Vol. 22,No.3 Water Fall 2010 Column Clean LakesProgram •OfficeofWaterQuality • IndianaDepartmentofEnvironmental Management water isthis,youmayask?Alittlecalculationshowsthattheamountof ’s largestat10,750acres,is2.4feetbelownormal.Sohowmuch levelsinsouthern Thelackofrainhascausedsomelowreservoir Indiana. TheU.S.ArmyCorpsofEngineersreportsthatMonroeReservoir, listed as“severedrought”(Figure1). time. Figure 1.The www.drought.unl.edu/dm/monitor.htm Drought Monitor counties arelistedas“extremedrought”intheOctober19versionof south wherepartsofLawrence,Jackson,Washington, Jennings,andScott orinadroughtcondition.Conditionsareworsethe Indiana eitherdry of significantprecipitationduringthepastthreemonthshadleftmuch Ithasbeenanother“feastorfamine”yearwithprecipitationherein Indiana. Despiteaspringandearlysummerwithabundantrain,thelack ~ BillJones It’s DryinIndiana Drought Monitor , publishedbytheU.S.DepartmentofAgriculture( shows that much of Indiana is dry ordrought atthis shows thatmuchofIndianais dry l ). MuchofthesouthernhalfIndianais D4 Drought–Exceptional D3 Drought–Extreme D2 Drought–Severe D1 Drought–Moderate D0 AbnormallyDry http:// water needed to re-fill particles from it. They ingest would more than enough to fill Zooplankton – edible particles and reject non- 800-acre Clear Lake in Steuben A Lake’s Best Friend edible particles. A community of County! zooplankton can filter through Salamonie Reservoir, a 2,600- ~ Dana Wilkinson the volume of an entire lake in a acre reservoir in Wabash and As an employee of the Indiana matter of days! However, not all Huntington counties is 4.4 feet Clean Lakes Program, I have the algae are edible and oftentimes it is below normal. , a opportunity to view hundreds of the nuisance blue-green algae that 1,200-acre reservoir in northeast plankton samples from around zooplankton may avoid eating. For Monroe County is about 2 feet the state. Some of my favorite example, some blue-green algae are down. organisms to see are zooplankton. too large or have slimy, unpalatable Griffy Lake, a 109-acre reservoir So often as lake enthusiasts, we coatings that zooplankton grazers in Bloomington not only has think of the fish we love to catch do not like. suffered from the drought but or the algal blooms we hate to Zooplankton are also a also from an outlet structure stuck see, but what about all the other valuable food source for minnows partially open. The lake is down microscopic organisms swimming and young gamefish that are too some 6 feet and much of the lake around in the water? What role do small to eat insects or other fish. bottom is exposed (Figure 2). The they play in the health of our lakes? The presence or absence of healthy boat ramp is unusable (Figure 3). Zooplankton have an zooplankton populations are Bloomington’s precipitation since important and essential role essential for a healthy fishery in a July is some 8 inches below normal. in a lake’s ecosystem and food lake or even the ocean. By insuring While northern Indiana isn’t chain (Figure 1). Unlike algae, or that the lower parts of the food as droughty, according to USGS phytoplankton, zooplankton are chain are healthy, we can protect data for lakes and reservoirs (http:// microscopic animals – shrimp-like the higher ordered organisms, like in.water.usgs.gov/) Lake Maxinkuckee crustaceans that are responsible for fish, whales, and even us humans. in Marshall County has dropped 1 eating millions of tiny algae that Below I’ve shared a little bit foot in the past two months. Over may otherwise grow to an out- about some specific zooplankton the same time period, Waldron of-control state. Zooplankton are groups that I often see in Indiana Lake in Noble County is down grazers, having the same function lakes. nearly 3.5 feet from high levels as rabbits or cows on the land. The following the wet spring. big difference is that they are very Rotifers For the year, precipitation tiny. There are over 2,000 species amounts in Indiana are near Zooplankton are primarily of rotifers in freshwater systems. average, however, the irregular filter feeders. They passively filter They are so named for their distinct timing of precipitation events is lake water, extracting small food mouth, called a corona. It is used causing the lake level problems.

Figure 2. The drought and a leaky outlet have left much of Griffy Figure 3. Boats have no place to go in Griffy Lake. Lake in Monroe County dry. 2 for both locomotion and filter feeding (Figure 2). Fine cilia (hairs) in the corona rotate to create water currents that bring food to the mouth. Because they are so small, less than 1 millimeter (mm) in size, they can only consume very small Piscivorous Fish particles. (A millimeter is the width of an “e” on this page.) Rotifers serve as a food source eat for larger organisms, including other zooplankton. Most do not swim and must simply drift along with the water, as many plankton Figure 3. A Daphnia female with three do. Others have a single foot embryos in its brood chamber. Photo by Bill and remain attached to the lake Jones. Planktivorous Fish bottom or to plants. Rotifers are very efficient reproducers and can on algae, detritus, and bacteria, multiply asexually when conditions and can take larger particles than eat are suitable. They eat bacteria, can the rotifers. As filter feeders, detritus, other rotifers, algae, and they use their legs to create a flow protozoa. of water past their mouths to then suck up food particles. The fine Cladocerans hairs on their legs also act as filters These small crustaceans are and can catch food drifting by. characterized by a two-valve Daphnia, also known as water carapace, or outer shell, covering fleas, are able to move in the water, Herbivores most of their body (Figure 3). in a very unique, jerky manner by Examples of this group include moving their large antennas in a Daphnia, Bosmina, Ceriodaphnia, paddling motion. When viewing eat and Diaphanosoma; all of which live specimens on the microscope, look very similar except for very it can be very frustrating to keep small differences in body shape. them in the field of view! Some of them grow large enough Several different genera of (2-3 mm) to be spotted with the Cladocerans are seen in most lake naked eye when captured in a samples that I count in the Clean Algae light-colored container. They feed Lakes laboratory. For instance, I saw quite an abundance of Daphnia longiremis, among many other use zooplankton genera, in Lake Cicott of Cass County this past summer. The number of zooplankton we catch in one sample can often Nutrients be determined by the quality or quantity of current algal food sources, time of day, or sampling technique. recycle Daphnia, and several other zooplankton, perform what is known as “diurnal migration.” Benthivorous Fish This is a daily routine of migrating from the darker, deeper waters of the lake during the day and up to the surface waters during the night. Scientists believe they do this to avoid predators. By spending Figure 2. A rotifer, Testudinella. Photo by daylight hours in the dark, deeper Figure 1. A typical aquatic food chain. Micrographia. waters, Daphnia can avoid being 3 eaten by sight-feeding fish. They the life cycle typically includes six then migrate up to the surface stages as a nauplii and six stages as Announcement waters at night to filter feed on the a copepod, the last of which is the of Watershed algae. Most fish don’t feed at night. adult stage. Developing copepods For this diurnal migration strategy shed their old, small exoskeleton Networking Sessions to succeed, there needs to be plenty (outer shell) at each stage and grow Seeking Grants to Meet Your Goals of oxygen in the dark, deep-water a new, larger one. As filter feeders, and Leveraging Funding Sources is refuge. Unfortunately, many lakes they feed mainly on phytoplankton the title of three sessions that have don’t contain enough oxygen at and protozoans, but some species been set up to discuss this timely depth. are predatory. Copepods can be topic. They will cover the same strong swimmers and will also material, so just choose the session Copepods undergo diurnal migration. They closest to you. They will be held Two notable copepods that I see are an important link that connects from 10:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. each often are calanoids and cyclopoids food webs between small, algal cells day. (Figure 4). As larva they are known all the way up to large fish. as nauplii (Figure 5). A copepod egg Next time you’re out on a Topics will include: Getting hatches into a nauplius larva and sunny, summer day, dip a white Ready to Seek Funding; Seeking the cup into the water, and see if Right Grants and Other Funding you can’t spy any tiny organisms Sources; Grants and Funding in moving about in the water. General; and Specific Grants and Other Funding Sources

December 1, 2010: LARE Reports Potato Creek State Park Available Online North Liberty, Indiana Greg Biberdorf of the Indiana (574) 656-8186 DNR Lake and River Enhancement Program (LARE) tells us that all December 8, 2010: LARE final reports, nearly 400 in all, Spring Mill State Park are now available in a searchable Mitchell, Indiana database at: http://www.in.gov/dnr/ (812) 849-4129 fishwild/3303.htm. To find pertinent reports by county, water body, type December 9, 2010: of report, or year, just use the drop- Fort Harrison down menus to quickly find the Indianapolis, Indiana correct link to the report PDFs. New (317) 591-0904 Figure 4. A typical calanoid copepod. reports will be added as they are Photo by Severson Bay Plankton. produced. An agenda will be sent out shortly describing the day’s topics in more detail, along with information about registration and cost. We are doing everything we WATER COLUMN can to keep costs as low as possible while still providing a comfortable Published quarterly by the Indiana Clean day. As always, there will be plenty Lakes Program as a medium for of time for networking and asking open exchange of information questions. Please join us for one regarding lake and watershed of these informative and helpful management in Indiana. sessions. Your networking partners Address all correspondence to: include The Indiana Association William W. Jones, Editor SPEA 347, 1315 E. Tenth Street of Soil and Water Conservation Indiana University Districts, The Indiana Department Bloomington, IN 47405-1701 of Environmental Management, The Indiana Department of Natural E-mail: [email protected] Resources, The Indiana State Phone: (812) 855-4556 Department of Agriculture, The Figure 5. A nauplius is a developmental FAX: (812) 855-7802 Natural Resource Conservation stage of a copepod. Photo by Jasper Nance. Service, and Purdue University. 4 Indiana Lake Data On-Line Lake data and information A collected by the Indiana Clean Lakes Program are now available on-line in an easy-to-use map- based format. From the Indiana Clean Lakes Program home page (http://www.indiana.edu/~clp/index. html), select the “Indiana Lake Info” button along the left-hand margin. This opens up an interactive map of Indiana (see A, at right). Place the cursor over the county of interest to open up a page for that county that lists the lakes in that county for which we have data. In the example here, we selected Marshall County (B). Select a lake, in our example Myers Lake, and a page for that lake opens up containing a Google map of the lake, some useful lake B information, the years for which we have data, and a link to the data tables (C). A fact sheet under the “Publications” button called “Interpreting Lake Data” contains information to help you understand what the lake data mean. Use the “Feedback” button if you have any questions or comments for us.

New Web Clearinghouse of Information for Lake Shoreland Protection Resources C EPA’s Office of Water launched a new Web clearinghouse of lake shoreland protection resources that provides practitioners with links to key resources to protect and restore fragile lake shorelands and to promote better stewardship by lakeside property owners and others who recreate on lakes. The clearinghouse, which includes links to fact sheets, Webcasts, videos, and other helpful resources for lakeshore protection, is part of 5 WATER COLUMN NONPROFIT ORG. U.S. POSTAGE School of Public and Environmental Affairs PAID Room 347 Bloomington, IN 1315 E. Tenth Street Permit No. 2 Indiana University Bloomington, IN 47405-1701

Clean Lakes Program

See a color version of this Water Column newsletter at: http://www.indiana.edu/~clp/ under “Publications.”

an outreach campaign to educate more likely to have poor Have you checked out the the public and others about the biological health. Indiana Clean Lakes Program Web key findings of the National Lakes In 2007, EPA, the states, tribes, page lately? Take a look at Assessment (NLA). You can access and others partners sampled more http://www.indiana.edu/~clp/ this lake shorelands protection than 1,000 lakes as part of this first- and see what’s new and happening clearinghouse at: http://water.epa.gov/ ever, national assessment of the with the program and type/lakes/shoreland.cfm. ecological condition of the nation’s with Indiana lakes! According to the NLA, poor lakes. You can learn more about the lakeshore habitat and high levels National Lakes Assessment at: http:// of nutrients are leading stressors water.epa.gov/type/lakes/lakessurvey_ affecting the biological health of index.cfm. lakes. Among the key findings: • 56 percent of our lakes are in good biological condition. • More than one-third of our lakes exhibit poor shoreline condition. • Poor biological health is three times more in lakes Perspectives with poor lakeshore habitat. When the well is dry, we know the worth of water. • Nearly 20 percent of lakes have high levels of ~ Benjamin Franklin, Poor Richard’s Almanac, 1746 nutrients. Lakes with excess nutrients are 2.5 times