Projects

The Indiana Water Resources Research Center annually funds small grants that focus on basic and applied research to solve water problems unique to Indiana.  Current research projects include (click next to each project title to expand the information):

• • 
    
    Assessment of nutrient sources and usage during harmful algae blooms (HAB) and algae eutrophication events using stable isotopes: Implications for water quality in the Wabash River
    • Principal Investigators: Dr. Greg Michalski, Purdue University, Department of Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences
    • March, 1 2018 to March 1, 2019
    • Abstract: The proposed research will use a combination of laboratory experiments, field sampling, and community based water sampling to assess the sources of nutrients in the Wabash River watershed and how these nutrients are utilized by potentially harmful algae and denitrifying bacteria. The novelty of the research will be the use of multiple naturally occurring isotopes in nitrate and phosphate that can be used as tracers of N/P sources and as evidence of in-stream nutrient loss processes. The laboratory experiments will consist of controlled incubations of cyanobacteria and naturally occurring algae obtained from the Wabash River and ponds, ditches, and streams that funnel into the main river. They will be grown at different temperatures and variable nutrient loading and the isotope enrichment factors for 15N in nitrate and 17O, 18O in both nitrate and phosphate will be determined. The same enrichment factors will be determine for denitrification occurring in an agricultural field bioreactor and in incubation experiments using Wabash River sediments. Determining these isotope enrichment factors is important for understanding the isotopic composition of nitrate and phosphate in the Wabash. Current hypotheses suggest that the isotopic composition of nitrate (and phosphate) in a water body reflects a mixing of different N/P sources. We propose an alternative hypothesis: That N/P loss by algal uptake and denitrification impose their own isotope signal and this can result in improper source apportionment using the existing mixing paradigm. Our preliminary data suggests that high 15N and 18O values detected in the Wabash are not evidence of combination of sewage/manure and atmospheric nitrate sources, rather may be N loss by eutrophication and/or HABs. We further hypothesize that similar changes in the 18O of phosphate would be manifest during P uptake by algae. Thus, isotopes maybe useful in understanding nutrient utilization during HAB and eutrophication events.

• • 
    
    Characterizing aquifer geometries in northern Indiana by profiling the buried bedrock surface with geophysical techniques
    • Principal Investigators: Shawn Naylor, Indiana University, Center for Geospatial Data Analysis and Indiana Geological and Water Survey
    • June 1, 2019 to May 31, 2020
    • Abstract: Groundwater resource assessments in glaciated regions require buried bedrock elevation data to provide information related to aquifer geometry and to determine water-resource availability. In northern Indiana such assessments are needed because expanded irrigation is increasing groundwater withdrawals in the region. Furthermore, naturally occurring contaminants have become an emerging issue, based on recent groundwater sampling data. An improved understanding of bedrock valley morphology is also warranted by these concerns because rockwater interactions at the sediment/bedrock interface often control the geochemical characteristics of groundwater, highlighting the need to better constrain the hydrogeologic conditions at the base of glacial aquifers.

      At this juncture, there is limited data control for interpolating bedrock topography in northern
      Indiana. The work proposed herein employs newly developed passive seismic geophysical techniques to establish additional bedrock elevation data and support higher-resolution maps of buried valleys that lie below the St. Joseph Aquifer System in St. Joseph and Elkhart Counties.
      The data will be collected by an Indiana University student intern who will use geostatistical techniques to interpolate a high-resolution bedrock elevation model for the area and create a digital database of field data and derivative products. The research will improve our
      hydrogeologic understanding of the constraints on the St. Joseph Aquifer System and develop methods that can be used in statewide water-resource assessments.
      

• • 
    
    Communicating the State of Indiana Water Resources
    • Principal Investigators: Dr. Keith Cherkauer, Purdue University, Department of Agricultural and Biological Engineering
    • Project Staff/Co-Investigator(s): Dr. Laura Bowling, Purdue University, Department of Agronomy
    • March 2017 – February 2018
    • Abstract: Water resources are sources of water that are of sufficient quality to meet human needs, when and where they are needed. Therefore, they reflect both water supply – the useable sources of surface and groundwater, as well as demand, where and when is water being extracted for what purpose. Sustainable use of water resources therefore requires the balanced allocation of renewable natural resources to people, farms and ecosystems. Although many Federal (e.g. USGS, NOAA, USCOE) and state agencies (IDNR, IDEM) have their own publicly-available databases of water quantity, individual users need to know where to look to piece together an overall summary of water availability for the entire state of Indiana. The proposed work will address this gap by developing a website to summarize the condition of Indiana Water Resources over the previous water year in terms of reservoir storage, groundwater storage, observed streamflow, water quality and water withdrawals, based on synthesis of publicly-available data from the USGS, IDNR, and IDEM. These data sources will be supplemented with model simulations and hydrologic forecasts to provide a look forward at forecasted water levels and demand from agricultural and no-agricultural sectors over the coming year in order to inform the public on the current state of Indiana’s water resources.

• • 
    
    Creating a High Resolution Hydrologic Model for simulating and forecasting floods in the Wabash River Basin
    • Principal Investigators: Dr. Venkatesh Merwade, Purdue University, Lyles School of Civil Engineering
    • June 1, 2019 to May 31, 2020
    • Abstract: Indiana experiences major floods in different parts of the state almost every year from both excessive rain and rapid snowmelt. From February to April 2018, more than 20 counties in Indiana experienced extreme flooding, and were declared disaster areas by the Governor’s office. Information related to rainfall and streamflow, two pieces of information critical for predicting floods, is not available for many areas in the state. Additionally, most flood inundation maps, created by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), are static maps that cannot tell much about potential flood inundation during high storm events. Thus there is a critical need to create dynamic flood inundation information for most areas in Indiana during high storm events. To address this need, this proposal aims to create a hyper-resolution hydrologic model to provide street level flood information and inundation for all the areas within the Wabash River Basin. By leveraging past and other ongoing modeling efforts in Minnesota and Texas, this proposal will create a hydrologic model that will provide hydrologic fluxes for any area in the Wabash River Basin, which covers around 65% of the State of Indiana. As a prototype, a sub-set of this model will be executed in near real-time for the city of Indianapolis by using meteorological forecasts from the Ohio River Forecast Center and the National Water Model. Model results will be disseminated through WaterHUB for use by flood managers, researchers and other decision makers. We will also work with Indiana Silver Jackets and other agencies in Indiana to operationalize this modeling system for long-term sustainability beyond the project duration. This project will support, and provide training to one PhD student in the Lyles School of Civil Engineering at Purdue University.

• • 
    
    Effectiveness of Wetland Restoration in Mitigating Extreme Streamflows under Future Climate Change in the White River Watershed of Indiana
    • Principal Investigators: Dr. Bangshuai Han, Ball State University, Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Management
    • June 1, 2019 to May 31, 2020
    • Abstract: It is projected that Indiana’s warming rate is accelerating, with an increase of precipitation in winter and spring. Indiana will experience drier and warmer crop growing seasons and wetter winters in the future. These conditions lead to various water management challenges in Indiana, including adaptation to more flooding and droughts and potentially a shift from rainfed agriculture to irrigation agriculture. There is a critical need for scientists to help Indiana residents better adapt to future climate change, e.g., by controlling extreme flow events (including high and low flows) that will help mitigate flooding and droughts.
      Wetlands are known to buffer streamflow by intercepting surface and sub-surface flows, thereby helping mitigate extreme flooding and droughts. Current restoration decisions usually focus on individual wetland projects and local site conditions, thus missing the aggregated effects of hydrologically connected wetlands at the watershed scale. This study will: 1) develop a modeling approach to simulate wetland restoration effects to streamflow under future climate change scenarios, and 2) produce knowledge and benchmark datasets that will be quickly and broadly disseminated. Deliverables from the work will include a cluster of watershed-scale datasets for six proposed climate change and wetland restoration scenarios. Under each scenario, the research will project future climate change patterns, future streamflow regimes shift, and the potential benefits of wetland restoration to buffering streamflow, thus reducing risks of flooding and droughts. This study will advance understanding of wetland functions at the watershed scale and assist elected officials at the state and local levels, decision makers, and local communities to better adapt to future climate change when making restoration plans to support soil and water conservation and healthy wetlands.
      

• • • 
      
      Effects of land use type on abundance and type of microplastic pollution – a contaminant of emerging concern in Indiana rivers
      • Principal Investigator: Dr. Gary A. Lamberti, University of Notre Dame, Department of Biological Sciences
      • March 2017-February 2018
      • Abstract: Water quality degradation resulting from human activities represents a threat to environmental and human health. Contaminants of emerging concern, including microplastics (plastic particles <5 mm in size), are understudied in flowing waters of the Midwestern USA including in Indiana. Microplastics can enter rivers and streams through a variety of pathways (e.g., wastewater effluent, breakdown of larger plastic debris, atmospheric deposition) and can negatively impact aquatic organisms through both direct consumption with food and indirect contamination from sorbed toxins. Here we propose to quantify the concentration and types (e.g., microbeads, fibers, fragments) of microplastics found in Indiana watersheds representing a gradient of land use (i.e., agricultural, urban, or forested). While we expect to find microplastics at all sites, we hypothesize that watersheds dominated by modified land use types (i.e., agricultural and urban) will have higher concentrations of microplastics as a result of increased human influence. Based on our previous work quantifying microplastics in the St. Joseph River watershed of Indiana, we have developed sampling techniques that allow us to determine both the abundance and the type of microplastics. Identifying the sources and types of microplastics in Indiana waters will provide valuable information for our state and is critical for the development of management actions for this emerging contaminant.
      • Video:Water-borne microplastics: Tiny Plastics, Big Problem?
  • 
    
    Effects of viruses on the development of harmful algal blooms.
    • Principal Investigator: Dr. Zhi (George) Zhou, Purdue University, School of Civil Engineering and Division of Environmental and Ecological Engineering
    • March 2017-February 2018
    • Abstract: Harmful algal blooms (HAB) are overgrowth of algae that could foul up surface waters, consume oxygen in the water, and produce harmful toxins to humans and animals. HABs have been reported as a major environmental problem in all 50 states of the United States. Many studies have been done on the factors that can affect the development of HABs, such as sunlight, temperature, low turbulence, and nutrient sources, but only limited studies have been down to evaluate the effects of viruses on the development of HABs, in spite that viruses are the most abundant biological entities in aquatic systems and some studies suggest that viruses are driving the life-and-death dynamics of algal blooms. The overall goal of this project is to evaluate the effects of viruses on the development of harmful algal blooms. The specific research objectives are to: 1) develop qPCR primers to quickly and accurately quantify virus abundance; 2) evaluate the growth and decay of algal cells under the exposure of various nutrient loading; and 3) elucidate the mechanisms of virus infection on the decay of algal cells. Upon the successful completion of this project, we expect to have elucidated the mechanism of the development algal cells under the exposure of difference levels of nutrients and gained in-depth knowledge on the effects of viruses that contribute to the development of algal blooms. The improved fundamental understanding of effects of viruses on microbial structure and functions of algae are expected to have significant potentials to be applied to develop control strategies for HABs, which is still one of the most costly and challenging environmental problems in the world.

• • • 
      
      Estimating watershed residence times in artificially-drained landscapes and relation to nutrient concentrations
      • Principal Investigators: Dr. Lisa R. Welp, Assistant Professor, Purdue University, Department of Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences
      • March 1, 2018 – February 28, 2019
      • Abstract: Nutrient runoff from agricultural lands leads to Harmful Algae Blooms and eutrophication in freshwater ecosystems including the Great Lakes and the Gulf of Mexico. Best Management Practices (BMPs) implemented over the last few decades aim to reduce nutrient transport to streams and rivers. Evaluations of their effectiveness have found mixed results in reducing nutrient concentrations. This could indicate that BMPs are ineffective in certain areas, or simply that the residence time of water and nutrients in the watersheds are long and the effect of BMPs won’t be seen for decades. Watershed discharge is a combination of recent precipitation, soil water on the order of a year old, and decades-to-centuries old ground water, and the proportions vary with hydrology and land management. We aim to investigate the variability in residence times of local watersheds using stable isotope tracers and radon measurements and examine the relationships with nutrient concentration variability. This work will leverage 4 years of existing water stable isotope data and 8 years of nutrient concentrations from citizen scientist collections of streams during Wabash Sampling Blitz organized by the non-profit Wabash River Enhancement Corporation (WREC). Sampling occurs in the spring and fall under varying weather conditions. Stable water isotope time series have been used extensively for hydrograph partitioning and residence time calculations, but interpreting twice-yearly sampling of highly variable stream waters presents a challenge. We hypothesize that isotope variability in individual watersheds is correlated with residence times resulting in a spectrum of nutrient dynamics within the same land classification. Additionally, we will monitor a subset of watersheds for high-resolution variability (~biweekly) to verify results from the ‘snapshot’ Blitz method. This study will not directly test BMP effectiveness, but will provide a new context to examine the role of water age on nutrient dynamics.
  • • 
      
      Evaluation of sub-lethal effects of neurodegenerative cyanotoxins on predator-prey interactions in a freshwater fish
      • Principal Investigators: Dr. Jessica L. Ward, Assistant Professor, Ball State University, Department of Biology
      • Project Staff/Co-Investigator(s): Dr. Jennifer C. Latimer, Indiana State University, Department of Earth and Environmental Systems
      • March 1, 2018 – February 28, 2019
      • Abstract: Cyanobacteria are prevalent blue-green algae that impact Midwestern freshwater systems, important environmental and economic resources. Emerging evidence suggests that exposure to neurotoxic compounds can induce sub-lethal behavioral and central nervous system (CNS) changes that have potential to affect individual fitness. Because behaviors are regulated though the CNS and proper neuronal function is essential to organismal responses to relevant ecological stimuli (e.g., predators, prey, or abiotic environmental cues), neurodevelopmental disturbances could (i) reduce larval recruitment to adult stocks, resulting in declines in native population densities and altered community function, and/or (ii) accelerate the rate of transfer through the food chain through increased predation risk. The long-term goal of this research is to evaluate the significance of emerging algal neurotoxins for fish populations and aquatic communities. As a first step toward this goal, this project will use single-chemical, lab-controlled exposures to quantify the effects of neurodegenerative cyanotoxins on the sensorimotor performance of fish at two life stages; early development and maturity. Specifically, this research will test the central hypothesis that chronic, low-dose exposure to neurodegenerative cyanotoxins could alter the outcomes of species interactions through deterioration in motor function. Despite reports of impaired motor function in humans linked to the consumption of contaminated fish, the effects of these compounds on the fish themselves is largely unknown. Given this deficit, this research will collect data on the swimming performance of fish during prey-tracking and escape from predators. The results will fill critical gaps in knowledge regarding the short- and long-term effects of sub-lethal exposure to algal neurotoxins on fish and provide direct insight into the factors affecting routes of human exposure and health risks. In addition, this research will provide training for graduate and undergraduate students in research, data analysis, and peer-reviewed written and oral dissemination of scientific information.
  • • 
      
      Examining Anthropogenic Impacts on the Wabash River System
      • Principal Investigator: Dr. Jeffery R. Stone, Indiana State University, Department of Earth and Environmental Systems
      • Project Staff/Co-Investigator(s): Dr. Jennifer C. Latimer, Indiana State University, Department of Earth and Environmental Systems
      • March 2017-February 2018
      • Abstract: Through a combination of progressive industrialization, agriculture, and development throughout the Wabash Valley over the past century, the Wabash River has experienced a history of substantial anthropogenic impact. Rivers are transient systems that channelize water, solutes, organisms, sediments and pollutants downstream, which allow human-driven changes to stream environments, and adjacent watersheds, to have far-reaching consequences. Intermittent monitoring of most ecosystems results in inadequate models for determining total annual nutrient fluxes, seasonal patterns in nutrient concentration, and aquatic community dynamics in most rivers. Because most sediments are carried downstream, long-term environmental perspectives for most river systems don’t exist. Here we propose research to explore the impact of human modification of the aquatic environment of the Wabash River through a combination of modern water monitoring and short sediment records collected from lakes adjacent to the river that undergo periodic flooding. Our proposed research includes weekly geochemical and diatom community analyses of the seasonal patterns in the river, both upstream and downstream of Terre Haute, Indiana. An identical analysis is also proposed for adjacent seasonally-flooded lake sediments to provide a long-term environmental context for the modern ecosystem, using sediment geochemistry and fossil diatom assemblage changes. Our research should provide data about the seasonality of agriculturally-driven nutrient fluxes that will inform local and state water management policies and may help target remediation efforts and data regarding the timing of potential invasive species that may have been introduced by human activities in the Wabash River.
  • 
    
    Floodplain restoration and nutrient retention in the Wabash River Basin
    • Principal Investigator: Dr. Sara K. McMillan, Purdue University, Department of Agricultural & Biological Engineering
    • Project Staff/Co-Investigator(s): Dr. Venkatesh Merwade, Purdue University, Lyles School of Civil Engineering
    • March 2016-February 2017
    • Abstract: Floodplains occupy a small fraction of the total landscape, yet they retain a disproportionate amount of nutrients and sediment. During high flow events, riverine water overtops the channel banks, flowpaths widen causing velocities to slow and retention times to increase, which are critical to sediment and nutrient trapping. Rapidly changing flow conditions directly impact the spatial extent of inundation as well as the magnitude and direction of flow velocities. High resolution of local controls (e.g., topography, vegetation and groundwater flow) are required to accurately predict these changes. Further, in the areas of sustained wetness and high inputs of organic matter, nutrient transformations are maximized. While nitrogen removal via microbial processes is greatest under these conditions, the mechanisms controlling phosphorus removal are highly variable and poorly understood. Floodplain restoration and breaching of levees to re-establish natural flood pulsing is a strategy that shows great promise. In fact, the Natural Resources Conservation Service in Indiana has restored nearly 30,000 acres of riverine floodplains in the Wabash River Basin to improve water quality and other ecosystem functions. However, characterization and prediction of the environmental factors driving successful restoration is needed to find optimal locations that achieve the greatest impact per dollar invested. Therefore, our goal is to develop a robust predictive tool to quantify riverfloodplain connectivity and its impact on sediment and nutrient retention at the confluence of the Wabash and Tippecanoe Rivers. We will build a 2-dimensional hydrodynamic model of the system and measure rates of nitrogen and phosphorus transformations in floodplain sediments. We will scale results temporally and spatially to estimate the net impact of floodplain processes on nutrient retention in the Wabash River Basin. Collectively, this will build the foundation for
      an integrated and interdisciplinary analysis of the complex environmental controls on nutrient retention in river-floodplain ecosystems.

• • 
    
    Impacts of urban ecosystem services on human health and water quantity and quality in Northwestern Indiana communities: An unexplored opportunity to study service accessibility
    • Principal Investigators: Dr. Brady S. Hardiman and Mayra I. Rodriquez-Gonzalez, Purdue University, Department of Forestry & Natural Resources
    • June 1, 2019 to May 31, 2020
    • Abstract: Accessibility of ecosystem services is the potential to reach and benefit from the goods and services humans obtain from nature. Accessibility is not well understood due to the complex factors influencing dynamic linkages between service provisioning and consumption. To enable a more robust characterization of accessibility, we propose to study a subset of well-understood services: the hydrologic ecosystem services. Hydrologic services, like flooding and erosion control, result from the influence of terrestrial ecosystem processes on hydrologic systems. Vegetation losses can impair the supply of these services, impacting the health and wellbeing of local communities. Urban communities like those in Northwestern Indiana, part of the third largest metropolitan region in the country, are especially vulnerable to losses of hydrologic services provided by urban vegetation. Assessment of service provisioning and consumption in these communities is incomplete, particularly the social dimensions of accessibility. We propose to address this need using a mixed methods approach to assessing accessibility: combining findings from an ongoing spatial study looking at service distribution in the Chicago region (including three Northwestern Indiana counties) with survey results on community feedbacks and hydrologic service accessibility in Northwestern Indiana. Doing so will improve characterization of accessibility and provisioning-consumption dynamics in the area. The dissemination of findings (through an online platform) will help local land managers and policy makers identify and prioritize management practices that enhance the provisioning and consumption of hydrologic ecosystem services and, thus, community health and wellbeing.

• • 
    
    Nutrient removal efficiency of a combined surface/subsurface flow wetland system
    • Principal Investigator: Dr. Pierre-André Jacinthe, Indiana University Purdue University Indianapolis, Department of Earth Sciences
    • March 2016-February 2017
    • Abstract: The impact of nutrients exported from croplands on water quality can be minimized if, instead of being directly discharged directly into nearby streams, agricultural runoff and subsurface tile drainage can be channeled to temporary detention systems such as wetlands where bio-transformation of nutrients can occur. However, this approach could pose operational challenges. First, it could interfere with farming activities if wet soil conditions persist in adjacent crop fields. Thus, wetland operators need to strike a balance between field accessibility and increased system efficiency achievable with longer hydraulic residence time (HRT). Second, removal of NO3– and SRP – the pollutants most commonly present agricultural discharge often requires different redox conditions, suggesting that complete treatment can be accomplished in wetlands with multiple water-flow paths. Information is also lacking regarding the impact of treatment wetlands on air quality, specifically emission of greenhouse gases (GHG; N2O; CH4) into the atmosphere. Thus, the objectives of the proposed studies are to: (i) examine how HRT and water flow paths affect the performance of the constructed wetland, (ii) identify biogeochemical processes controlling nutrient transformation, and (iii) determine if constructed are potentially significant sources of N2O and CH4 emission in agricultural landscapes. The proposed study will be conducted at a constructed wetland (4-yr old) that comprises a surface and a subsurface flow cells. The wetland design also allows experimental adjustments of HRT and flow path (surface vs subsurface), thus making it possible to assess the impact of these parameters on system performance. The wetland is located downslope from a corn/soybean agricultural field that is actively monitored as part of a multi-agency edge-of-field effort. Significant synergies are expected between these two projects. Results of this study will have implications for the design, operations and acceptability of treatment wetlands in agricultural landscapes of the US Midwest.

• • 
    
    Nutrient removal from greenhouse wastewater using a phosphorus removal structure
    • Principal Investigators: Dr. Hye-Ji Kim, Assistant Professor, Purdue University, Department of Horticulture & Landscape Architecture
    • Project Staff/Co-Investigator(s): Chad Penn, Soil Scientist, USDA-ARS National Soil Erosion Research Lab
    • March 1, 2018 to February 28, 2019
    • Abstract: Elevated nutrient loads from agricultural production sites have been identified as a major contributor to harmful algal blooms (HABs) in the Gulf of Mexico. The nutrient loads from greenhouse and nursery facilities are often overlooked or not sufficiently attended to, although they can play a substantial role in HABs due to the generation of significant amounts of wastewater enriched with high concentrations of nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P), the environmental pollutants associated with HABs. Greenhouse and nursery producers are challenged to meet the strong demand for sustainably and environmentally-friendly management practices. Phosphorus removal structures have proven to be effective in removing P and other nutrients in wastewater, particularly controlling nonpoint source pollution resulted from animal farms. With a specific design and characteristics suitable for greenhouse and nursery facilities, the structure has a great potential to effectively remove nutrients in the wastewater that are uniquely high in P at ranges from 30 to 300 ppm. During this pilot study, P sorbing materials will be tested for their affinity to P in greenhouse wastewater. Lab experiments will be conducted to generate data, which will be used to develop a predictive model to aid in the development of P removal structure suitable to process greenhouse wastewater with unique chemical properties. The study will be coupled with a testing in the greenhouse with a scaled-up size P removal structure. P removal efficiency along the seasonal variations in capturing P will be determined during the greenhouse testing. This research is significant because it addresses mitigation strategy for nutrient load to the Wabash River Watershed, reducing the prevalence of harmful algal blooms in the Gulf of Mexico, improving water quality, and reducing the risk to human health.

• • 
    
    Pilot investigation of variable contaminant loads in fish as a result of foraging and habitat specialization
    • Principal Investigator: Dr. Tomas Höök, Purdue University, Department of Forestry & Natural Resources
    • Project Staff/Co-Investigator(s): Timothy D. Malinich, Purdue University, Department of Forestry & Natural Resources
    • March 2016-February 2017
    • Abstract: Contaminants such as mercury and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) are typically quantified as measures of central tendency, i.e. averaged across all sampled fish of the same species within the same body of water. More recent studies suggest that individuals within a population do not all exhibit the same feeding and habitat residence patterns, therefore have varying risks to contaminant exposure and accumulation. If popular sport fish such as yellow perch, Perca flavescens, or black crappie, Pomoxis nigromaculatus, exhibit diet plasticity and specialize for pelagic or benthic habitats, then some groups of fish may pose a greater risk to consumers. Specifically, we hypothesize that diet plasticity and specialization in fish populations could lead to a bi-modal distribution of contaminant loads. Given that different contaminant exposure is likely to manifest through differential foraging strategies and habitat use, we will collect fish of each species within 3 different lakes in Northern Indiana to evaluate potential for relationships between the mercury and PCB loads of individual fish and their diet/habitat specialization. Understanding this relationship and the level of variation of contaminant loads within individual lakes could help federal and state agencies make informed decisions on fish consumption advisories.

• • • 
      
      Predicting toxic cyanobacteria blooms in the Wabash River Watershed
      • Principal Investigator: Dr. Allison R. Rober, Ball State University, Department of Biology
      • Project Staff/Co-Investigator(s): Kevin H. Wyatt, Ball State University, Department of Biology
      • March 2016-February 2017
      • Abstract: The proposed study will assess the effect of temperature on the production and release of microcystin by toxin-producing cyanobacteria to better understand environmental controls on toxin release in eutrophic freshwater ecosystems. This research is significant given the increasing prevalence of harmful algal blooms within the Wabash River Watershed and their influence on water quality and human health. During the proposed study, toxin producing cyanobacteria will be grown at temperatures ranging from 5-30°C (5°C increments) to determine if there is a temperature threshold for productivity and toxin release during laboratory incubation experiments. Laboratory experiments will be coupled with a field survey of temporal variation in cyanotoxin prevalence and concentration in lakes and streams within the Wabash River Watershed. Toxin release among experimental temperature treatments will be related to variation in toxin concentrations along the seasonal temperature gradient captured during the field survey. These data will be used to develop a predictive model that will aid in the development of water quality management strategies to reduce harmful algal blooms and public-health risk.
  • 
    
    Quantification of tributary nutrient transport and HABs in Lake Wawasee, Indiana’s largest natural lake
    • Principal Investigators: Dr. Nathan Bosch, Director, Lilly Center for Lakes & Streams, Grace College
    • March 1, 2018 to February 28, 2019
    • Abstract: 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.

• • 
    
    Using Sedimentary Lipid Biomarkers to Track Historical Changes to Lake Michigan
    • Dr. Melissa Berke, University of Notre Dame, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering and Earth Sciences
    • June 1, 2019 to May 31, 2020
    • Abstract: Ecosystem disturbances in the Laurentian Great Lakes threaten the aquatic food web and water quality. Freshwater aquatic communities of Lake Michigan are faced with a wide array of environmental stressors that are likely in increase in the coming century, including invasive species, nutrient loading, and climate change. The numbers of species, community structure, and range of organisms will be altered as water quality, temperature, clarity, seasonal and annual water availability, and nutrient loading all differ from present conditions. However, significant uncertainty remains in how aquatic communities are impacted by disturbance over longer periods of time and how recovery of these communities progresses. Historical trends reconstructed from sediments can inform our management strategies as we learn of aquatic ecosystem response to disturbance and shifting community dynamics associated with recovery. Sediment reconstructions are necessary to examine processes operating over longer periods of time than can be observed, and can help constrain ecosystem behavior with overlapping disturbances. Here we propose to use organic biomarkers preserved in the sediments of Lake Michigan to reconstruct aquatic communities, water temperature, and hydroclimate.