Innovative Monitoring and Load Estimation Techniques in Watersheds of the Great Lakes Basin

Session: 59. - Innovative Monitoring across the Great Lakes

Jon Hortness, U.S. Geological Survey, [email protected]
Dale Robertson, U.S. Geological Survey, [email protected]
Laura Hubbard, U.S. Geological Survey, [email protected]
Todd Stuntebeck, USGS Wisconsin, [email protected]

Abstract

The Great Lakes receive variable spatial and temporal sediment and nutrient inputs from its diverse basin. Efforts to reduce nutrient and sediment export from the basin, such as best management practices, were accelerated by the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative. To quantify nutrient and sediment export and the effectiveness of these reduction efforts, the U.S. Geological Survey is monitoring sites at various scales across the basin from small edge-of-field (EOF) nested-basin sites to the mouths of major tributaries. The EOF nested-basin design includes continuous monitoring of surface runoff and tile export from individual fields and HUC12 streams using innovative automated sampling techniques, including two-way communication and cameras that facilitate estimation of export during all runoff events. Data from EOF sites and associated watershed modeling enable the evaluation of agricultural activities and effectiveness of conservation practices. To better estimate loading in large tributaries, continuous water quality (such as turbidity) is measured with multi-parameter sondes and incorporated into a new surrogate regression approach, which will eventually allow continuous real-time loads to be estimated, allowing managers to make better informed, near real-time decisions. To improve estimation of dissolved constituent loads, continuous nitrate and phosphate sensors are being incorporated into the monitoring program.

1. Keyword
nutrients

2. Keyword
monitoring

3. Keyword
sediment load

4. Additional Keyword
real-time

5. Additional Keyword
surrogate