WMAO and Ohio WRC Luncheon Seminar

Audrey Sawyer, Assistant Professor from the School of Environment and Natural Resources ta the Ohio State University will present her work during joint Water Management Association of Ohio and Ohio WRC luncheon.

Abstract: Water and chemical exchange through lakebed sediment affects lake water quality but often eludes measurement because fluxes are highly variable and broadly distributed. Here, I present two examples of the effects of lake-groundwater interaction on lake water quality. In the first case, direct groundwater discharge to Lake Erie acts as a hidden source of dissolved nutrients that may alter N:P ratios in lake water and contribute to algal blooms. The second case study illustrates the removal of the algal toxin microcystin-LR within lakebed sediment. I show that wave-driven lake-groundwater interaction is therefore an important control on microcystin fate in energetic coastal areas but not in deep or calm settings where sediment-water interactions are greatly reduced.

Speaker information can be found here.