104B Base Grants – Quantification of Tributary Nutrient Transport and HABs

The Lilly Center for Lakes & Streams at Grace College has been researching local lakes and streams in Kosciusko County, Indiana for 10 years and is at a critical point of expansion. More sophisticated technologies will allow the Lilly Center to provide higher frequencies of increasingly accurate data related to stream flow, nutrient transport, and overall water quality. The surrounding community, whose economy and well-being are significantly dependent on the recreational benefits of the lakes and streams, has an interest in the success of the Lilly Center’s research endeavors. In order to build upon the previous years’ historical data that has been collected, a new continuous stream flow monitor will act as a pilot to test this technology to automate part of the data collection already being conducted. Adding this technology to corresponding water sample analyses will build even more consistent repositories of information to inspire appropriate conservation techniques and educate the public.