(Reposted from the 3/16/2016 Winona Daily News http://www.winonadailynews.com/news/opinion/columnists/local/joshua-lallaman-smu-students-are-testing-lake-winona-s-health/article_528aea65-8270-51d4-a1bb-1c9e9550e1fc.html )
Students from Saint Mary’s University are coordinating with members of Healthy Lake Winona to better understand the water quality in our city’s namesake lake. Recent findings by the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency show that water in Lake Winona currently exceeds the pollution standards for phosphorous and chlorophyll. Both of these are indicators of excessive nutrient pollution that runs off the surrounding land.
To help identify the major sources of this pollution, SMU student Hannah Gabrick and Professor Joshua Lallaman spent the summer and fall analyzing water samples at 10 different sites along the watershed. Starting high in Gilmore Creek, we followed the flow of water past Saint Mary’s campus, into Bollers Lake, into west Lake Winona, then east Lake Winona, and finally the lake outflow at Shives Road.
Our initial results suggest several major sources of nutrients, including inputs from upstream, runoff from the storm sewers, and recycling of nutrients already present in the lake sediment. Ultimately, cleaning up the nutrient pollution and improving the health of our lake will require multiple solutions and active participation from our community.
When students are out sampling, they are easily spotted carrying an 8-foot-long (and bright yellow) water sampling pole along with several sample bottles. If you see us collecting samples on the lake, please stop and talk to us. We are always happy to answer any question or share the results of what we are finding.
Joshua Lallaman is a biology professor at Saint Mary’s University.
Students from Saint Mary’s University are coordinating with members of Healthy Lake Winona to better understand the water quality in our city’s namesake lake. Recent findings by the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency show that water in Lake Winona currently exceeds the pollution standards for phosphorous and chlorophyll. Both of these are indicators of excessive nutrient pollution that runs off the surrounding land.
To help identify the major sources of this pollution, SMU student Hannah Gabrick and Professor Joshua Lallaman spent the summer and fall analyzing water samples at 10 different sites along the watershed. Starting high in Gilmore Creek, we followed the flow of water past Saint Mary’s campus, into Bollers Lake, into west Lake Winona, then east Lake Winona, and finally the lake outflow at Shives Road.
Our initial results suggest several major sources of nutrients, including inputs from upstream, runoff from the storm sewers, and recycling of nutrients already present in the lake sediment. Ultimately, cleaning up the nutrient pollution and improving the health of our lake will require multiple solutions and active participation from our community.
When students are out sampling, they are easily spotted carrying an 8-foot-long (and bright yellow) water sampling pole along with several sample bottles. If you see us collecting samples on the lake, please stop and talk to us. We are always happy to answer any question or share the results of what we are finding.
Joshua Lallaman is a biology professor at Saint Mary’s University.