National Assessment

Introduction to the Special Issue on the USEPA National Lakes Assessment

Perry Thomas and Lisa Borre

he NALMS Government Affairs the results from the 2012 NLA that was • Report and highlights with public and ad hoc committee and U.S. released in December 2016 and compared technical reports as well as related TEnvironmental Protection Agency this to the previous 2007 assessment regional highlight studies (USEPA) co-organized a special session report. She noted that there has been little • Data dashboards of the NLA on the National Lakes Assessment (NLA) change in the percentage of degraded assessment results with the option to at the 2017 NALMS Symposium in lakes over the five-year period, with a customize and download charts by Colorado (Figure 1). The well-attended few notable exceptions. The USEPA’s region, state, etc. session was moderated by NALMS board informative NLA 2012 website includes: • Data downloads for both the 2007 and member Eugene Braig (Figure 2). One • Key findings in a high-level summary outcome of an informal discussion over 2012 reports are also available on the including information on key main NLA website. lunch after the session was to produce this stressors NLA-themed issue of LakeLine magazine. John Beaver of BSA Environmental At the symposium, USEPA NLA • Ecoregional results for nine Services, Inc. leads the biological lead scientist Amina Pollard presented ecological regions assessment aspect of the NLA and

Figure 1. Participants and organizers of the NLA session at the 2017 NALMS symposium included (L to R): Susan Holdsworth, Lee Engel, Amina Pollard, Melissa Laney, Jennifer Brentrup, Kathleen Weathers, Perry Thomas, John Beaver, Eugene Braig, and Lisa Borre.

8 Summer 2018 / NALMS • LAKELINE Lee Engel with the Sentinel Lakes Program at the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (MN DNR) explained how their program uses supplemental funding to intensify the NLA survey, Introduction to the Special Issue on adding to the number of lakes studied in their state and the chemical and biological the USEPA National Lakes Assessment parameters collected, including pesticides, Glyphosate, , algal toxins, sediment, and contaminates of emerging Perry Thomas and Lisa Borre concern (CECs), to compare past and future surveys. Details on this work can be found in the following pages, and more information about their Sentinel Lakes Program can be found on their website (MN DNR 2018). Susan Holdsworth (Figure 5), Chief of the Monitoring Branch of Figure 2. Eugene Braig moderated a Q&A session with presenters during the NLA session. U.S. EPA’s Office of Oceans and Watersheds and Co-Chair of the presented phytoplankton and zooplankton Program at the Vermont Department of National Water Quality Monitoring data from the 2012 NLA, showing Environmental Conservation (VT DEC), Council, made closing remarks during how those data reflect ecoregions and presented a story of how the 2007 NLA the session before joining the presenters biogeography (Beaver et al. 2014; Figure helped convince the Vermont legislature for a panel discussion. In response to a 3). Data from his analyses may be useful to enact shoreland protection measures, question about the increasing trend and to managers for the purpose of including new regulatory and training growing problem with eutrophic lakes characterizing planktonic communities programs. Melissa Laney, director of and blooms, panelists in local and regional systems and for the Indiana Clean Lakes Program, used talked about how changes in the intensity predicting potential biological invasions, results from the NLA to illustrate lake of storm events, steady warming, and according to Beaver. water quality trends from 2007 through increased development in watersheds Kathleen Weathers (Figure 4), 2017. Articles from NLA-related work are contributing to the decline in water senior scientist at the Cary Institute of in both states can be found later in this quality. Engel replied to a question from a Ecosystem Studies and co-chair of the special issue of LakeLine. participant about the correlation between Global Lake Ecological Observatory Network (GLEON) talked about how GLEON’s global network is using the NLA database for research and graduate student training. She explained how the research network also helped to facilitate the transfer of experience with the NLA in the U.S. to similar assessments now underway in Canada and Europe. A specific example of the use of data for GLEON research and student training was presented by Jennifer Brentrup, now a postdoctoral researcher at Dartmouth College. Brentrup explained the importance of lake-specific characteristics for water quality across the continental U.S., based on an analysis of the 2007 NLA database. (See the article about GLEON’s work with NLA data that is included later in this issue.) The second half of the session was devoted to case studies about the use of the NLA at the state level in Vermont, Indiana, and Minnesota. Perry Thomas, manager of the Lakes and Figure 3. John Beaver spoke about his biological assessment work during the NLA session.

Summer 2018 / NALMS • LAKELINE 9 On behalf of the NLA session organizers, we hope the session and the articles contained in this special issue help raise awareness about the state of lakes in the U.S. and the value of conducting nationwide assessments of lake health. We also hope these examples will inspire others to make use of and build upon the NLA research, findings and databases.

References Beaver, J.R., E.E. Manis, K.A.Loftin, J.L.Graham, A.I.Pollard, and R.M.Mitchell, 2014. Land use patterns, ecoregion, and microcystin relationships in U.S. lakes and : A preliminary evaluation. Harmful Algae, 36: 57-62. MN DNR. 2018. Sentinel Lakes website: https://www.dnr.state.mn.us/fisheries/ Figure 4. Kathleen Weathers (on right, with a session participant) spoke about the use of NLA slice/index.html. data by the GLEON research to advance lake research. USEPA. 2007. National Lakes Assessment website: https://www.epa.gov/national- aquatic-resource-surveys/national- lakes-assessment-2007-results. USEPA. 2012. National Lakes Assessment website: https://www.epa.gov/national- aquatic-resource-surveys/national- lakes-assessment-2012-results.

Perry Thomas, Ph.D., has been Lakes and Ponds Program Manager with the Vermont Department of Environmental Conservation for three years. Previously she served as a faculty member and dean at Sterling College in Craftsbury Common, VT. Figure 5. Susan Holdsworth with Eugene Braig at a Q&A session at the NLA session. Lisa Borre is a senior shoreline land use and water quality by In response to a question about whether research specialist at explaining how MN DNR’s work shows USEPA tracks beach closings due the Cary Institute of that the causes of lake to harmful algal blooms (HABs), Ecosystem Studies cannot be pinpointed because it depends Holdsworth replied that her agency and an active member on what is going on in the watershed of is following up with states that report of the Global Lake the lake. This position is supported by such (recreational) closures, but much Ecological Observatory research conducted by GLEON using more emphasis is placed on monitoring Network (GLEON). She NLA data. HABs in connection with drinking water is currently serving as The panel discussion also touched supplies. Several panelists explained NALMS Region 3 director (2017-2019). In her role on some of the data gaps for the NLA, how their programs are also collecting as the board liaison on the Government Affairs ad including information about benthic additional data to better understand hoc committee, she co-organized the NLA special invertebrates, citizen science, residence climate trends, including ice cover, lake session at the 2017 symposium. c time of water in lakes, thermal structure temperature, and thermal structure. and stability, and management activities.

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