TRACKING NUTRIENT FLUXES IN GROUNDWATER AND SURFACE WATER ON THE EASTERN SHORE OF LAKE ERIE

Nutrients, particularly nitrogen and phosphorus, negatively affect Lake Erie’s water quality thus impacting humans and aquatic organisms. The environmental impacts are clearly articulated at an international level in the State of the Great Lakes 2017 Report released by the U.S. and Canadian governments. While the EPA currently focuses on monitoring Lake Erie tributaries as a significant source of nutrient flux, this research expands the scope to track nutrient fluxes from both groundwater and surface water at Woodlawn Beach State Park on the eastern shore of Lake Erie. The Woodlawn Beach complex consists of two tributaries streams and a coastal wetland that flow into Lake Erie. This field site was instrumented with stream gages and an array of nested groundwater wells that were monitored during the summer of 2017. Bi-weekly water samples were collected from four surface waters and ten groundwater wells to test for phosphorus and nitrogen in several forms (i.e. dissolved reactive phosphorus, nitrate, and ammonia). Stream stage and discharge were measured to produce rating curves to calculate stream discharge into the lake. Nutrient fluxes from groundwater and surface waters entering Lake Erie at Woodlawn Beach were calculated and compared during the spring to summer 2017 field season. Results show ammonia as being one of the greatest contributors of nutrient flux into the lake, especially in groundwater. While these results not only highlight the importance of analyzing groundwater in conjunction with surface water when dealing with nutrient flux, they also may indicate a reducing environment potentially caused by urban waste water leakage that could pose probable threats to living organisms.