Living with the Lakes Operating with the Ecosystem in Mind

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Living with the Lakes - Operating with the
Ecosystem in Mind
Victoria Harris Water Quality and Habitat
Restoration Specialist UW Sea Grant Institute
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Humans are Part of the Ecosystem

• Coastal communities depend on healthy ecosystems
  for their economic survival
• Depend on lakes for drinking water, recreation,
  transportation, aesthetics
• Annually gt1 Billion commercial fishery, 10
  Billion sport fishery
• Cumulative impacts from population growth,
  increasing tourism and coastal development
  threaten the natural resource amenities that are
  the main economic engines for coastal regions

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• Sustainable coastal communities sustainable
  ecosystems
• Provide for needs of present without compromising
  future
• Protect existing high quality resources and
  rehabilitate degraded sites
• Understand and value natural capital

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What ecological services or natural capital have
been lost?

• Loss of wetland filtering and buffering
  capacities
• Loss of sport and commercial fisheries
• Loss of biodiversity
• Consumption advisories for fish and waterfowl
• Loss of drinking water potential
• Beach closings
• Loss of aesthetics and ecotourism
• Hundreds of Millions per year!

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Most Ecosystem ImpairmentsRelated to

• Excess phosphorus from land runoff and sewage
  treatment plants
• Suspended solids from soil erosion
• Contaminants
• Non-native species introductions
• Habitat Destruction
• Discuss Causes and Best Management Practices

Port of Green Bay
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Large inputs of phosphorus cause excessive algae
growth (eutrophication)
Unsightly and harmful
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Water Quality Impacts from Algae Decay

• Algae accumulates in boat basins, embayments and
  on beaches
• Algae decay lowers dissolved oxygen
  concentrations
• Increases ammonia toxicity
• Blue-green algae can also be toxic to fish

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Lake Michigan Algal Bloom - 1999
August 15, 1999
September 7, 1999
August 20, 1999
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Sources of Phosphorus to Green Bay from Fox River

• 80 of phosphorus load comes from soil erosion,
  animal waste, fertilizers and other nonpoint
  sources in Fox-Wolf Basin
• 20 of phosphorus load comes from sewage and
  industrial wastewater discharges

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Annual TSS load from Fox River to Green Bay
averages 150,000,000 kg/year (equivalent of 27
dump truck loads of sediment per day)
Agricultural land erosion is the
largest source of TSS
Construction site erosion from urban growth
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Impacts from Suspended Solids

• Each year 150,000 m3 must be dredged from Green
  Bay and Fox River Shipping Channel
• Regulation and cost of disposal more problematic
• Limits sight-feeding predator fish
• Covers spawning habitat and damages fish eggs
• Limits quality of plant and invertebrate
  communities

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Best Management Practices to Reduce Phosphorus
and Solids

• Cropland erosion control
• Farm nutrient management
• Urban stormwater management
• Streambank and shoreland buffers

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Shoreline Buffer Zones Minimize Runoff Pollutants

• Improve water quality
• Act as a cushion against shore erosion
• Furnish cover, food and nesting places
• Improve aesthetics and property values
• Reduce shoreline protection and maintenance costs

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Why Use Native Plants?

• Conservation of local genetic diversity
• Ability to provide food shelter for native
  wildlife
• Improved vigor and survival rates
• Reduced maintenance costs

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Introductions of non-indigenous species
Sea lamprey expensive to control
Zebra mussels compete with native clams, clog
water intakes and ruin beaches
White perch compete with native yellow perch
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Zebra Mussels

• 160 non-native (NIS) species
• introduced to Great Lakes-St. Lawrence
  ecosystem over past 150 years
• Invasions accelerating, estimated 17 new species
  threaten to invade the Great Lakes
• Cause hundreds of millions in damages annually
• Second leading cause of native species extinction
  (following habitat destruction)
• Permanent changes to ecosystem

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Current Ballast Water Controls Insufficient

• Despite 1990 U.S. law requiring ballast water
  exchange outside 200 nautical mi. zone, alien
  species still invading
• Organisms and dormant eggs survive in bottom of
  ballast tanks
• 500-600 ships enter lakes each year, 80 are
  unregulated NOBOBs
• IJC and GLFC recommend development of binational
  ballast water standards, treatment technologies
  applied to all foreign ships, BMPs for ballast
  sediment, and interim chemical treatment on an
  emergency basis

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Microcontaminants and Water Quality

• Great Lakes Ecosystems Are Threatened and
  Impacted by Chemical Contaminants.
• Early and Continuing Problems
• PCBs, Dioxins, Furans, DDT, Dieldrin, Aldrin,
  Chlordane, Mirex, Toxaphene, Mercury, Alkyl Lead,
  Benzoapyrene
• Emerging Problems/Questions
• PBDEs, Estrogen Disrupters, Pharmaceuticals
• Management focused on source controls and
  sediment clean-up

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Some Contaminants Bioaccumulate
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Sources of Contaminants

• Air Emissions
• Wastewater Discharges
• Urban Runoff
• Spills
• Ballast and Bilge Water

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Lost Habitat Affects Biodiversity

• Colonial
• Water Birds
• Shorebirds
• Waterfowl
• Fish Spawning
• Fish Nurseries
• Turtles
• Amphibians
• Invertebrates

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Great Lakes Habitat LossPrimary Causes

• Shoreline development
• Shoreline hardening and vertical walls
• Dams
• Dredging and land filling
• Excess nutrient and solids loading
• Water level fluctuations and storm erosion

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Long Tail Point
Cat Island
Bass Islands
Duck Creek Delta Marsh
Landfill
90 of Coastal Wetlands Lost from Southern Green
Bay
Highway Construction
Agriculture
August 1969
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Urban Coasts and Habitat
Milwaukee, WI

• Typically urban shorelines were stabilized and
  hardened with concrete and steel
• In past shorelines were developed for a single
  purpose/use
• Today growing interest in developing shorelines
  for multiple uses, including protection of
  habitat and ecological values
• Soft engineering practices achieve stabilization,
  rehabilitate habitat, improve aesthetics and save
  money

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Advantages of Soft Engineering

• Gradual slopes promote diverse plant communities
• Dampen waves and reduce erosion
• Filter pollutants and protect water quality
• Provide fish and wildlife habitat
• Add natural beauty
• Enhance natural insect control
• Cost less
• Best Management Practices for Soft Engineering
  www.tellusnews.com/ahr/report_cover

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Examples of Soft Engineering to Stabilize
Shorelines and Enhance Habitat
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Goose Bay, Windsor

• One of the last remaining sheltered embayments
  along the Detroit River
• Prior to rehabilitation, shoreline seriously
  eroded
• Rip-rap, graded stone and native plants added to
  protect the shoreline and enhance habitat
• Submerged enhancements include groynes, rock
  apron, and cobble stone

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Why not use only rip rap?

• Expensive
• Less effective at dampening waves
• May exacerbate erosion
• No filtering capacity
• Limited habitat
• Difficult access
• Unappealing

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LaSalle Park, Hamilton Harbour, Burlington,
Ontario

• Meandering shoreline creates complex edge
  preferred by fish and wildlife
• Reduces turbidity
• Adjacent nature trail provides passive public
  recreation and education

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Hamilton Harbour, Burlington, Ontario

• three islands, isolated from the shore, protect
  nesting birds from predators
• Beaches and headlands along the shore provide
  vegetation and habitat for wading birds
• chain of underwater shoals create a quiet lagoon,
  resulting in aquatic plant growth
• Mudflats, exposed in the fall, attract migratory
  birds

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Nesting pairs of colonial birds on islands in
Hamilton Harbour
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Habitat Enhancement for Marinas and Harbors
Tommy Thompson Park
Toronto

• Headlands
• Captive Bays
• Soft Engineering
• Wetlands and Ponds
• Beneficial Use of Dredged Materials

Col. Sam Smith Park
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Red Rock Harbour and Marina - Nipigon Bay

• Standard armorstone breakwall overlaid with
  habitat features to creating functional littoral
  zone along the inner breakwall
• Inside breakwall log crib shelters, shallow sandy
  areas for aquatic plants, rock and bolder edging,
  gravel shoals, and partially submerged trees
• Topsoil added before planting trees and shrubs
• Two islands, spawning shoals, and littoral zone
  extensions, were constructed on the outside to
  protect a second opening in the breakaway from
  wave action

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South Bay Marina Habitat Enhancement

• Large marina proposed
• Concerns raised about loss of shallow water
  habitat
• Developer agreed to work with partnership to
  incorporate habitat enhancement features

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Partnership
Tommy Thompson Park, Toronto

• RAP Biota Habitat Committee
• Provided examples and concept drawings
• Worked with developer to revise detailed plans
• Designs dictated by the wave climate of the site
• Wrote grants for cost-share funds (GLPF-98K,
  Fish America Foundation-22K
• Staked footprint of headlands
• Rock headlands construction delayed due to warm
  winters

Southbay Marina, Green Bay
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South Bay Marina Plans
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Fish Habitat for Southbay Marina

• Rock reefs offshore
• 6 stone apron along north breakwall provides
  spawning substrate

Rock Reef at Tommy Thompson Park
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Southern Green Bay historically provided diverse
coastal wetland habitats for fish and wildlife

• Expansive emergent marshes
• (e.g. Duck Creek delta)
• Numerous small islands
• Rocky Shoals
• Beaches and mud flats
• Submerged aquatic plant beds

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1938 Air Photo of Cat Island Chain and Duck Creek
Delta
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Rising Great Lakes water levels and severe
storms in 1970s caused wetland and island erosion
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Cat Island Chain
1976
1966
Cat Island
Photos by Tom Erdman
Green Bay Islands during low water levels in 1966
Photo by Tom Erdman
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Islands survived historical water level
fluctuations Why not now?

• Water levels rose rapidly to record highs and
  remained elevated for three decades
• Repeated severe spring storms
• Shorelines hardened by rip rap deflect wave
  energy back into bay and reduce supply of new
  sediments to replenish beaches
• Poor water clarity from runoff pollution reduce
  aquatic vegetation and their wave dampening
  benefits

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Cat Island Ecosystem Restoration

• Several proposals by RAP partners from 1989 - 96
  led to section 204 WRDA Agreement between USACE
  and Brown County in 1996 (max 5 million)
• Partnership between USACE, Brown Co., and RAP
  Biota Habitat (WDNR, US FWS, UW Sea Grant and
  others)

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Project Goals

• Restore diversity of
• island and aquatic habitats
• Recreate 1960s island footprint
• Beneficial use of dredged material
• Enhance spawning and nursery grounds for various
  fish species (e.g. yellow perch, musky, pike,
  walleye, sunfish)

Photo by WDNR 1969
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Project Goals

• Restore nesting habitat for waterfowl,
  shorebirds, and colonial waterbirds and manage
  for target species
• Provide protection for recovering submerged
  aquatic plant beds and marshes
• Enhance public benefits from fishing and wildlife
  viewing, while minimizing human disturbance and
  construction impacts

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Phased Project

• Feasibility Study and Environmental Assessment
• Detailed Plans and Specifications
• Construction
• Single island constructed first using WRDA 204
  grant
• Additional islands later as funds and materials
  are available

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Preliminary Designs for Island Restoration
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Preferred Alternatives

• Stone dikes on front (windward) and sides at 9
  ft., back (lee) dikes at 6 ft.
• Gradual slopes (101) from front to back with
  variable elevations
• Ponded area in back

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Background PCB Concentrations in Vicinity of the
Cat Islands
lt.05 lt.05
1.4
.18
lt.05
lt.05
.15
.28

• 24 Sediment samples in 1998
• from 8 composite sites
• Range lt0.05 1.4 mg/g

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How clean is clean?

• Use cleanest dredged materials from outer channel
  (higher in sands and lower in contaminants)
• Total PCBs should not exceed background (max of
  0.1 ppm), Fox River cleanup goal is 0.25 ppm

Willow Island 1969 (DNR)
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Characteristics of Successful Projects

• Partnerships
• Early consultation with experts, regulatory and
  resource management agencies
• Public awareness and support
• Diversity of funding sources
• Monitoring to assess results

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Conclusions

• Shoreline development and structure repairs
  present opportunities to enhance habitat and
  restore ecological functions
• Soft engineering practices can stabilize
  shorelines, reduce phosphorus and suspended
  solids from land runoff, and restore habitat at
  less cost
• Avoid vertical walls and riprap where possible
• Contaminant (PCBs) impacts will continue for many
  decades, even with remediation, and
• may limit beneficial uses of dredge
  spoils

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Victoria Harris harrisv_at_uwgb.edu 920-465-2795