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Stormwater runoff to an impaired lake: impacts and solutions

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Abstract

Stormwater runoff can represent a significant source of pollutants to downstream water bodies. An integrated assessment was conducted for the Spring Lake watershed in western Michigan because of concerns that increased impervious land cover in the watershed, especially in sub-basins adjacent to Spring Lake, would result in greater stormwater runoff and pollutant loads. Spring Lake has a history of high total phosphorus (TP) concentrations and cyanobacterial blooms. An alum treatment, paid for by an assessment, was applied to Spring Lake in 2005 to control internal phosphorus loading; hence, there was an economic incentive for stakeholders to limit new phosphorus from entering the lake, which otherwise would reduce the long-term efficacy of the alum treatment. This study provides a novel six-step process that identifies priority areas and optimally reduces nonpoint sources of pollution. We identified a suite of best management practices to be placed in the watershed, assessed their optimal locations based on pollutant sources, and modeled the degree to which their implementation would reduce TP and total suspended solids. Application of the modeled best management practices (BMPs) resulted in a 15 % reduction in TP load and a 17 % reduction in total suspended solid load. Reductions were not uniform throughout the watershed, with the greatest reductions closest to Spring Lake. We also developed a flow chart for BMP selection, which may be transferable to other watersheds with similar issues.

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Acknowledgments

This study is dedicated to the memory of Vicki Verplank, a fervent advocate for Spring Lake. The work was funded by a grant from Michigan Sea Grant and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, as well as by substantial in-kind contributions by the Annis Water Resources Institute at Grand Valley State University. The authors would like to thank the members of the project team, including all of the stakeholders who provided their valuable insight and support. Special thanks are extended to Tim Penning for input on communication products; Sanjiv Sinha, Kelly Karll, and Lisa Huntington from Environmental Consulting & Technology, Inc. (ECT) for engineering expertise on stormwater best management practices; and Paul Isely for expertise on economics. Additionally, the authors would like to thank the individuals who reviewed the final project report and Mary Ogdahl for her constructive comments on the manuscript.

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The authors declare that they have no competing interests.

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  1. Annis Water Resources Institute, Grand Valley State University, 740 West Shoreline Drive, Muskegon, MI, 49441, USA

    Alan D. Steinman, Elaine Sterrett Isely & Kurt Thompson

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  1. Alan D. Steinman
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  2. Elaine Sterrett Isely
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Correspondence to Alan D. Steinman.

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Steinman, A.D., Isely, E.S. & Thompson, K. Stormwater runoff to an impaired lake: impacts and solutions. Environ Monit Assess 187, 549 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10661-015-4776-z

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