Data Series 820
Nutrient enrichment of lakes and estuaries across the Nation is widespread. Nutrient enrichment can stimulate excessive plant and algal growth and cause a number of undesirable effects that impair aquatic life and recreational activities and can also result in economic effects. Understanding the amount of nutrients entering lakes and estuaries, the physical characteristics affecting the nutrient processing within these receiving waterbodies, and the natural and manmade sources of nutrients is fundamental to the development of effective nutrient reduction strategies. To improve this understanding, sources and stream transport of nutrients to 255 major lakes and 64 estuaries in the Eastern United States were estimated using Spatially Referenced Regression on Watershed attributes (SPARROW) nutrient models.
First posted January 31, 2014
For additional information, contact:
Part or all of this report is presented in Portable Document Format (PDF). For best results viewing and printing PDF documents, it is recommended that you download the documents to your computer and open them with Adobe Reader. PDF documents opened from your browser may not display or print as intended. Download the latest version of Adobe Reader, free of charge.
Moorman, M.C., Hoos, A.B., Bricker, S.B., Moore, R.B., García, A.M., and Ator, S.W., 2014, Nutrient load summaries for major lakes and estuaries of the Eastern United States, 2002: U.S. Geological Survey Data Series 820, 94 p., http://dx.doi.org/10.3133/ds820.
ISSN 2327-638X (online)
Understanding the Assessment Approach (SPARROW Model)
Nutrient Load Summaries for Major Lakes and Estuaries
Appendix 1. Contributing Watersheds and Nutrient Load Summaries for Major Lakes and Estuaries in the Eastern United States