Research and monitoring to inform an adaptive management approach
Watershed management efforts are best undertaken from a solid scientific basis. Careful identification and analysis of water quality problems allows the selection of the most effective remedial actions, sound discussion on the application of measures, and careful analysis and evaluation of results of remediation and restoration projects.
Before actions are recommended or undertaken, a scientific analysis of the problems to be addressed is absolutely necessary. Not every problem presents itself directly, and solutions must be tailored to target problems as specifically as possible to avoid unintended consequences. Interdisciplinary analysis is needed in complex areas, such as lake or watershed management, where limited analysis provides neither sufficient data nor an accurate picture of the interrelationship of various factors.
The Lake Ontario watershed has been intensively studied for decades, but information gaps are readily apparent when considering specific management techniques.
A systematic set of environmental data does not exist for the south shore of Lake Ontario. The information that does exist is dated, spatially limited, and generally focused on the offshore region of the lake.
In the first year of LOCI funding (FY2004), a preliminary evaluation of nutrient and chlorophyll levels in the coastal region and the many embayments of Lake Ontario was initiated. Preliminary results of the eighteen embayments and streams tested indicate that ambient phosphorus levels (Figure 1) in the coastal region exceed N.Y.S. Guidelines and that abundance of nuisance algae (Figure 2) are significantly higher than offshore regions of Lake Ontario. Our preliminary study provides scientific evidence that the shoreline, creeks and embayments of Lake Ontario are plagued by summer nuisance algae blooms limiting the use of cottages, offending recreational users and detrimentally affecting tourism.
The long-term goal of LOCI is to develop baseline data on the water quality of coastal Lake Ontario and expand the monitoring plan for Lake Ontario spatially to focus on nutrient and other contaminant levels in the coastal region including numerous streams, rivers and embayments. Data gained during the first year of LOCI funding will serve three purposes:
A. To identify and confirm areas of contaminants of concern, especially the high concentrations of the nutrient phosphorus, the nutrient determining the extent of nuisance algal blooms along the Lake Ontario coast.
B. To serve as a baseline marker of current conditions in Lake Ontario, allowing the LOCI project to determine the effectiveness of future management practices and restoration efforts. The success or failure of these practices and efforts will serve as the basis for an adaptive management strategy.
C. Additional water quality testing data will help identify new problem areas and potential sources of pollutants.
Research priorities for the LOCI Action Agenda are derived from the assessments of academic and agency scientists, especially in connection with workshops held as part of the Great Lakes Research Consortium meeting regarding Lake Ontario research.
On March 18, 2005, a Workshop for Developing a Research Agenda for New York ’s Participation in Great Lakes Restoration was held at the SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry in Syracuse. Participants in this Workshop included academic scientists and agency personnel, brought together to discuss the research necessary to support future restoration activities in New York ’s Great Lakes. The Final Report from this workshop is available here.
The adaptive management concept is being used to manage water resources in several locations in the United States. Adaptive management promotes flexible decision-making that can be adjusted in the face of uncertainties as outcomes from management actions and other events become better understood (National Research Council, 2004). Careful monitoring of these outcomes both advances scientific understanding and helps to adjust policies, operations, or management practices as part of a cost-effective iterative learning process.
1. LOCI and Adaptive Management
The “North Coast” initiative has adopted the adaptive management approach. We will establish pre-restoration and post-remediation conditions through pertinent testing. In fact, the process has already begun on a broad scale as pre-remediation monitoring of the entire New York coastline of Lake Ontario began in the summer of 2004 in anticipation of the LOCI grant ( See Figures 1 and 2 ). Post-remediation monitoring will continue for the entire shoreline to determine the overall effectiveness of management and remediation programs along the entire coastline and to determine if other environmental issues develop. This effort will be directed by SUNY Brockport.
In addition, each local project will be required to have a pre- and post-remediation monitoring effort, where appropriate, to determine effectiveness of a local remediation effort. Scientific assistance in planning the monitoring protocols will be provided by SUNY Brockport and other research agencies. The required monitoring will need to be included in the request for restoration/remediation funds. A final report of restoration/remediation efforts will include an evaluation of the effectiveness of management plans with suggestions for further improvements, additions and their applicability elsewhere.
2. Evolution of Research Topics and Priorities
With time, any research agenda has to be modified and changed as remediation and restoration projects are identified and as new issues arise. Through a combination of workshops, attendance at societal meetings, reading pertinent literature, input from the public, professional experience, etc., the research agenda will be formally reviewed and updated. Research agendas will be reviewed in the context of priorities identified by other granting agencies such as Sea Grant, US EPA, USFWS, USDA, USGS, NYS DEC, etc. and will provide decision-making criteria for the Research and Monitoring Small Grants Program.
Though a focus on nutrient management, especially phosphorus, is highly recommended, other areas of research—health effects of endocrine disrupters, nutrients such as nitrogen, toxic substances such as mercury, and watershed issues such as habitat destruction—should also be encouraged and supported by LOCI.
3. Monitoring and Follow-Up
A final step in implementing this Action Agenda is assuring the quality of the actions by setting benchmarks on the way to goals and monitoring success/failure in performance. Monitoring is not only a means of discovering and targeting water quality problems; monitoring changes in water quality that may result from actions implemented is equally important (Bliss, et. al., 2001).
Monitoring progress is important for measuring the efficacy of programs, selecting new directions, and ensuring accountability to the public. If goals are not being met by current priorities, priorities will have to be adjusted. Benchmarks set for reductions in the priority pollutants are measurable steps on the way to the goal of improving the quality of Lake Ontario ’s coastal waters.
Yearly reviews by the participating agencies, organizations and municipalities involved in the Lake Ontario Coastal Initiative will be used in conjunction with reports from the monitoring program to ensure that public expenditures are having the proper effect. The Action Agenda and subsequent specific plans developed from it should be reviewed annually and adjusted as necessary as part of the adaptive management approach.