Nutrients in Great Lakes Priority Tributaries Data

Water quality monitoring data collected in priority tributaries to provide nutrient concentration data to estimate nutrient loads to the waters of the Great Lakes. Data is collected to advance the science to understand and address the complex problem of recurrent toxic and nuisance algae in the Great Lakes. The majority of the data is focused on Lake Erie, the smallest, shallowest of the Great Lakes, and most susceptible to nearshore water quality issues. Water quality monitoring is conducted to establish current nutrient loadings from selected Canadian tributaries; to enhance the knowledge of the factors that affect tributary and nearshore water quality, ecosystem health, and algae growth; to establish binational lake ecosystem objectives, phosphorus objectives, and phosphorous load reduction targets, and to support the development of a binational nearshore assessment and management framework.