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The water quality implications of artificially fertilizing a large desert reservoir for fisheries enhancement
Author(s) -
Vaux Peter D.,
Paulson Larry J.,
Axler Richard P.,
Leavitt Suzanne
Publication year - 1995
Publication title -
water environment research
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.356
H-Index - 73
eISSN - 1554-7531
pISSN - 1061-4303
DOI - 10.2175/106143095x131349
Subject(s) - water quality , environmental science , hypolimnion , trihalomethane , artificial fertilization , biomanipulation , nutrient , fertilizer , forage , eutrophication , human fertilization , hydrology (agriculture) , water treatment , ecology , environmental engineering , biology , agronomy , engineering , geotechnical engineering
Multiple use management of aquatic systems frequently involves conflicting demands from the various user groups. A 4‐year program designed to evaluate large‐scale artificial fertilization as a potential management tool for enhancing the forage and game fish populations of Lake Mead, a large Colorado River reservoir, generated considerable attention from both on‐lake and downstream water users. An extensive water‐quality monitoring program, undertaken as part of the fertilization experiment, demonstrated that the nutrient additions did not produce significant negative impacts on Lake Mead water quality from either a public health (that is, drinking water) or environmental perspective. One set of parameters, for example, hypolimnetic oxygen depletion and the relative abundance of blue‐green algae, exhibited no consistent response to the fertilizer. A second group of parameters did respond to fertilizer addition, but changes were both moderate and relatively short‐term. Examples in this group include chlorophyll, threshold odor number, and trihalomethane formation potentials.