Implementing a Topographic Index Approach to Identify Locations of Groundwater Input Along Adirondack Lake Shorelines
Conducted by former graduate student Peter Stevens
Brook trout (Salvelinus fontinalis) are dependent on locations of groundwater upwelling for spawning, nursery habitat and thermal refugia for both young-of-year (YOY) and adult fish. Landscape-scale anthropogenic disturbances, such as logging and road construction, have the potential to influence brook trout habitat by altering these groundwater regimes. Despite the importance of groundwater discharge zones to brook trout, few attempts have been made to empirically model or predict groundwater discharge into lakes. This collaborative project, initiated in summer 2006, is developing a modeling approach that can be used to identify areas of groundwater discharge in Adirondack lakes that provide refuge and spawning habitat for brook trout. During the course of this project, a water flow modeling procedure will be tested and evaluated in a variety of Adirondack lakes. This model will be implemented within a Geographic Information System (GIS) framework using readily available information. Fish surveys conducted in the nearshore zone of three study lakes during summer 2006 indicated that recently hatched brook trout were using cooler nearshore habitat locations that corresponded to model predictions.
This research project was funded by the New York Department of Environmental Conservation.