Source Tracking in the Saginaw Bay and Great Lakes Applications

Ottawa County Water Quality Forum

26 October 2009

Marc P. Verhougstraete and Joan B. Rose

Spirogyra

Nutrients

Light

Temperature

Physical stressors

Dr. Juli Dyble Bressie

Muck

•Spirogyra, Cladophora, detritus

•Masses do contain bacteria (Whitman et al. 2003, AEM v.69)

•Aesthetic issues

•People removing it from beach

Pollutants•Urban development•Wetland degradation•Wastewater discharges•Agriculture waste•Industrial outfalls

Saginaw Bay Issues

Research Questions

• What are the sources of fecal pollution entering Saginaw Bay?

• What are the bacteria concentrations in Saginaw Bay across beach transects?

• How do environmental conditions relate to bacteria concentrations on the beach?

E. coli: Drinking and recreational water quality criteria but regrow inenvironment, high correlation with gastroenteritis in freshwater

Enterococci: Indicator of recent fecal pollution but regrow in environment, high correlation with gastroenteritis in freshwater,

C. perfringens: Indicator of persistent intestinal pathogens like viruses and oocysts of protozoa and long term, older inputs of fecal pollution

Coliphage: A good indicator of enteroviruses and recent fecal contamination

Enterococci esp gene and Bacteroides human and bovine markersSanitary surveys and GIS

Measuring Water Quality

SHALLOW WATER MUCK

SEDIMENT

The Beachscape

Sample Sites

�

�

�

�Port Crescent State Park

Caseville County ParkWhites Beach

Bay City State Recreation Area

SAGINAW BAYSample location Total number of 

samples assayedMuck 9

Sediment 28

Shallow water 32

Swimmable water 12

Swash Shallow Swimmable

Beachscape

4

4

4

4

4

4

4

0

Sediment samples

441139/30/2008

04199/6/2008

04198/12/2008

042108/5/2008

042107/29/2008

04197/22/2008

441137/15/2008

44087/10/2008

Swimmable water samplesShallow

water samples

Muck samples

Number of samples collectedSampling dates

Analysis in SPSS:

•Linear regression

•Pearson correlations

•ANOVA

•ANCOVA

FIB in Water

0.01

0.1

1

10

100

1000

E. coli enterococci C. perfringens Coliphage (F+amp) Coliphage (Somatic)

Microorganism

Con

cent

ratio

n (o

rgan

ism

s/10

0 m

l)

Shallow water Swimmable water

•E. coli exceeded standards 8 times in the shallow (235 CFU/100 ml)

•Enterococci exceeded standards 10 times in the shallow (61 CFU/100 ml)

Fecal indicator concentrations in the shallow and swimmable waters

FIB in Non-Water

0.01

0.1

1

10

100

1000

10000

E. coli enterococci C. perfringens Coliphage (F+amp) Coliphage (Somatic)

Con

cent

ratio

n (o

rgan

ism

/100

g w

et w

eigh

t)

Microorganism

MUCK SEDIMENT

•Higher levels of fecal indicators in muck

•Standards and reporting

Fecal indicator concentrations in the muck and sediment

Beachscape trends

0.0%

20.0%

40.0%

60.0%

80.0%

100.0%

120.0%

Muck Shallow w ater Sw immablew ater

Sediment

Sample zone

Perc

ent

% C. perfringens positive % positive male specic phage % positive somatic phage

Positive detections in each zone for C. perfringens and coliphage

71%

29%PositiveNegative

83%

17%

PositiveNegative

Positive Negative

Total esp

n=48

6%

Prevalence of Markers

SedimentMuck

esp positives

67%

33%

Caseville County Park esp positiveBay City Recreation Area esp positive

n=3

•Bovine and human Bacteroides not detected in 27 samples assayed

•esp not detected in swimmable or shallow water samples

0.01

0.1

1

7/15/2

0087/2

2/2008

7/29/2

0088/5

/2008

8/12/2

0088/1

9/2008

8/26/2

0089/2

/2008

9/9/20

089/1

6/2008

9/23/2

0089/3

0/2008

Date

Conc

entra

tion

(CFU

/100

ml)

00.020.040.060.080.10.120.140.160.18

24 h

our P

reci

pita

tion

E. coli in sediment 24 hour rainfall

Precipitation and FIB

•Rainfall decrease water quality (Whitman and Nevers 2003, AEM v.69, Boehm et al. 2002, EST v.36; Lipp et al. 2001, Estuaries v.24)

•Temperature indirectly related to E. coli levels

•Wind driven system

Total 24 hour rainfall and E. coli concentrations in the sediment

Beachscape

Foreshore Swash Shallow Swimmableesp positives

24 hour precipitation

24 hour precipitation, nearshore algal masses

48 hour precipitation

MUCK

- 976 square miles of residential, forest, and agricultural land use

- 181 miles of shoreline

- 130 public beaches

- 149 inland lakes

Grand Traverse Bay Watershed

Buss

Buss

Sample Sites

-Traverse City State Park-West Bay Beach-Bryant Park Beach-Storm drains-Mitchell Creek (8 sites)

0

1

10

100

1000

10000

Traverse CityState Park

Milliken ParkBeach

Bryant ParkBeach

Location

Conc

entr

atio

n (o

rgan

ism

s/10

0 m

l)

E. coli

Enterococci

C. perfringens

Coliphage

Beach Water Quality

- Impacted by rain, wind, birds, wave height

- 6 (16%) enterococci exceedances (>61 organisms/100 ml) when E. coli was below EPA criteria (235 organisms/100 ml)

(n=16)(n=16) (n=6)

Mitchell Creek Results

- Impacted by precipitation and air temperature

- 60 (54%) enterococci exceedances (>151 organisms/100 ml) when E. coli was below EPA criteria (575 organisms/100 ml)

0

1

10

100

1000

10000

MC1 MC2 MC3 MC4 MC5 MC6 MC7 MC8

Location

Con

cent

ratio

n (o

rgan

ism

s/10

0 m

l)

E. coli

Enterococci

C. perfringens

Coliphage

a bb bbbb c

a: n=15 b: n=14 c: n=12

Preliminary Results

1. E. coli exceedances in 2009-1 at Bryant Park Beach-1 at Milliken Park Beach- 552 exceedances for all of Michigan

2. Beaches: Coliphage present in similar concentrations as E. coli at all sites: recent pollution

3. Mitchell Creek: Coliphage higher then C. perfringens at all sites: recent pollution

4. Water quality decreases prior to airport (MC 5) and remains elevated through mouth of river (MC 1)

Beach protection and keeping them pristine – Routine monitoring program– Stormwater improvements – Sanitary surveys

Buss Buss

Additional Efforts

Water quality results

Pet waste removal

Ordinances prohibiting feeding waterfowl

Benthic algae survey

Waste management

Additional Efforts

Community outreach and education

Additional Efforts

Bay Day

Adopt-a-stream

Community outreach and education

Additional Efforts

Local Applications

Buck Creek Watershed

- Allegan and Kent Counties- Part of Lower Grand Watershed

Outcomes- Strong bovine influence- Human sewage detected- Stormwater runoff- ID manure source

Local Applications

Coldwater River Watershed- Kent, Ionia, Barry Counties- Lower Grand River Watershed

Outcomes- Strong bovine influence- Human sewage detected- Drain improvements- Agriculture and community collaboration

Local Applications

Grand River

- Pathogen transport study

- Flow models

- Virus testing in sediment

- CSO characterization

- Human health implications

Local Applications

- MSU/MSUE

- Grand Valley State University

- The Upper Grand River Watershed Alliance

- Friends of the Middle Grand River

- West Michigan Environmental Action Council

- West Michigan Strategic Alliance

- Watershed and river councils

- Health Departments

Future Efforts

- Environmental factors impact on water quality - ID sources of pollution- Healthy Beaches Campaign- Stormwater remediation - Predictive models- Form alliances

Thank You

Marc P. Verhougstraete verhoug3@msu.edu

Joan B. Rose, Ph.D. rosejo@msu.edu

http://www.fw.msu.edu/~rosejo/

The Water Quality, Environmental, and Molecular Microbiology Laboratory