2015 Lac La Nonne Report

THE ALBERTA LAKE MANAGEMENT SOCIETY VOLUNTEER LAKE MONITORING PROGRAM 2015 Lac la Nonne Report LAKEWATCH IS MADE POSSIBLE WITH SUPPORT FROM: Alberta Lake Management Society’s LakeWatch Program LakeWatch has several important objectives, one of which is to collect and interpret water quality data on Alberta Lakes. Equally important is educating lake users about their aquatic environment, encouraging public involvement in lake management, and facilitating cooperation and partnerships between government, industry, the scientific community and lake users. LakeWatch Reports are designed to summarize basic lake data in understandable terms for a lay audience and are not meant to be a complete synopsis of information about specific lakes. Additional information is available for many lakes that have been included in LakeWatch and readers requiring more information are encouraged to seek those sources. ALMS would like to thank all who express interest in Alberta’s aquatic environments and particularly those who have participated in the LakeWatch program. These people prove that ecological apathy can be overcome and give us hope that our water resources will not be the limiting factor in the health of our environment. This report has been published before the completion of the data validation process. Acknowledgements The LakeWatch program is made possible through the dedication of its volunteers. We would like to thank Brian and Kathy Durstling for their assistance with sampling Lac la Nonne in 2015. We would also like to thank Laticia McDonald, Ageleky Bouzetos, and Mohamad Youssef who were summer technicians with ALMS in 2015. Executive Director Bradley Peter was instrumental in planning and organizing the field program. Mike Bilyk was involved in the training aspects of the program. Lisa Reinbolt was responsible for data management. This report was prepared by Bradley Peter and Alicia Kennedy. The Beaver River Watershed Alliance (BRWA), the Lakeland Industry and Community Association (LICA), the Alberta Environmental Monitoring Evaluation and Reporting Agency (AEMERA), and Environment Canada, were major sponsors of the program. LAC LA NONNE: Lac La Nonne is a fairly large (11.8 km2) and deep (maximum depth 19.8 m) lake located about 90 km northwest of Edmonton in the counties of Barrhead and Lac Ste. Anne.1 The closest large population centre is the town of Barrhead located 20 km to the north. It is within the Athabasca River Watershed. This is a highly developed and popular recreational lake. It has one summer village, twelve residential subdivisions, and five campgrounds/resorts and is surrounded by agricultural land. A severe toxic cyanobacteria bloom in August 2002 prompted public concern over water quality and the formation of two local watershed stewardship groups, Lac La Nonne Enhancement and Protection Association Figure 1 – Map of Lac la Nonne obtained from and the Lac La Nonne Watershed Lac La Nonne Enhancement and Protection Stewardship Society. They have been very Association (LEPA) 2012. active in implementing beneficial management practices, educating the watershed community, and organizing data collection in preparation of undertaking a watershed management plan. Lac La Nonne Watershed is large (299 km2) and includes Lake Nakamun and Majeau Lake. In 2006, the Lac La Nonne Watershed Society undertook a State of the Watershed Report. This report summarizes available information for the historical and current condition of the watershed and makes recommendations for maintaining and improving lake and watershed health.2 WATER QUANTITY: There are many factors influencing water quantity. Some of these factors include the size of the lakes drainage basin, precipitation, evaporation, water consumption, ground water influences, and the efficiency of the outlet channel structure at removing water from the lake. 1 Michell, P and E. Prepas. 1990. Atlas of Alberta Lakes, University of Alberta Press. Available at: http://sunsite.ualberta.ca/Projects/Alberta-Lakes/ 2 Aquality. 2006. Lac La Nonne State of the Watershed Report. Lac La Nonne Watershed Society. Available at: http://www.laclanonnewatershed.com/LLN_SoW_Report.pdf Water levels have been measured at Lac La Nonne since 1972 by Environment Canada (Figure 2). There has been a general trend towards decline at Lac La Nonne since 1997, which was the maximum historical water elevation, measuring an average of 663.941 meters above sea level (m asl) that year. Since then, water levels have dropped sharply, reaching a historical minimum of 662.361 m asl. Overall, water levels have fluctuated ~1.7 m since observations began. Since the historical minimum in 2010, water levels have recovered nearly one meter. 664.0 663.8 663.6 663.4 663.2 663.0 662.8 662.6 Elevation (m asl) Elevation (m 662.4 662.2 662.0 1960 1970 1980 1990 2000 2010 2020 Year Figure 2 – Historical water levels measured as water quantity in meters above sea level (m asl) for Lac la Nonne from 1972-2014. Data retrieved from Environment Canada. Values obtained by averaging monthly elevations for each year. WATER CLARITY AND SECCHI DEPTH: Water clarity is influenced by suspended materials, both living and dead, as well as dissolved colored compounds in the water column. During the melting of snow and ice in spring, lake water can become turbid (cloudy) from silt transported into the lake. Lake water usually clears in late spring but then becomes more turbid with increased algal growth as the summer progresses. The easiest and most widely used measure of lake water clarity is the Secchi disk depth. Average water clarity measured 2.80 m in 2015 (Table 2). This value is the highest water clarity measured since observations began in 1983. This average was comprised of a maximum water clarity of 6.50 m observed on June 23rd, and a minimum water clarity of 1.75 m observed on both August 18th and September 8th (Figure 3). Water clarity measurements appear closely correlated with the concentration of chlorophyll-a in the water column, suggesting phytoplankton blooms are the primary factor affecting water clarity in Lac la Nonne. Date 23-Jun 21-Jul 04-Aug 18-Aug 08-Sep 0 1 1.25 2 1.75 1.75 3 2.75 4 Secchi Depth (m) Depth Secchi 5 6 7 6.50 Figure 3 – Secchi depth values measured five times over the course of the summer at Lac la Nonne in 2015. WATER TEMPERATURE AND DISSOLVED OXYGEN: Water temperature and dissolved oxygen profiles in the water column can provide information on water quality and fish habitat. The depth of the thermocline is important in determining the depth to which dissolved oxygen from the surface can be mixed. Please refer to the end of this report for descriptions of technical terms. Thermal stratification was present in Lac la Nonne on each of the five sampling trips in 2015 (Figure 4a). Thermal stratification began as early as 6.5 m on August 4th and was weak in both June and September. Water temperatures were not overly warm at the surface – on August 4th a maximum seasonal surface water temperature of 21.48°C was observed. However, water temperatures did not decrease dramatically with depth. At the lakebed, a minimum seasonal water temperature of 10.14 °C was observed. Dissolved oxygen concentrations were greatly impacted by the thermal stratification present in Lac la Nonne. Up until September, dissolved oxygen concentrations above the thermocline remained above the Canadian Council for Ministers of the Environment guidelines of 6.5 mg/L for the Protection of Aquatic Life (Figure 4b). Below the thermocline, however, dissolved oxygen concentrations regularly proceeded toward anoxia. On September 8th, the entire water column fell below the CCME PAL guidelines. A decrease in dissolved oxygen concentrations throughout the water column is not uncommon as thermal stratification begins to break down and surface waters are mixed with anoxic bottom waters. Temperature (°C) Dissolved Oxygen (mg/L) a) b) 0 10 20 30 0 5 10 15 0 0.0 2 2.0 4 4.0 6 6.0 8 8.0 10 10.0 Depth (m) Depth 12 (m) Depth 12.0 21-Jun 21-Jun 14 21-Jul 14.0 21-Jul 16 4-Aug 16.0 4-Aug 18 18-Aug 18.0 18-Aug 8-Sep 8-Sep 20 20.0 Figure 4 – a) Temperature (°C) and b) dissolved oxygen (mg/L) profiles for Lac la Nonne measured five times over the course of the summer of 2015. WATER CHEMISTRY: ALMS measures a suite of water chemistry parameters. Phosphorus, nitrogen, and chlorophyll-a are important because they are indicators of eutrophication, or excess nutrients, which can lead to harmful algal/cyanobacteria blooms. One direct measure of harmful cyanobacteria blooms are Microcystins, a common group of toxins produced by cyanobacteria. See Table 1 for a complete list of parameters. Average total phosphorus (TP) measured 204 µg/L in 2015 (Table 2). This average falls well into the hypereutrophic, or very productive, classification. In addition, this average falls on the high end of the historical variation previously recorded at Lac la Nonne. Throughout the summer, TP peaked in mid-August, reaching 230 µg/L on August 4th (Figure 5). Average chlorophyll-a concentration measured 24.8 µg/L in 2015. This value falls on the low end of the historical variation previously observed at Lac la Nonne and falls into the eutrophic, or productive, classification. This lower concentration of chlorophyll-a is likely responsible for the higher water clarity values observed in 2015. Throughout the summer, chlorophyll-a measured a minimum of 3.50 µg/L on June 23rd and a maximum of 41.4 µg/L on August 18th (Figure 5). Finally, total Kjeldahl nitrogen (TKN) measured an average of 1.8 mg/L in 2015. This value falls on the low end of the historical variation previously observed at Lac la Nonne.

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