Grant: Strategic Projects - Group

The beaches of the Great Lakes are an important recreational outlet for over 30 million people, yet because of poor water quality many are often inaccessible due to beach advisories. This has severe economic and societal implications. Policy and management approaches have been insufficient in improving the beach water quality as the contribution of all pollution sources, including the potentially significant role of groundwater is poorly understood. Decisions are therefore currently made in the absence of this sound quantitative science and tend to be less effective. To understand the impact of and how to manage the contribution of groundwater to the degrading water quality is complex. It requires knowledge of not only specific groundwater pollution sources (e.g., septic systems, leaky sewers, agriculture) but also knowledge of the fundamental processes (hydrological, biogeochemical, and microbial) underlying the behavior and movement of pollutants in the groundwater and their discharge to the shallow waters.For the proposed project, field studies on eight beaches of the Great Lakes will be undertaken in combination with laboratory investigations, advanced computer modeling and the development of simple decision support tools. The scientific understanding and tools developed are needed by government policy makers and other stakeholders (e.g., municipalities, non-government organizations) to guide water quality programs and policy aimed at improving human health and reducing economic loss at the beaches. This project will bring together university and government researchers, government agencies, non-government organizations and an engineering consulting firm who will work together to establish and apply the knowledge gained to make informed environment and health risk decisions. The research will be conducted by 2 post-doctoral fellows, 4 graduate students and 9 undergraduate students. They will obtain cutting-edge multidisciplinary training in field studies, computer modeling and laboratory work and gain valuable real-world experience through interaction with environmental management and policy organizations.