Lake Erie LaMP Nutrient Management Strategy Prepared by Sandra George Canadian Co-chair Lake Erie LaMP

1. Lake Erie LaMP
Nutrient Management Strategy
Prepared by Sandra George
Canadian Co-chair Lake Erie LaMP

2. Lake Erie Nutrient
Related concerns:
• Drinking water safety - HABs
• Unstable fish communities
• Declines in property values
• Disruptions in foodweb and energy flow
• Degraded habitats especially nearshore ,wetlands
and tributaries
• Increases in Cladophora and Plectonema biomass
• Botulism Outbreaks
• Fish and wildlife kills
• Beach contamination & closures
• Added costs to municipalities, industry and
citizens

3. Key Initiatives (2007-2010)
• Binational Nutrient Management Plan
– State of Nutrient Science report (fall 2009)
– Development of TP indicator (June 2009)
– Nutrient Management Strategy discussion doc (June 2009)
– Marketing and Communication Strategy (March 10)
– Coordination and Reporting Framework (June 2010)
• Related Activities
– Assessments & Integrated Water Resource Management
Plans
– Continue to develop Lake Erie LaMP Indicators
– Engage Lake Erie Municipalities
– Cooperative Monitoring Program 2009
– Review LaMP structure

4. The Nutrient Management Strategy
identifies binational:
• Goals
• Objectives
• Indicators & Targets
• Principles
• Status of Nutrients & Management Actions
• Mitigation Priorities including watersheds
• Monitoring Priorities
• Research Priorities
• Reporting requirements

5. Lake Erie Binational
Nutrient Management Plan
Goals:
Lake Erie LaMP
Nutrient inputs from both point and non-point sources
are managed to ensure that ambient concentrations
are within bounds of sustainable watershed
management and consistent with the Lake Erie Vision.
GLWQA
A substantial reduction in the present levels of algal
biomass to levels below a nuisance condition
including bays and other areas where nuisance algal
blooms may occur (GLWQA Annex 3-1)

6. Objectives of Strategy
• Stop further degradation!
WB Sept 2009
• Conserve and Protect waters that meet nutrient
targets
• Restore waters that don’t meet nutrient targets
• Monitor and Report on status of nutrients
against targets and progress of domestic actions

7. Total Phosphorus Indicator Targets
(adopted by LE LaMP manager June 2009 as
provisional targets)
Habitat Types TP Target (mean
average annual conc
ug/L
Tributaries 30 (25-30)
Coastal Wetland 30 (20-30)
Nearshore 20 (15-20)
West Basin 15 (15-18)
Central & East Basins 10 (10-13.5)

8. Strategy Principles
• Adaptive management
• Precautionary principle
• Government Responsibility
• Shared Responsibility
• Accountability
• Pollution Prevention
• Integration and Cooperation

9. Key Findings
( Houston we have a problem !)
(western basin Sept 2009)

10. Status of Offshore Waters
• Not consistently meeting
11,000 tonnes/yr loading
target
• Western basin rarely meets
GLWQA TP target
concentration in spring or
summer
• Central and Eastern basin
mostly meets targets in
summer; occasionally in spring
• 48% of loadings to offshore
waters comes from western
basin watersheds
• Increases in nutrient loads
exacerbate dissolved oxygen
problems in central basin
WB Sept 2009

11. Status of Nearshore Waters
• Both offshore and local inputs of Phosphorus are driving nearshore
conditions
• Reduction in offshore and tributary TP concentrations is needed.
• Cladophora in eastern basin
• Plectonema in Maumee Bay
• Microcystis in western basin
• Increased costs to water treatment plants to remove potential harmful
algal toxins
• Periodic fish and wildlife kills due to elevated algal toxin levels in
water

12. Status of Tributaries
• Large rivers contributing majority
of TP
• Smaller rivers may be impacting
localized nearshore areas,
especially after significant storm
events
• Trenton Channel- high TP, most
likely from Detroit WWTP
• Maumee and Sandusky rivers
contributing the biggest
contributors of TP to Lake Erie
• SRP appears to be increasing
disproportionably to TP in
tributaries
• Agriculturally dominated
watersheds appear to be highest
contributors

14. Status of Management Actions
• Current nutrient management actions and programs are not
achieving the nutrient levels required to achieve the Lake Erie LaMP
Vision
• Significant improvements in nutrient reductions can be achieved
through optimizing existing programs, better coordination and
reporting, broader application
• Develop implementation framework to improve coordination and
accountability
• If optimization of existing programs cannot achieve LaMP nutrient
targets, then new programs should be considered
• Improved Action is needed urgently!

15. Nutrient Mitigation Priorities
• Reduce Non-point source inputs substantially
• Reduce Point Source – municipal & industrial
• Restore functional landscapes and hydrological
processes
• Improve habitat amount, complexity, linkages
• Understand emerging issues (science)
• Evaluate effectiveness of actions (monitor)

16. Nutrient Mitigation Priorities
Specifically:
• Focused action needs to occur in the Trenton Channel-Detroit River,
Maumee River, Sandusky River, Grand River (ON) and Thames River.
• Priorities should be guided by total phosphorus indicator results.
• Actions taken to reduce nutrient loading in smaller tributaries will
benefit the local nearshore areas of the lake
• Discharges from municipal and industrial sources should be examined
to determine if nutrient reductions can be achieved.
• The Detroit Waste-water Treatment Plant should be reviewed
• Focused actions are needed in watersheds with significant agricultural
lands as they have been shown to be more likely to discharge
nutrients.
• Discharges from septic systems should be examined to determine if
nutrient reductions can be achieved.
• Actions to address climate change and invasive species influence
nutirnt are required, at the same time as reducing the nutrients
available

17. Research Priorities
Governments need to commit to supporting scientific research that
provides the information and technology necessary to maintain and
improve management decision making regarding the nutrient
conditions in Lake Erie.
• Understand ecosystem processes and how nutrient are utilized by different
component of the ecosystem
• Understand how human activities change and the impact on nutrient
conditions in the Lake Erie
• Prediction of outcomes through modeling is essential for adaptive
management.
• Develop new & evaluate existing beneficial management practices and new
technologies
• Understand role of climate change
• Facilitate the communication science findings to the management
community and beyond

18. Monitoring
LaMP is the mechanism for establishing
binational monitoring priorities for Lake
Erie
Adaptive Management: monitoring is of
equal value to the identification and
implementation of actions.

19. Monitoring to…
• Determine and report on progress towards nutrient
concentration targets/indicators,
• Allow identification of significant relationships between
human uses and ecosystem responses change that can
then be responded to early, minimizing potential harm to
the ecosystem and the services it provides,
• Assist in setting research and monitoring priorities and
commitments by the LaMP community, and
• Evaluate the success of implementation activities and
identify where more work needs to be done.

20. Ecosystem Status & Response
Reporting
• Will use the monitoring and research data acquired over the five-
year cycle
• Results compared against agreed to targets and indicators.
• Results will be compared against previously collected data and
identify where trends exist.
• Reports will be short, map-based, and visual using GIS technology.
• Will be released as part of the LaMP 5-yr cycle.

21. Progress Reporting
• Regular reporting presented to the LaMP Work Group &
Management Committee
• Allows for regular discussions on progress/ impediments
to progress, and allows agencies to prioritize and align
their commitments to the LaMP with their respective
agency programs, policies and regulations.

22. Next Steps….
• Creating a Framework for domestic action
• Binational Agreement
• Domestic Work Plans
• LaMP Binational Work Plans
• 5-year LaMP Cycle
• Marketing and communications plan