Diagnostic study of the lakes Laborde (or Lake Cocoyer), Lachaux, and Douat to identify zones of protection. Dr. Donald Huggins and Debra Baker Kansas Biological Survey Report #181 Submitted 29 May 2015 to Comité Interministériel d’Aménagement du Territoire Kansas Biological Survey University of Kansas 2101 Constant Ave. Lawrence, Kansas 66047 USA Diagnostic study of three lakes in southern Haiti 1 Contents Executive Summary ......................................................................................................................... 4 Introduction and Background ......................................................................................................... 5 Weather and Climate ...................................................................................................................... 8 Geology and Geomorphology ......................................................................................................... 8 Lakes and Lake Watersheds .......................................................................................................... 10 Study Objective ............................................................................................................................. 16 Methods ........................................................................................................................................ 16 Land use and land cover (LULC) of watersheds ........................................................................ 17 Water level, Secchi depth, in situ water chemistry .................................................................. 17 Nutrients and bacteria .............................................................................................................. 17 Macroinvertebrates .................................................................................................................. 18 Plankton .................................................................................................................................... 18 Fish ............................................................................................................................................ 19 Macrophytes ............................................................................................................................. 19 Results ........................................................................................................................................... 19 Bacteria ..................................................................................................................................... 19 Nutrients ................................................................................................................................... 23 In situ water chemistry ............................................................................................................. 23 Macroinvertebrates .................................................................................................................. 24 Plankton .................................................................................................................................... 24 Fish ............................................................................................................................................ 25 Macrophytes ............................................................................................................................. 28 Landuse/landcover ................................................................................................................... 30 Slope .......................................................................................................................................... 34 Population ................................................................................................................................. 38 Community meetings ................................................................................................................ 38 Springs and wells....................................................................................................................... 42 Watershed findings and conclusions ............................................................................................ 43 Soil erosion and land use .......................................................................................................... 43 Diagnostic study of three lakes in southern Haiti 2 Precipitation and runoff ............................................................................................................ 44 Lake quality and uses ................................................................................................................ 44 Identification of protection and restoration zones and areas...................................................... 45 Protection area summary ......................................................................................................... 53 Institutional management options and actions ............................................................................ 57 Structural erosion and protection options and actions ............................................................ 58 Non-structural erosion and protection options and actions .................................................... 59 Some future considerations ...................................................................................................... 59 Acknowledgements ....................................................................................................................... 60 References .................................................................................................................................... 61 Appendix A. Files and methods used by the Kansas Applied Remote Sensing Program to create Haiti watersheds and calculate slope. Written by Jerry Whistler. .............................................. 64 Appendix B. Study locations with approximate altitude. ............................................................ 66 Appendix C. Photographs of fish collected during this study at Etang Lachaux and Laborde. ... 67 Appendix D. Fishes of Haiti with occurrence classes. .................................................................. 69 Appendix E. Photographs of macrophytes collected during this study at Etang Lachaux and Laborde. ........................................................................................................................................ 71 Appendix F. 2011 landuse/landcover maps of each lake watershed. ......................................... 74 Diagnostic study of three lakes in southern Haiti 3 Executive Summary Haiti’s Comité Interministériel d’Aménagement du Territoire (CIAT), an inter-departmental government agency, has been tasked with identifying and delineating zones within watersheds to protect against environmental degradation. As such, CIAT contracted the Kansas Biological Survey (KBS) to perform a study of three watersheds located northwest of Les Cayes in Haiti’s Southern Peninsula: the watersheds of Etang Lachaux, Etang Douat, and Etang Laborde. The goal of the study was to perform a bioassessment of the lakes and evaluation of landuse within the watersheds in order to make informed decisions about the best places and methods to protect or begin recovery activities. Deforestation and erosion of Haiti’s land has been well documented. Less is known about Haiti’s aquatic systems and how landuse activities impact the ecological services provided by these ecosystems. Valuable ecological services include fish and bird habitat, biodiversity, hunting and fishing, and drinking water for humans and livestock. This study examines the physical (depth), chemical (in situ and nutrient parameters), and biological (zooplankton, macroinvertebrates, fish, phytoplankton, macrophytes) components of the lakes as well as the springs and wells located in the watersheds. Current and historical watershed landuse and landcover was examined through geographic information system (GIS), observation, and discussions with community members. The resulting information was used to delineate priority zones for protection or restoration, as well to make recommendations for protection and restoration activities. Specifically, in order of priority, the zones that should be protected or restored within each of the three watersheds are: 1. All areas within a 50-meter buffer or 5 hectare area (whichever is larger) around the most prevalent lake shoreline AND all areas within 50 m of stream banks AND all areas within 100 m of springs. 2. High slope (>30%) areas outside of the upper watersheds. 3. High slope (>30%) areas within the upper watersheds. Diagnostic study of three lakes in southern Haiti 4 Introduction and Background In May 2013, upon request of the Ministry of the Environment of the South Department of Haiti, the Central Plains Center for BioAssessment (CPCB) performed a preliminary baseline study of Etang Lachaux, a 54 hectare shallow lake located between Les Cayes and Camp Perrin. The goal was to evaluate if the lake could sustain a harvestable fish population. Etang Lachaux is one of a series of shallow lakes that stretches east to west in this area of the southern peninsula (Figure 1). In January 2014 in conjunction with returning to the area to report our Etang Lachaux findings, we did a walking assessment of Etang Laborde, a 36 hectare lake located 5 km the southeast. The Haitian organization