Kalamazoo River Research Articles

Distributed-Parameter Large Basin Runoff Model. II: Application

Following the derivation of a distributed-parameter large basin runoff model from a lumped-parameter version for the Great Lakes in the companion paper, we here apply it to the Kalamazoo River watershed in southwest Michigan. First we review relevant similar efforts and then describe the digitization of the watershed into a network of cells through which watershed internal flows are routed. We present the technology used on the Kalamazoo River to create grids of topography, soils, land use, and vegetation data. We describe the calibration of both lumped-parameter and distributed-parameter runoff models on the Kalamazoo River and use observed spatial data variations in our parameter determinations. We investigate alternative evapotranspiration schemes, spatial parameter patterns, solar insolation interpretations, and temporal scaling and compare model results. We suggest model extensions for future work.

Distributed-Parameter Large Basin Runoff Model. I: Model Development

We present a case study of modifying an existing macroscale rainfall-runoff model, the large basin runoff model (LBRM), developed at NOAA’s Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory, to the microscale in a two-dimensional representation. First, we review the LBRM and then describe changes in several process submodels, which were originally designed specifically for large areas. We also change the model structure so that we may use the LBRM on an individual cell at the microscale within a watershed. We then discuss spatial scaling of model parameters to enable an (initial) application to the microscale with parameters available from the macroscale. We then organize watershed cells and flow routing and conclude with notes on computer implementation. In the accompanying companion paper, we present details of the model calibration, application, and experimentation on the Kalamazoo River watershed.

Squamous epithelial lesion of the mandibles and maxillae of wild mink (Mustela vison) naturally exposed to polychlorinated biphenyls

Approximately 125 km of the Kalamazoo River, located in southwestern Michigan (USA), are designated as a Superfund site, with polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) as the contaminant of concern. Mink (Mustela vison) are a naturally occurring predator in this area and also a species of concern because of their known sensitivity to 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin (TCDD) and structurally similar compounds, such as PCBs. Four of nine mink trapped from the Kalamazoo River area of concern (KRAOC) exhibited histological evidence of a jaw lesion previously identified in ranch mink. The jaw lesion, hyperplasia of squamous epithelium in the mandible and maxilla, is known to be caused by 3,3',4,4',5-pentachlorobiphenyl (PCB 126) and TCDD. Mink trapped from an upstream reference area (Fort Custer Recreation Area [FCRA]) did not exhibit the lesion. Mean concentrations of total PCBs were 2.8 and 2.3 mg/kg wet weight in the livers of mink from the KRAOC and FCRA, respectively, and TCDD toxic equivalent (TEQ) concentrations were 0.30 and 0.11 microg/kg wet weight, respectively. Significant correlations were found between the severity of the lesion and the hepatic concentrations of total PCBs and TEQs. To our knowledge, this is the first published report of the lesion occurring in wild mink.

Comparison of Risk Assessment Methodologies for Exposure of Mink to PCBs on the Kalamazoo River, Michigan

Risk assessments are generally based on exposures predicted by use of simple models of accumulation from abiotic compartments or the diet. The use of tissue-specific measurements of residue concentrations in wildlife tissues is more accurate and subject to less uncertainty, but these data are often not available. This report compares the results of two different site-specific approaches for assessing the risk of PCBs to mink residing along the Kalamazoo River, MI. The first approach was based on hepatic concentrations of PCBs and 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin equivalents (TEQs) of mink. The second approach was based on measured concentrations of both PCBs and TEQs in the diets of mink. For each of these methodologies, assessments were based on no observed adverse effect levels (NOAELs) or concentrations (NOAECs) and lowest observed adverse effect levels (LOAELs) or concentrations (LOAECs). Samples of mink (Mustela vison) and its diet were collected from within the Kalamazoo River Area of Concern (KRAOC) and an upstream reference area in the Fort Custer Recreation Area (FC). Hazard quotient (HQ) values were calculated based on congener-specific concentrations of PCBs or TEQs, several toxicity reference values (TRVs), and several assumed dietary compositions. Mean total hepatic concentrations of PCBs were 2.7 and 2.3 mg PCBs/kg, ww, in mink from the KRAOC and FC, respectively. HQs based on the LOAEC and mean hepatic PCB concentrations ranged from 0.37 to 0.87 at KRAOC and 0.31-0.73 at FC. HQs based on PCBs in the diet ranged from 0.20 to 1.8 at KRAOC and from 0.04 to 0.35 at FC. Dietary HQs were less than 10-fold different than tissue-based HQs.

Erosion Rates and Bulk Properties of Sediments From the Kalamazoo River

Erosion rates and the properties of bulk density, average particle size, organic carbon content, and gas fraction were determined as a function of depth for 35 relatively undisturbed sediment cores from the Kalamazoo River. In most cores, strong stratification in one or more of these properties was observed as a function of depth, generally with a sandy, high density, easily erodable layer overlaying a finer, low density, more-difficult-to-erode layer. For these cases, erosion rates often differed by several orders of magnitude between these layers. In general, organic carbon and gas fraction were high. Averaged properties of these cores as well as detailed descriptions of eight representative cores are presented. Variations of erosion rates and bulk properties in both the horizontal and vertical directions were large and equivalent in magnitude in both directions. These large variations indicate that large variations in sediment and contaminant sediment-water flux and transport also exist throughout the river. This variability in space and time must be considered in accurate and predictive modeling of sediment and contaminant transport and in the remediation of contaminated sediments.

Biochemical and toxicopathic biomarkers assessed in smallmouth bass recovered from a polychlorinated biphenyl-contaminated river

Smallmouth bass (Micropterus dolomieu) were collected to quantify the nature and prevalence of biomarker responses, including biochemical indices, toxicopathic lesions and general health indices, among fish collected from polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB)-contaminated and nearby uncontaminated reaches of the Kalamazoo River, Michigan, USA. Blood and tissue samples (gill, liver, spleen, head kidney, trunk kidney, thyroid and gonads) were collected and preserved at necropsy for biochemical and histological analyses. The body condition factor and liver somatic index were significantly lower in fish collected from the downstream, contaminated site. Plasma vitellogenin was not detected in male fish collected from either site. Liver ethoxyresorufin-O-deethylase activity and liver and spleen superoxide dismutase activity were significantly depressed in fish collected from the downstream site. Significant toxicopathic lesions such as glycogen depletion, enhanced macrophage aggregates, hepatic foci of cellular alteration (i.e. preneoplastic lesions) and neoplasia were also detected in the liver of fish collected from the downstream site. This study indicates that many of the biochemical and histopathological biomarker responses were associated with liver and body tissue PCB concentrations. Taken together, the biomarkers of exposure and effect strongly suggest that fish within the downstream site are adversely affected by PCBs and other chemical stressors.

Critical conceptualism in environmental modeling and prediction.

Many important problems in environmental science and engineering are of a conceptual nature. Research and development, however, often becomes so preoccupied with technical issues, which are themselves fascinating, that it neglects essential methodological elements of conceptual reasoning and theoretical inquiry. This work suggests that valuable insight into environmental modeling can be gained by means of critical conceptualism which focuses on the software of human reason and, in practical terms, leads to a powerful methodological framework of space-time modeling and prediction. A knowledge synthesis system develops the rational means for the epistemic integration of various physical knowledge bases relevant to the natural system of interest in order to obtain a realistic representation of the system, provide a rigorous assessment of the uncertainty sources, generate meaningful predictions of environmental processes in space-time, and produce science-based decisions. No restriction is imposed on the shape of the distribution model or the form of the predictor (non-Gaussian distributions, multiple-point statistics, and nonlinear models are automatically incorporated). The scientific reasoning structure underlying knowledge synthesis involves teleologic criteria and stochastic logic principles which have important advantages over the reasoning method of conventional space-time techniques. Insight is gained in terms of real world applications, including the following: the study of global ozone patterns in the atmosphere using data sets generated by instruments on board the Nimbus 7 satellite and secondary information in terms of total ozone-tropopause pressure models; the mapping of arsenic concentrations in the Bangladesh drinking water by assimilating hard and soft data from an extensive network of monitoring wells; and the dynamic imaging of probability distributions of pollutants across the Kalamazoo river.

Nonylphenol and nonylphenol ethoxylates in fish, sediment, and water from the Kalamazoo River, Michigan.

A survey measuring concentrations of nonylphenol (NP) and its ethoxylates (NPEs) in fish was performed in the Kalamazoo River, Michigan, USA, in 1999. Of 183 fish analyzed, 59% had no detectable NP or NPE. Detected concentrations were reported to range from 3.3 (limit of detection) to 29.1 ng NP/g wet weight. To further explore the means of exposure of NP and NPE in the fish, concentrations of NP and its mono-through tri-ethoxylates (NPE(1-3)) were measured in fish, sediment, and water collected near two wastewater treatment plants on the Kalamazoo River in 2000. Samples were analyzed using exhaustive steam distillation with concurrent liquid extraction. Nonylphenol ethoxycarboxylates (NPE(1-3)C) were also analyzed in water. Concentrations of NP and NPEs in fish were less than the method detection limits (MDLs) in all the samples except one fish, which contained 3.4 ng NP/g wet weight, just above the detection limit of 3.3 ng/g. Three of 36 sediments and 1 of 24 water samples contained detectable concentrations of NP or NPE(1). NPE(2), NPE(3), and NPEC were not detected in water samples.

USING CONSERVATION DEVELOPMENT CREDITS TO IMPLEMENT THE KALAMAZOO TMDL LOAD ALLOCATION

USING CONSERVATION DEVELOPMENT CREDITS TO IMPLEMENT THE KALAMAZOO TMDL LOAD ALLOCATIONNet reductions from a variety of nonpoint sources, including existing and new development, are needed to reduce current phosphorus loadings by 43% to the load allocations specified in the TMDL for Lake Allegan and the Kalamazoo River. Planning tools in use for the area do not link land uses or changes in land uses to phosphorus loadings. Currently, planners can neither easily evaluate the net...Author(s)Elise BaconMark KieserChris PelusoJohn RogersAndrew McElwaineSourceProceedings of the Water Environment FederationSubjectSession 9 - Surface Water Quality and Ecology: Pollutant Trading and Adaptive ManagementDocument typeConference PaperPublisherWater Environment FederationPrint publication date Jan, 2003ISSN1938-6478SICI1938-6478(20030101)2003:12L.942;1-DOI10.2175/193864703784755292Volume / Issue2003 / 12Content sourceWEFTECFirst / last page(s)942 - 953Copyright2003Word count214

Palimpsest tunnel valleys: evidence for relative timing of advances in an interlobate area of the Laurentide ice sheet

AbstractDuring retreat from the lateWisconsinan maximum advance in the Great Lakes region of North America, the Laurentide ice sheet margin became distinctly lobate. The Lake Michigan, Saginaw, and Huron—Erie lobes converged in southern Michigan and Indiana, U.S.A. to form a complex interlobate region. Some time after the glacial maximum, the Lake Michigan lobe advanced over landscapes previously formed by the Saginaw lobe. This can be explained by an asynchronous advance of the Lake Michigan lobe during a Saginaw lobe retreat or by an increase in size of the Lake Michigan lobe relative to the Saginaw lobe during a synchronous readvance.Cross-cutting relationships in southwestern Michigan, including palimpsest tunnel valleys, document the overriding of Saginaw lobe terrain. Deep, generally straight trenches parallel to glacial flow lines with hummocky, irregular sides and bottoms are interpreted as tunnel valleys. Saginaw lobe tunnel valleys trend northeast—southwest and Lake Michigan lobe tunnel valleys generally trend east—west.At some time after a Saginaw lobe retreat in southern Michigan, the drumlinized landscape was overridden by an advance of the Lake Michigan lobe to an ice-marginal position at the Tekonsha moraine. Saginaw lobe tunnel valleys in the overridden area were completely filled with ice and debris from the Saginaw lobe retreat at the time of the Lake Michigan lobe advance. Supraglacial and proglacial sediments were deposited over the buried valleys by the Lake Michigan lobe, sometimes by meltwater streams that flowed at high angles to the trends of the valleys. After entrenchment of the Kalamazoo River valley, probably by a subglacial outburst flood, short tributaries were cut nearly at right angles across and through the debris and ice within several buried Saginaw lobe tunnel valleys. After the retreat of the Lake Michigan lobe, subsequent melting of ice in the palimpsest tunnel valleys exhumed the valleys, creating the cross-cutting relationships with the Lake Michigan lobe deposits.

Organic Priority Pollutants in Nearshore Fish from 14 Lake Michigan Tributaries and Embayments, 1983

Composite, nearshore, whole fish samples of selected species, collected in fall 1983 from 13 Lake Michigan tributaries and Grand Traverse Bay, were analyzed for a wide range of pesticides and priority pollutants using gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. This study was carried out to identify existing source areas for known and previously unrecognized toxic substances. Our strategy was to analyze those resident fish with the highest likely levels of contaminants. All fish analyzed (eight species from southern Michigan to the upper peninsula) exceeded the 2 mg/kg FDA action levels for PCBs, while 50% of the samples exceeded the DDTr IJC objective of 1 mg/kg. St. Joseph River common carp ( Cyprinus carpio) carried the heaviest contaminant burden of all fish examined for PCBs (27.6 mg/kg), DDTr (10.2 kg/mg), and toxaphene (3.3 mg/kg); chlordane levels (0.85 mg/kg) were second highest to those in Kalamazoo River common carp (0.87 mg/kg). Concentrations of PCBs, toxaphene, DDT, DDE, and other pesticides were higher in bottom-feeding fish, such as common carp, than in top predators, e.g., northern pike ( Esox lucius). Bottom feeders are relatively fatty fish, and live and feed near contaminated sediments, which increases their potential to bioaccumulate fat-soluble contaminants. Pesticides were also present in elevated concentrations in fish from sites with higher industrial and agricultural development.

Forest Management Options And Policy Implications In the Kalamazoo River Basin of Michigan

Abstract Forest management options to pursue objectives for timber production and wildlife were examined in the Kalamazoo River Basin of southwestern Michigan. A linear programming model was used to project options to meet alternative sets of demand over time. Results indicate that increases in timber sales and stand improvement would achieve significant timber and hunting benefits without increasing erosion. It also appears that in this basin government programs should be oriented toward improving markets before subsidizing management practices. Although the results apply to this specific river basin, similar planning guidelines would probably apply to comparable situations in the Midwest and Northeast.

An Experiment in Community Co-Ordination

OTSEGO has a population of thirty-three hundred and is located on the banks of the Kalamazoo River fifteen miles northwest of Kalamazoo. The city has three paper mills and one co-operative milk-products plant, which provide the chief industry of the community. The population, almost entirely American born, is largely of the white race and would be considered stable since about half of the families have lived in the community for over fifteen years. The fact that the average family is smaller than that of other communities indicates that the community is becoming one of older people. The citizens' interest in education is shown by their consistent provision of good school facilities and by the education of the community members: 22 per cent of the adult population have high-school educations and 8 per cent have had college training. The chief problems of Otsego, like those of most small cities, are unemployment for both youth and adults and the lack of the right kind and amount of social and recreational advantages. These problems exist in spite of the fact that for a number of years the people of Otsego have been active in solving their problems through the activities of more than fifty local organizations. These organizations seem to duplicate one another in many ways, and effort is lost in co-ordinating activities sponsored for the benefit of the community. In March, 1939, a group of citizens of Otsego met to discuss plans for community betterment and elected a Community Health and Social Service Committee to study the local needs and to make a report of their conclusions. The committee, becoming interested in surveys as a means of collecting data regarding the community, conducted a house-to-house canvass to determine the medical and the dental needs of children of preschool age. In April the committee, co-operating with the Civic Council, a local organization of business 588