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Research Institute Gets Algae Grant

Posted on: Tuesday, 1 November 2005, 18:00 CST

By Steve Kuchera, Duluth News-Tribune, Minn.

Nov. 1--Duluth's Natural Resources and Research Institute has received an $840,000 federal grant to study algae in rivers across the Midwest.

The study is part of the larger Great Rivers Project, an effort to develop new ways of monitoring the health of rivers. Other groups are studying such indicators of environmental health as water chemistry, macro invertebrates, fish, sediments and vegetation.

"It will provide a baseline assessment of ecological condition of Missouri, Upper Mississippi and Ohio Rivers," said Brian Hill, chief of the watershed research branch at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's Duluth office.

Once the current condition of rivers is documented, officials can track whether their health improves or worsens over time. That knowledge can help direct clean-up efforts.

Examining algae is a good way to monitor the status of a section of river, said Euan Reavie, lead scientist at NRRI's Ely Field Station. Each algae species has its own environmental preference. Algae responds to changes in water quality within a few weeks, giving a more accurate picture of a site's environmental status than water chemistry, which can fluctuate rapidly over short periods of time.

"We are going to build this tool where we can go out and -- instead of spending a whole lot of money measuring nutrients levels, and pH and all these other things -- just grab an algae sample and bring it back to the lab," Reavie said. "It will tell us about water quality and the health and biology of that site."

Reavie's team will be involved in the project for five years. It will spend the first two years identifying algae samples already collected from the rivers.

During the past two years, EPA crews have collected biological, water and sediment samples from the Upper Mississippi, Ohio and Missouri rivers for the project.

"We've sampled about 320 sites up and down all three rivers," Hill said. "Essentially, 4,000 miles of rivers have been considered in this project."

The Great Rivers Project is part of the EPA's Environmental Monitoring and Assessment Program. Its goal is to develop ways to monitor the health of the nation's environment.

EMAP got its start on streams in the mid-Atlantic states in 1993. The program has since looked at West Coast streams and the nation's coastal waters.

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Copyright (c) 2005, Duluth News-Tribune, Minn.

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Source: Duluth News-Tribune (Duluth, Minn.)

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