Wetlands perform critical ecosystem services, including nutrient reduction, flood mitigation, and biodiversity habitat. More than 90% of wetlands in Ohio have been destroyed and most major water bodies in the state now experience annual harmful cyanobacterial blooms. The H2Ohio Initiative in part funds statewide wetland restoration to improve water quality through nutrient reduction, but the initiative also includes wetlands initially designed for flood mitigation, floodplain and fish habitat, and energy load reduction. The Wright State team of the H2Ohio Wetland Monitoring Program has developed a plan to monitor water quality at nine newly constructed wetlands in western and southern Ohio, including one at Buckeye Lake and three within the Grand Lake St Marys (GLSM) watershed. GLSM is one of the most hypereutropic lakes in North America (above the 90th percentile for nutrient load) with outflows into both Lake Erie and the Ohio River watersheds. Here we present water monitoring plans for assessing nutrient reduction across multiple wetland designs, preliminary nutrient monitoring data, and a comparison with more established constructed wetlands within the GLSM watershed.
Available at: http://works.bepress.com/stephen-jacquemin/64/