Additional Funding Sources

The project described was supported by an Institutional Development Award (IDeA) from the National Institute of General Medical Sciences of the National Institutes of Health under Grant No. P20GM103408 and the Center for Health in the Human Ecosystem, University of Idaho.

Abstract

Cultural eutrophication in water bodies occurs as a result of anthropogenic activities that mobilize excess nutrients that stimulate the growth and biomass of plants and algae, often including cyanobacteria capable of producing cyanotoxins that are detrimental to human health. Excess nutrient loading and associated algal blooms are rising in water bodies worldwide, including Lake Coeur D’Alene located in north Idaho.

Activities such as watersports that generate large or frequent wakes in the nearshore likely contribute to cultural eutrophication via the release of nutrients (particularly phosphorus) associated with the resuspension of sediment as wakes interact with the shoreline. This study focused on measuring turbidity, processing water samples for total phosphorus, and recording the magnitude and frequency of boat wakes versus natural waves to quantify the resuspension of sediment and the concomitant release of nutrients in the nearshore zones of Lake Coeur d’Alene, Idaho.

We aim to establish a predictive nutrient/turbidity relationship given the ease of measuring turbidity. Our goal is to examine various substrate types to produce relationships that are widely applicable to north Idaho lakes to estimate nearshore eutrophication potential, and thus the potential for the occurrence of harmful algal blooms.

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The Effects of Boat Wakes in the Nearshore of Lake Coeur D'Alene, ID

Cultural eutrophication in water bodies occurs as a result of anthropogenic activities that mobilize excess nutrients that stimulate the growth and biomass of plants and algae, often including cyanobacteria capable of producing cyanotoxins that are detrimental to human health. Excess nutrient loading and associated algal blooms are rising in water bodies worldwide, including Lake Coeur D’Alene located in north Idaho.

Activities such as watersports that generate large or frequent wakes in the nearshore likely contribute to cultural eutrophication via the release of nutrients (particularly phosphorus) associated with the resuspension of sediment as wakes interact with the shoreline. This study focused on measuring turbidity, processing water samples for total phosphorus, and recording the magnitude and frequency of boat wakes versus natural waves to quantify the resuspension of sediment and the concomitant release of nutrients in the nearshore zones of Lake Coeur d’Alene, Idaho.

We aim to establish a predictive nutrient/turbidity relationship given the ease of measuring turbidity. Our goal is to examine various substrate types to produce relationships that are widely applicable to north Idaho lakes to estimate nearshore eutrophication potential, and thus the potential for the occurrence of harmful algal blooms.

 

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