# Presentation: 321606

## Identification of proximate sources of fecal contamination to Maumee Bay, Lake Erie, Ohio

- University of Toledo
- Toledo Metropolitan Area Council of Governments
- Ohio Water Development Authority
- City of Oregon
- City of Toledo
- U. S. Geological Survey

## Maumee Bay is in the SW corner of Lake Erie in NW Ohio

**Notes:**
Highly-urbanized and hydrologically complicated area.
Ottawa River, 150 sq miles, Maumee River, drainage area of 6600 sq miles, largest drainage basin of any Great Lakes rivers
WWTP, shipping channel maintained by the USACE (runs 19 miles offshore), powerplant, manmade structures of dredged materials
Series of drainage ditches built to drain an area that was formerly swamp/wetlands
Water depths are among the shallowest of the Great Lakes, MB is <10 ft except for shipping channel
MBSP was posted with an advisory, 44 days in 2003 and 20 days in 2004

## POSSIBLE SOURCES

- Combined sewer overflows, WWTP effluents, storm water runoff from cities and towns
- Elevated temperatures in effluent from a nearby powerplant
- Conveyance of contamination from septic tanks, farm fields, or wildlife via drainage ditches

**Notes:**
Of particular concern is Berger Ditch, 250 ft east of MBSP

## OBJECTIVES

- Investigate the spatial distribution of *E. coli* in bed sediments
- Identify the environmental and water-quality variables that affect concentrations of *E. coli *at MBSP

## DATA COLLECTION

**PHASE 1 SYNOPTIC STUDIES (2003)**
- Determined general patterns of *E. coli* densities throughout the Maumee Bay area
**PHASE 2 SYNOPTIC STUDIES (2004)**
- Concentrated field efforts on a few “hot spots” of high *E. coli* concentrations
**PHASE 1 and 2 ROUTINE MONITORING**
- Collect daily data at MBSP

## WATER AND BED SEDIMENT SAMPLES

## Methods for E. coli

**Colilert for bed sediments**
**(synoptic) and water (routine monitoring)**

**Modified mTEC for water (synoptic)**

## Average E. coli — Phase 1

**Notes:**
Five sampling days from late June through early September, 16 sites sampled 5 times, 8 sites sampled 6 times (August 14)
WATER– narrow range of concentrations
SEDIMENT—wide range of average concentrations from 3 to 520 MPN/gDW
   Highest in MR and shipping channel sites, Elevated at the mouth of Berger.
  Low at sites north and west of the shipping channel (remote sources are not important)
  Nearshore sites west of MBSP indicate that transport of E. coli along the shoreline from the west to MBSP is unlikely
  Highest E. coli underlying the deepest waters

## Nearby Powerplant

## Average E. coli – Phase 2

**Notes:**
Sampled in the MR, shipping channel, IN and around Berger Ditch, no offshore sites
WATER—wider range of E. coli concentrations, up to 620
SEDIMENT—Highest in the MR, shipping channel and in Berger Ditch

## Average E. coli – Phase 2

**Notes:**
Average concentrations fail to show the whole picture

## Berger Ditch

## Berger Ditch—Phase 2, WATER

**Notes:**
Need to look at spatial patterns on a given sampling day
Decreases as it moves away from Berger Ditch, decreases more towards the east than the west.

## Berger Ditch — Phase 2, BED SEDIMENT

**Notes:**
Peaks at N10 on July 13 and August 16.  Located at MBSP, near an old beach ridge where E. coli may become trapped in bed sediments.  Could be from the beach itself.
Peak at N18 on June 15– from Berger or the shipping channel

## The relation between other variables and E. coli at MBSP

## Variables not related to E. coli

-  Rainfall 2 or 3 days ago
-  Number of birds (time of sampling)
-  Number of bathers
-  Water temperature
-  UV index (yesterday)

## Variables related to E. coli

-  Rainfall in the previous 24 hours
-  Oregon data (1 mile inland) showed a stronger relation than Metcalf data (10 miles inland)
-  Turbidity
-  Wave height
-  Wind direction

**Notes:**
Strength of the relation between E. coli and 24-hour rainfall, and not 2 or 3 days ago, AND between Oregon data and not Metcalf indicate that fecal contamination is not from remote sources.  

## Wind direction, time of sampling

**Notes:**
All values >1,000
8/9 values in the 400 to 1,000 range were associated with winds from N, NE, or NW (shaded areas)
Cause fecal contaminants from local sources (such as Berger) to remain the nearshore areas, southerly winds provide a mechanism for moving fecal contamination out to the open lake.

## Major conclusions

- Remote sources do not affect water quality at MBSP
- Elevated temperatures from a nearby powerplant were not conducive to growth of *E. coli*
- Berger Ditch is a principal source of *E. coli* to Maumee Bay and MBSP

## USGS, Water Resources Discipline

**USGS, Water Resources Discipline**
- Donna Francy
- _[dsfrancy@usgs.gov](mailto:dsfrancy@usgs.gov)_
- 614/430-7769
- Amie Brady
- _[amgbrady@usgs.gov](mailto:amgbrady@usgs.gov)_
- 614/430-7760

**University of Toledo,**
**Department of Earth, Ecological, and Environmental Sciences**
- Pamela Struffolino
- _[pstruff@pop3.utoledo.edu](mailto:pstruff@pop3.utoledo.edu)_
- Dr. Daryl Dwyer
- _[DDwyer2@UTNet.UToledo.Edu](mailto:DDwyer2@UTNet.UToledo.Edu)_
- University of Toledo Lake Erie Center
- 419/530-8360