Study monitors turbidity in Lake Superior streams

Many streams along the Minnesota coast of Lake Superior have been listed as impaired from either high turbidity or high fish mercury concentrations or both.  In this interview, WTIP volunteer Veronica Weadock talks with Elaine Ruzycki about her research into the correlation of turbidity and total mercury to total suspended sediment in many disturbed watersheds.  

Ruzycki is a research fellow at the Natural Resources Research Institute (NRRI) (www.nrri.umn.edu) at the University of Minnesota-Duluth (UMD).  In a study that was funded in part by Minnesota Sea Grant (www.seagrant.umn.edu), turbidity and total mercury concentrations and loads were estimated in four western Lake Superior watersheds from 2005-2006 using automated in-stream turbidity measurements. (Ruzycki EM, Axler RP, Henneck J, Will NR, Host GE. 2011. Estimating mercury concentrations and loads from four western Lake Superior watersheds using continuous in-stream turbidity monitoring. Aquatic Ecosystem Health and Management.)

Photo by Rufus Sarsaparilla.  This work has been released into the public domain by its author, Rufus Sarsaparilla at the wikipedia project. This applies worldwide.  http://commons.wikimedia.org