3.2 - 678-1 Evaluate immediate and long-term BMP effectiveness of GLRI restoration efforts at urban beaches on Southern and Western Lake Michigan
Dates
Project Start Date
2015
Summary
Description of WorkThe success of GLRI beach restoration projects must be assessed to determine whether goals of recipients are on track and identify any developing unforeseen consequences of restoration efforts. Implementation of multiple BMPs during restoration can make understanding the impacts of individual BMPs difficult. However, proper site selection and well-designed monitoring and assessment plan can overcome such difficulties. The urban beaches chosen for evaluation are at various stages of the restoration process and located in Indiana (Jeorse Park Beach), Illinois (63rd Street Beach), and Wisconsin (North Beach). Data used for evaluation include continuous monitoring and synoptic mapping of nearshore currents, bathymetry, [...]
Summary
Description of Work
The success of GLRI beach restoration projects must be assessed to determine whether goals of recipients are on track and identify any developing unforeseen consequences of restoration efforts. Implementation of multiple BMPs during restoration can make understanding the impacts of individual BMPs difficult. However, proper site selection and well-designed monitoring and assessment plan can overcome such difficulties. The urban beaches chosen for evaluation are at various stages of the restoration process and located in Indiana (Jeorse Park Beach), Illinois (63rd Street Beach), and Wisconsin (North Beach). Data used for evaluation include continuous monitoring and synoptic mapping of nearshore currents, bathymetry, and water quality to examine nearshore transport under a variety of conditions. In addition, biological evaluations rely upon daily indicator bacteria monitoring, microbial community and shorebird surveys, recreational usage, and other ancillary water quality data. The pre- and post-restoration datasets comprised of these physical, chemical, biological, geological, and social data will allow restoration success to be evaluated using a science-based approach with quantifiable measures of progress. These data will also allow the evaluation of the resiliency of these restoration efforts under various climate change scenarios using existing climate change predictions and models.
Goals & Objectives
The objectives for the evaluation of urban beach restorations include the following: 1) Consolidate environmental data (physical, chemical, biological, geological, and social) and targeted pre-restoration conditions at the three locations. 2) Install monitoring equipment, collect data, and assimilate current targeted conditions. 3) Collect post-restoration environmental data through targeted studies based on restoration goals at each location. 4) Compare pre- and post- environmental data and evaluate targeted restoration conditions and goals. 5) Through microbial community analysis, gain insight into microbial differences by beach, seasonal shifts and better projected trends in community representation and trophic changes resulting from climate change. 6) Project potential effects of climate change on restoration efficacy. 7) Relate findings to other appropriate GLRI funded restoration projects with anticipated outcomes. 8) Utilize data and results to inform efforts to remove of the beach closings BUI for the Grand Calumet River AOC.
Relevance & Impact
This project meets the priorities of the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative Action Plan II for Science-Based Adaptive Management. It also fits into the USGS GLRI Science Framework Science Integration and Delivery theme. The activities outlined in this project compliment and leverage CSMI activities and are consistent with Lake Michigan LAMP objectives (subgoal 3, LAMP 2004). Most importantly, this project provides for objective decision-support tools for adaptive management and effectiveness of restoration action. Data from this project are integrated into the USGS data management system and provided to state cooperators and the Region 5 database for indicator bacteria consistent with EPA's sanitary surveys. Robust statistical analyses will help assess unexplained error leading to greater confidence in data interpretation. The project's primary goal, ultimately, is to assess the effectiveness of GLRI and federal goals toward restoration of selected and related degraded beach areas and determine their resiliency to climate change. Additionally, this project overlaps with the Nearshore Health, AOC, Watersheds, Environmental and Human Health, and Habitat and Species Science themes. This project also meets several of the strategic directions defined in the USGS Science Strategy including: 1) understanding and predicting ecosystem change, 2) assessment of the resiliency of ecosystems to adverse land change, hazards, and climate change, and 3) the role of environment and wildlife in human health, specifically pathogens in recreational water.
Products
Several scientific journal articles are planned as a part of this project including: 1) A paper on hydrodynamic and water quality changes relative to restoration efforts at 63rd and Jeorse Park Beach. 2) A paper on evaluation of changes in fecal indicator bacteria at the three beaches using pre- and post-condition assessment. 3) A paper on the use of bird and microbial community diversity in assessing beach conditions. The latter may include bird pathogens and the potential for zoonotic transfer. 4) A paper on the success of GLRI funded predictive modeling will be considered. Each of these papers will take the perspective of past conditions, immediate and long term improvement with special emphasis on climate change, sedimentation, and maintenance.
Approach
This project integrates intensive monitoring of physical, biological, chemical, geological, and social data to understand nearshore and coastal processes affecting restoration efforts at each study site. The success of restoration-related best management practices at each site are evaluated using annual monitoring data, data archives, numerical and empirical models, and understanding of the nearshore and coastal processes at these sites.
References
Relevant Links:
Great Lakes Restoration Initiative Action Plan II
(https://www.glri.us/actionplan/pdfs/glri-action-plan-2.pdf)
U.S. Army Corp of Engineers 63rd Street Beach Restoration Page
(http://www.lrc.usace.army.mil/Missions/Civil-Works-Projects/63rd-Street-Dune/)
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Lake Michigan Management Plans
(https://www.epa.gov/greatlakes/lake-michigan-lamps)
Natural Resources Defense Council Testing the Waters 2014
(https://www.nrdc.org/sites/default/files/ttw2014.pdf)
Coordinated Science and Monitoring Initiative
(http://www.regions.noaa.gov/great-lakes/index.php/great_lakes-restoration-initiative/accountability/lake-huron-coordinated-science-and-monitoring-initiative/)
Related publications:
Jackson, P.R., 2013, Circulation, mixing, and transport in nearshore Lake Erie in the vicinity of Villa Angela Beach and Euclid Creek, Cleveland, Ohio, September 11–12, 2012: U.S. Geological Survey Scientific Investigations Report 2013–5198, 34 p., http://dx.doi.org/10.3133/sir20135198.
Thupaki, P., M. S. Phanikumar, D. J. Schwab, M. B. Nevers, and R. L. Whitman (2013), Evaluating the role of sediment-bacteria interactions on Escherichia coli concentrations at beaches in southern Lake Michigan, J. Geophys. Res. Oceans, 118, 7049–7065, doi:10.1002/2013JC008919.
U.S. Geological Survey, 2007, Facing tomorrow’s challenges—U.S. Geological Survey science in the decade 2007–2017: U.S. Geological Survey Circular 1309, x + 70 p. (https://pubs.usgs.gov/circ/2007/1309/)
This project is evaluating the effectiveness of projects that are closely associated with restoration of local habitat and contact recreational activities at two Great Lakes Restoration Initiative (GLRI) funded sites in Southern Lake Michigan and one non-GLRI site in Western Lake Michigan. Evaluation of GLRI projects continually assess whether goals of recipients are on track and identify any developing unforeseen consequences. Including a third, non-GLRI project site in the evaluation allows comparison between restoration efforts in GLRI and non-GLRI funded projects. Projections and potential complications associated with climate change impacts on restoration resiliency are also being assessed. Two of the three sites to receive evaluation represent some of the most highly contaminated beaches in the United States (NRDC 2014) and include restoration BMPs which could benefit urban beaches and nearshore areas throughout the Great Lakes. Evaluation of effectiveness of restoration efforts and resiliency to climate change at urban beaches provides vital information on the success of restoration efforts and can identify potential pitfalls that will help maximize success of future GLRI beach and nearshore restoration projects.
