Water Quality of the Great Lakes

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Water Quality of the Great Lakes

• A look at the largest fresh surface water system
  on Earth using GIS
• Leah Shimko

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Environmental Issues

• PCBs, DDT, fertilizers, untreated human waste,
  phosphate detergents
• Accelerated eutrophication
• Low DO
• Low biodiversity
• Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement between
  Canada and the U.S. - 1972

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Project Goals

• Basic Data
• Watershed Boundaries
• Political Boundaries
• Maps of Pollution Levels
• Select Contaminants
• Try to show change in quality pre-1972 to
  post-1972

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Major Data Sources

• GLENDA Great Lakes Environmental Database, EPA
  (tables)
• GLIN Great Lakes Information Network
  (shapefiles)
• Canada (.e00 interchange files)
• 1996-2003
• P, Cl, N, Si, K, Ca, Alkalinity, Temp.,
  Turbidity, pH, DO

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Is Ontario the best or is another lake Superior?
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Work Remaining

• Compare data to acceptable levels
• Effects
• Pre-1972 data theres still a chance
• Organization

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Conclusions

• Levels of pretty much everything are higher in
  Lake Ontario in comparison to Lake Superior,
• but at least Lake Erie appears to be more of a
  dump than Lake Ontario.

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? 's
Lake Less of a dump than Erie Ontario