U.S. Department of the Interior

U.S. Geological Survey

USGS Fact Sheet 036-99

July 1999

Ohio

Much of Ohio’s social and economic

development has been and continues

to be determined by its natural

resources. The effects of natural

processes and human activities—

floods, water pollution, mining, and

urbanization—on Ohio’s natural

resources are important to understand

because these processes and activities, to a large degree, affect the

health, safety, and well-being of the

people, the economy, and the environment of the State.

For more than 100 years, the U.S.

Geological Survey (USGS) has been

involved in studies of the geology,

water resources, topography, physical

features, and, more recently, the

biology of Ohio. This long-term

effort of data collection and interpretation provides natural-resources

managers and policymakers with

essential earth-science information

needed to make decisions about

Ohio’s resources.

National Water-Quality

Assessment Program

To address the need for consistent and

scientifically sound information for

managing the Nation’s water resources, the USGS began a full-scale

National Water-Quality Assessment

(NAWQA) Program in 1991. The

overall goals of the NAWQA Program are to (1) describe current

water-quality conditions for a large

part of the Nation’s freshwater

streams and water-bearing sediments

and rocks, (2) describe how water

quality is changing over time, and (3)

improve our understanding of the

principal natural and human factors

affecting water quality.

Assessing the quality of water in

every location of the Nation would

not be practical; therefore, NAWQA

studies are planned within a set of

areas called study units. These study

units are composed of 59 river and

aquifer systems that represent the

diverse geography, water resources,

and land and water uses of the

Nation. Two such units, the Lake

Erie-Lake St. Clair Basin and the

Great and Little Miami River Basins,

are being studied by the USGS.

The Lake Erie-Lake St. Clair Basin

study unit of NAWQA encompasses

an area of about 22,300 square miles

that includes northern Ohio, southeastern Michigan, northeastern

Indiana, the northwestern tip of

Pennsylvania, and southwestern New

York. Water resources in the study

unit are central to the economy and

culture of the region. In a recent

assessment, the value of Lake Erie

and its tributaries, with respect to

sport fishing and related commerce,

was estimated to exceed $850 million

annually. The study unit contains

about 300 public recreational areas

and about 90,000 acres of inland

waters for public use. Lake Erie

supports the largest freshwater fishery

in the Great Lakes (an estimated 50–

60 million pounds of fish are caught

per year) and is widely considered to

be the best walleye fishery in the

world. Lakes Erie and St. Clair and

the St. Clair, Detroit, and Niagara

Rivers are vital shipping links that

connect the upper Great Lakes to

Lake Ontario and the St. Lawrence

Seaway.

Figure 1. USGS scientist collecting biological data as part of the National WaterQuality Assessment Program.

MICHIGAN

CANADA

NEW YORK

PENNSYLVANIA

INDIANA OHIO

L. Erie

Toledo

Dayton

Cincinnati

L. Huron

L. Ontario

Lake Erie—Lake St. Clair 

 Basin

Great and Little Miami 

 River Basins
science for a changing world

The Great and Little Miami River

Basin NAWQA study unit encompasses an area of about 7,350 square

miles that includes southwestern Ohio

and southeastern Indiana. The area

contains many lakes and small

reservoirs that are used for flood

control, water supply, and recreation.

An estimated 2.8 million people lived

in the study area in 1995. Major cities

in the study area are Cincinnati and

Dayton, Ohio. Approximately 79

percent of the total land area is used

for agriculture, primarily row-crop

production of corn, soybeans, and

alfalfa. Residential, commercial, and

industrial land uses comprise 13

percent of the area, whereas the

remaining area consists of forests (7

percent) and water bodies or wetlands

(1 percent). Major industries are

concentrated along the Dayton–

Cincinnati corridor. Streams and

lakes in the study unit are heavily

used by residents for boating, fishing,

and other outdoor recreation. The

Little Miami River (a State and

National Scenic River), the upper

Great Miami River and its tributaries,

and the Whitewater River in Indiana

largely contain high quality warmwater habitats with biologically

diverse fish and wildlife populations.

Flood Studies

Millions of dollars of flood damage

have been recorded throughout

Ohio’s history. For example, the flood

of March 1997 affected thousands of

Ohio residents that live near and

around tributaries to the Ohio River.

This flood was estimated to have

caused nearly $180 million in damage

to public and private property, as well

as the deaths of five people. To

improve the understanding of the

patterns of floods, USGS scientists

collect and study data before and after

these events. These data are collected

in the field and through the USGS

monitoring network. The monitoring

network consists of stations throughout Ohio that collect data on surfacewater quantity and quality. Most

stations can send data by way of

satellites to the USGS office in

Columbus. These data then are made

available on the Internet as “realtime” data (http://wwwoh.er.usgs.gov/rt-cgi/gen_tbl_pg).

The National Weather Service, which

issues flood warnings, uses USGS

real-time data to assist in rapidly

determining the conditions of Ohio’s

streams. The USGS, in cooperation

with the Ohio Department of Transportation, evaluates how construction

at or near selected stream sites may

affect future flooding, as well as

documents actual floods at selected

highway sites. Additionally, the

USGS, in cooperation with the

Federal Emergency Management

Agency, conducts studies that are

used to help establish flood-plain

management programs to mitigate

flood losses. These studies also are

used to develop flood-risk zones

within flood-prone areas.

These USGS flood studies and

published reports, along with the

monitoring-network data and maps,

provide water-resources managers

and policymakers with information to

help them understand how floods

affect the lives and property of Ohio

residents, as well as provide information that can lead to the mitigation of

the loss of lives and property.

Mapping Ohio’s

Glacial Deposits

Building on present cooperative

studies of Lake Erie coastal erosion

and glacial geology, the USGS, the

Ohio Department of Natural Resources (ODNR)-Division of Geological Survey, and agencies in

Indiana, Illinois, and Michigan are

developing the Central Great Lakes

Geologic Mapping Coalition. The

Coalition plans to map at 1:100,000

and 1:24,000-scale the glacial and

related deposits in three dimensions

in prioritized areas, using modern

geophysical and drilling technologies,

geologic sedimentation models, and

computer-assisted analyses.

Partnering with other Federal and

State experts, the mapping program

will characterize the hydrogeologic

and aggregate potential for surface

and subsurface units, their geochemical composition, and their roles in

Figure 2. USGS field crew measuring

streamflow during the flood of March

1997.

Figure 3. Glacial deposits in Ohio.

The map shows surface glacial till

deposits in green, sand and gravel

deposits in yellow-orange, and silt

and clay deposits in blue.

Unglaciated areas are light brown.

Darker colors, which indicate

thicker deposits, can be used to

trace old valleys, filled with complex

glacial deposits, across the central

part of the State.

Lak e Erie

U n g l a c i a t e d
Ohio

natural hazards and contamination

potential. The Coalition seeks to

develop ways to teach local land-use

decisionmakers how to use the new,

detailed data and software tools in

making informed choices for sustainable growth in the region.

A new USGS regional map, which

includes Ohio, portrays the character

and thickness of glacial deposits in

Ohio (fig. 3). The map complements

other new State maps of the glacial

sediments and the buried bedrock

surface. All of these maps are used to

assess ground water in glacial aquifers; the susceptibility of aquifers to

contamination; the extent of sand and

gravel construction aggregates; the

potential for coastal-erosion, earthquake, landslide, flood, and radon

hazards; and to provide basic information for environmental studies.

Zebra Mussels in Lake Erie

Sediments

Zebra mussels originated in Eurasia

and were introduced into the Great

Lakes in 1988, presumably by ballast

water discharges of oceangoing ships.

They quickly spread throughout the

Great Lakes and into the Mississippi

River drainage system, where they

have become a nuisance by clogging

municipal and industrial water

intakes, fouling swimming beaches,

and changing lake and river ecology.

Zebra mussels are widely known for

their conspicuous infestation of rocks

and other hard substrates. USGS

scientists, in collaboration with The

Ohio State University and ODNRDivision of Geological Survey,

discovered that zebra mussels are

extensively colonizing sand and mud

sediments in western and central

Lake Erie. A related exotic species,

the quagga mussel, also has been

found on soft-bottom sediments in

eastern Lake Erie and in Lake Ontario. In western and central Lake

Erie, the zebra mussel was 10 times

more abundant than the quagga

mussel on sand and mud sediments.

Further investigation is needed into

the impact on the Lake Erie ecosystem of the expansion of such vast

beds of zebra mussels across sand and

mud sediments. These beds of zebra

mussels could affect the exchange of

nutrients and contaminants between

the sediment and the overlying water

and within the Lake Erie food web.

Another concern is that zebra mussel

beds could adversely affect the

recovery of the burrowing mayfly—

an important food source for many

kinds of fish, as well as an indicator

of improving water and sediment

quality in Lake Erie.

Coastal Wetland—Natural Refuge

for Native Clams

The recent invasion of zebra mussels

into North America has severely

threatened native freshwater clams. In

the open waters of Lake Erie, where

zebra mussels have undergone

exponential population growth during

the last 10 years, more than 95

percent of certain native clam types

have been exterminated. In 1996,

however, a population of native clams

was discovered in a coastal wetland,

Metzger Marsh, just west of Toledo,

Ohio. In 1996, as part of a wetlands

restoration project, a 1.5-mile stone

dike was built across the mouth of the

bay to isolate the marsh from Lake

Erie. The marsh was then dewatered.

During dewatering, 22 species of

clams were discovered and relocated

by USGS scientists. Although all

other hard objects in the marsh were

covered with zebra mussels, the

clams were not. Less than 1 percent

of the 7,000 clams collected showed

any evidence of zebra mussel colonization. USGS scientists theorized that

native clams are surviving at this site,

despite the presence of zebra mussels,

because of the specific sediment type

and water temperatures characteristic

of this wetland habitat. The survival

and continuing successful reproduction of native clams in this Lake Erie

coastal wetland indicate that such

sites may provide a refuge for these

at-risk animals. In future years, native

clams relocated from this marsh will

be returned to it, and the population

reestablished. Sites such as Metzger

Marsh give promise that at least some

clam brood stock from Lake Erie

remains available to recolonize the

lake if zebra mussel populations

ultimately decline.

Restoration of Metzger Marsh

As mentioned, Metzger Marsh is a

coastal wetland near Toledo, Ohio.

The 900-acre wetland is managed by

the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service

and ODNR-Division of Wildlife. The

marsh formerly was protected from

waves on Lake Erie by a barrier

beach that was lost to erosion during

Figure 4. Zebra mussels on finegrained sediments in western Lake

Erie.

Figure 5. USGS scientist counting and

relocating native clams removed from

Metzger Marsh.
Printed on recycled paper

USGS office locations USGS State Representative

6480 Doubletree Ave.

Columbus, OH 43229-1111

(614) 430-7700

FAX (614) 430-7777

USGS Home Page

http://www.usgs.gov

Reports and products

1-888-ASK-USGS

high lake levels in 1973. Progressive

loss of vegetated area accompanied

erosion of the protective barrier.

Therefore, the management agencies

chose an active restoration program

that incorporated a dike, which

mimics the protective function of the

lost barrier beach, but includes a

water-control structure that can be

opened following restoration to allow

a hydrologic connection with the

lake. Prerestoration studies were

completed by USGS scientists in

collaboration with the management

agencies and academic institutions to

measure physical attributes and

characterize wetland plant communities and most major groups of fish

and wildlife. Followup monitoring

will determine the success of this

project, which has the potential to

provide a model for wetland restoration throughout the Nation.

Gateway to the Earth—

The OhioView Project

The OhioView Consortium is a group

of universities, colleges, K-12

schools, libraries, and local and State

government agencies in the State of

Ohio working with the USGS and

NASA to provide affordable access to

U.S. Government satellite and

geospatial data.

Goals of OhioView are to (1) create a

prototype of a national public access

system for geospatial data from the

U.S. Government, (2) promote the

use of satellite and geospatial data in

education, (3) facilitate the use of

satellite data to monitor a wide

variety of environmental issues (such

as flood risk, crop health, urban

sprawl, and loss of wetlands), (4)

facilitate cooperation between the

education community and State and

local governments in remote sensing

and digital mapping through data and

cost sharing, (5) facilitate research

and development in the applications

of satellite data, and (6) establish a

high-speed network to provide

satellite data to the public, educators,

scientists, and community leaders in

Ohio and the Nation.

These satellite and related geospatial

data (such as topographic maps,

digital elevation data, aerial photoThe USGS has 84

employees in Ohio

Columbus

New Philadelphia

Sandusky

Figure 6. Changes in Metzger Marsh

vegetation, 1940 and 1996.

0 300 600 900 1200 Meters

N

Metzger Marsh (1940)

Metzger Marsh (1996)

179 Hectares Vegetated

216 Hectares Vegetated

Dike

Wetland vegetation

Diked wetland

Beach

Open water

Bare soil

Agriculture / other

graphs, and land-use data) will be

transferred over high-speed networks

from the USGS EROS Data Center in

Sioux Falls, South Dakota, to the

NASA Lewis Research Center in

Cleveland, Ohio, where they will be

distributed to the OhioView Consortium and be viewable by the public

over common Internet browsers.

Applications of these data include the

following:

• Agriculture: Crop forecasting and

crop damage assessments.

• Cartography: Topographic mapping, terrain simulations, and map

updating.

• Forestry: Stand density measurement, disease and fire damage

assessment.

• Geology: Oil and gas exploration,

geologic and structural mapping,

and hazards analysis.

• Urban Planning: Land-use mapping and impervious-surface

modeling.

• Water and Environment: Wetlands

and habitat mapping, pollution

monitoring, resource assessment,

and hydrologic and coastal studies.