR is
influenced by external phosphorus inputs and internal processes; and
(2) how in-lake nutrient concentrations influence algal biomass.
Quantification of factors regulating in-lake TP and chlorophyll a
(Chl) during July to September are emphasized to facilitate the
establishment of Chl and TP targets.
Client:
Institute of Freshwater and Fish Ecology, Berlin, Germany.
Scope:
External adviser for graduate studies concerning modelling and
fieldwork assessing the predictability of in-lake restoration
techniques. Evaluation of Hypolimnetic Withdrawal, as a restoration
technique in stratified reservoirs and lakes in Europe and North
America.
Client:
Town of Richmond Hill, Ontario.
Scope: Description of the
development of a Planktothrix (Oscillatoria) rubescens bloom
in winter and spring 1998-99. Evaluation of the possible causes, in
particular the two in-lake restoration techniques, hypolimnetic
aeration and whole water-column destratification or mixing.
Client:
Town of Richmond Hill, Ontario.
Scope: Assessment of the water
quality (1986-1999) of Lake Wilcox, a small urban lake in the
vicinity of the metropolitan Toronto. Determination of the effect of
two in-lake restoration techniques, hypolimnetic aeration and
complete destratification on water quality in general and internal
load reduction in particular.
Client:
South Lake Association, Haliburton, Ontario.
Scope:
Evaluation of the impact of a proposed greenhouse nursery on South
Lake water quality, using phosphorus modeling.
Client:
Cherry Creek Basin Water Quality Authority, Greenwood Village,
Colorado.
Scope: Review of phosphorus and chlorophyll
standards for future management of the polymictic flood control
reservoir. Review and modeling of the phosphorus loads entering
Cherry Creek from the watershed (external load) and the reservoir
bottom (internal load).
Client:
Town of Brome Lake, Quebec.
Scope: Assessment of phosphorus
cycle, especially sediment released phosphorus, based on previously
collected data. Computation and comparison of phosphorus loads
(internal versus external) and determination of their impact on P
concentrations and algae blooms. Evaluation of restoration options
pertaining to the watershed and the lake itself (in-lake
restoration).
Client:
South Lake Association, Haliburton, Ontario.
Scope:
Limnological assessment with available and newly collected data;
application of a phosphorus budget model to evaluate the importance
of external (development) and internal (from anoxic sediments)
phosphorus sources.
Client:
District Municipality of Muskoka, Ontario.
Scope: Revision
of a P mass balance model to predict predevelopment, present and
future planning scenarios with consideration of internal P sources in
Muskoka lakes, to help establishing development capacities on lakes
and predict the impact on recreational water quality.
Client:
Department of Fisheries and Oceans, Sault St. Marie, Ontario.
Scope:
Study of the relationships between long-term average concentrations
of humic acids, measured as water colour, dissolved organic carbon
(DOC) or Secchi disk transparency and trophic state variables with
data from more than 600 clear and coloured freshwater lakes collected
from the literature.
Client:
City of Arvada, Colorado.
Scope: Evaluation of water
quality from nutrient and algal biomass concentration of the surface
water and from oxygen depletion of the bottom water. Determination of
the longterm phosphorus budget of the reservoir, complicated by cold
inflow from several canals draining a large watershed, hypolimnetic
withdrawal and anoxic P release from the sediments. Prediction of
summer epilimnetic and annual average P.
Client:
Town of Richmond Hill, Ontario, in cooperation with Michael Michalski
Associates
Scope: Contribution to the Functional Servicing
Plan, Official Plan Amendment 129. Evaluation of water quality from
nutrient and algal biomass concentration of the surface water and
from oxygen depletion of the bottom water. Computation of a longterm
P budget based on detailed records of runoff and P export from
various parts of the watershed. Prediction of P concentrations of
epilimnetic, fall turnover and annual averages and of water quality
variables for 21 different scenarios, including pre- development,
present and post-development, and with and without in-lake
restoration techniques.
Client:
Town of Richmond Hill, Ontario, in cooperation with Gartner Lee
Lim..
Scope: Development of a restoration plan for this
small urban lake, based on hydrological and nutrient modeling, with
special emphasis on the decrease of internal P load.
Client:
District Municipality of Muskoka, Ontario.
Scope: "A
Guide and Handbook" that proposes numerous aspects to revise the
then current water quality model, based on the phosphorus mass
balance approach.
Client:
Department of Fisheries and Oceans, Sault St. Marie, Ontario.
Scope:
Investigation of the phosphorus cycle in clear and brown water lakes.
Client:
Department of Fisheries and Oceans, Sault St. Marie, Ontario.
Scope:
Compilation of possible mechanisms that contribute to differences in
the productivity of clear and brown water lakes.
Client:
Ministry of the Environment, Edmonton, Alberta.
Scope:
Consulting on the cause of phosphorus increases during summer in
Alberta lakes.
Client:
Michael Michalski Associates, Bracebridge, Ontario.
Scope:
Review of a P mass balance of this lake with substantial internal P
load and preliminary investigation of remediation possibilities.
Client:
Michael Michalski Associates, Bracebridge, Ontario.
Scope:
Modelling of temperature, phosphorus and total suspended solids for a
watercourse involving several streams and artificial (stormwater)
ponds.
Client:
Glen Lake Association.
Scope: Evaluation of water quality
from nutrient and algal biomass concentration of the surface water
and from oxygen depletion of the bottom water with emphasis on
sediment release of phosphorus.
Client:
Ontario Ministry of the Environment, Central Region, Toronto.
Scope:
Quantification of hypolimnetic anoxia in lakes of south-central
Canada as anoxic factor.
Client:
Ontario Ministry of the Environment, Central Region, Toronto.
Scope:
Development of a quantitative measure of hypolimnetic anoxia, the
anoxic factor.
Client:
Ontario Ministry of the Environment, Central Region, Toronto.
Scope:
Development of a mass balance model for iron and the prediction of
iron concentrations in lakes.
Client:
Ontario Ministry of the Environment, Central Region, Toronto.
Scope:
Help developing a workplan to determine P release in these shallow
lakes.
Client:
Ontario Ministry of the Environment, Central Region, Toronto.
Scope:
Predictions of phosphorus, oxygen and chlorophyll concentration
averages for different levels of sewage treatment plant effluents,
based on P budget modelling.
Client:
Ontario Ministry of the Environment, Central Region, Toronto.
Scope:
Quantification of phosphorus release from the sediment of Gravenhurst
Bay of Lake Muskoka and determination of the depth that is involved
in sediment release.
University:
York University, Downsview, Toronto.
Granting agency:
Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada.
Scope:
Comparison of the phosphorus release rate from anoxic sediments with
different sediment fractions of phosphorus and iron.
Client:
Lake Waramaug Task Force, Connecticut.
Granting Agency:
Jessie Smith Noyes Foundation.
Scope: Determination of
changes in the water quality of Lake Waramaug and Lake Wononskopomuk,
Connecticut, as a consequence of the in-lake restoration technique of
hypolimnetic withdrawal.
University:
Trent University, Peterborough, ON
Granting agency: Ontario
Ministry of the Environment.
Scope: Speciation of profundal
lake sediment from several south central Ontario lakes with special
emphasis on reductant soluble phosphorus and iron fractions.