Lake Huron and the Saginaw Bay Watershed

Community Meeting Saginaw, Michigan. U.S.A. January 31, 2008 LakeLake HuronHuron OverviewOverview y Ba n iia rg o e G

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S S Lake Huron Watershed Manitoulin Manitoulin – – Saginaw Bay Misery Bay Mackinac Eastern Georgian Bay Bruce Peninsula Length: 206 miles Width: 183 miles Average Depth: 194 feet Area: 22,973 square miles Average water retention Saginaw Bay Misery Bay Mackinac Eastern Georgian Bay Bruce Peninsula Length: 206 miles Width: 183 miles Average Depth: 194 feet Area: 22,973 square miles Average water retention • • • • • • • • • • time: 22 years • • • • • • • • • • time: 22 years Fifth Largest Lake in the Second Largest Great Lake Five Shoreline Biodiversity Fifth Largest Lake in the Second Largest Great Lake Five Shoreline Biodiversity • World • • Investment Areas • World • • Investment Areas LakeLake HuronHuron ManagementManagement

Spanish River Mouth

Severn Sound

Collingwood Harbor

Saginaw Bay StateState ofof LakeLake HuronHuron PCBsPCBs inin thethe AirAir AroundAround thethe GreatGreat LakesLakes

300

La ke Erie 250 Lake Michigan Lake Superior La ke Onta rio ) 200 La ke Huro n USEPA Data 150

Conc (pg/m3 100

50

0

1992 1994 1996 1998 2000 2002 2004 2006 LakeLake HuronHuron OpenOpen WaterWater Trends:Trends: PCBsPCBs inin WholeWhole LakeLake TroutTrout SamplesSamples

Source: USEPA-GLNPO InvasiveInvasive SpeciesSpecies

Phragmites Zebra Mussels PhosphorusPhosphorus inin LakeLake HuronHuron

Lake Huron- Spring

,...., 0.0035 ...J ....____ c. C".. 0.0030 ~E ~ ::::i :1.. J:0 0.0025 c. ~ J:0 c. 0.0020 • -('tl ...... 0 1- Ill 0.0015 ...... ('tl -::::i • -~...... 0.0010 :1.. ('tl c. 0.0005 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 Year USEPA Data DeclinesDeclines inin PreyPrey FishFish inin LakeLake HuronHuron 350

300 round goby troutperch stickleback 250 sculpin bloater 200 rainbow smelt alewife 150 USGS Data

100 Biomass (kilotonnes)

50

0

6 7 8 5 6 7 94 95 9 9 9 03 04 0 0 0 9 9 9 0 0 0 1992 1993 1 1 1 19 19 1999 2000 2001 2002 2 2 2 20 20 BeachBeach FoulingFouling ““MuckMuck”” Summary:Summary: StateState ofof LakeLake HuronHuron z ManyMany highhigh qualityquality areasareas needneed protection.protection. z ToxicsToxics inin openopen lakelake decliningdeclining butbut stillstill aboveabove targets.targets. z InvasiveInvasive speciesspecies disruptingdisrupting thethe ecosystemecosystem includingincluding thethe foodfood webweb andand wetlands.wetlands. z UnprecedentedUnprecedented declinedecline inin nutrients.nutrients. z NearshoreNearshore overover--enrichmentenrichment problems.problems. SaginawSaginaw BayBay TheThe SaginawSaginaw RiverRiver andand BayBay AreaArea ofof ConcernConcern

Lake Huron

II Area of Concern RemedialRemedial ActionAction PlanPlan ProgramProgram

z Required under Annex 2 of the U.S-Canadian Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement and the Clean Water Act . z Restore “beneficial uses” of area, consistent with locally defined goals. z Characterized by: „ Problem definition „ Selection and implementation of remedial measures „ Establish delisting criteria „ Delisting/Monitoring z Public Involvement. z Many Partners. SaginawSaginaw RiverRiver andand BayBay AreaArea ofof ConcernConcern Of the 14 potential beneficial use impairments, 12 are impaired in the Saginaw River and Bay Area of Concern:

„ Restrictions on fish and wildlife consumption

„ Eutrophication or undesirable algae

„ Tainting of fish and wildlife flavor

„ Restrictions on drinking water consumption, or taste and odor

„ Degradation of fish and wildlife populations

„ Beach closings

„ Degradation of aesthetics

„ Bird or animal deformities or reproduction problems

„ Degradation of benthos

„ Degradation of phytoplankton and zooplankton populations

„ Restriction on dredging activities

„ Loss of fish and wildlife habitat SaginawSaginaw BayBay ExcessiveExcessive AlgalAlgal GrowthGrowth

0.04 0.035 0.03 0.025 0.02 0.015 0.01

Total Phosphorus (mg/l) 0.005 0 1993 1995 1997 1999 2001 2003 Year Source: MDEQ AddressingAddressing thethe NutrientNutrient ManagementManagement ChallengeChallenge z ShortShort Term:Term: EPAEPA willwill workwork withwith thethe StateState ofof MichiganMichigan toto tracktrack downdown phosphorusphosphorus sourcessources inin thethe SaginawSaginaw BayBay watershed.watershed. z LongLong Term:Term: EPAEPA willwill workwork withwith NOAANOAA’’ss onon theirtheir recentlyrecently announcedannounced ““MultiMulti-- StressorStressor”” projectproject toto rere--assessassess waterwater qualityquality goalsgoals takingtaking intointo accountaccount thethe newnew BayBay ecosystem.ecosystem. CoastalCoastal WetlandsWetlands

Healthy Wetland

Invaded by Phragmites Reed ControllingControlling thethe SpreadSpread zz EPAEPA andand thethe StateState ofof MichiganMichigan areare testingtesting PhragmitesPhragmites controlcontrol methodsmethods atat HamptonHampton TownshipTownship site.site. zz RealReal--worldworld techniquestechniques forfor useuse withinwithin thethe SaginawSaginaw BayBay environment.environment. ConcentrationConcentration byby FoodFood ChainChain

P~ opLa111kton 110 2.5 ppm

H l'fing .~~~mf.g_s:.~:~ ml4 fPll1

Source: The Great Lakes: An Environmental Atlas and Resource Book FishFish ConsumptionConsumption AdvisoriesAdvisories

LakeLake Huron:Huron: „ PCBsPCBs „ DioxinsDioxins SaginawSaginaw Bay:Bay: „ PCBsPCBs „ DioxinsDioxins „ MercuryMercury ……forfor specifics,specifics, referrefer toto thethe guide.guide. LookingLooking intointo History:History: DeepDeep WaterWater SedimentSediment CoresCores PCBsPCBs andand DioxinDioxin inin DatedDated LakeLake HuronHuron SedimentSediment CoresCores

PCBs (ng/cm2/yr)

Dioxins (ppt)

Source: Song, W. et al. 2005. Souce: Czuczwa & Hites (1986) ES&T. 39, 3474-3479 (1985) MovementMovement ofof WaterWater andand SedimentSediment InIn SaginawSaginaw BayBay SedimentSediment Movement:Movement: SaginawSaginaw BayBay

WalleyeWalleye ReefsReefs MappedMapped ReefsReefs

1940s1940s 1990s1990s

Source: SOLEC 2004, Dave Fielder, MDNR DioxinDioxin inin LakeLake HuronHuron OpenOpen WaterWater SurfaceSurface SedimentsSediments

• l:PCDD/Fs • l:DLPCBs

c 40 0 :.;:::::;~ ._ rc - 30 .!:::::; :t: c~ 20 §-o 10 sa 0 oB I-w

• WHO-TEQ concentrations {pg/g dry vvt) of PCD 0/Fs and DLPCBs in surfi­

cial sediment of Lake Huron_

Source: Environment Canada 2002 and 2004 SaginawSaginaw BayBay SedimentSediment SamplingSampling 20042004

Legend:

<30 >250 >1,000

Units: ppt TEQ (D/F/CoPCB)

Source: MDEQ 2007 Saginaw Bay Sediment Sampling Locations

See inset

MDEQ-GLNPO ( ) and E.C. ( ) Dioxin Sediment Stations Saginaw Bay 2007