Water Quality of Streams Tributary 

 to Lakes Superior and Michigan 



By 



JEROME W. ZIMMERMAN, Chemist 



Bureau of Commercial Fisheries Biological Station 

 Marquette, Michigan 49855 



ABSTRACT 



Water quality of streams tributary to Lakes Superior and Michigan was analyzed 

 for 142 stations on 99 streams tributary to Lake Superior and 83 stations on 56 

 streams tributary to Lake Michigan during 1962-65. 



Concentrations of aluminum, copper, and iron were not affected greatly by flow 

 or season. Magnesium, calcium, chlorides, total alkalinity, total hardness, and con- 

 ductivity varied with the flow, temperature, and season; the lowest values were dur- 

 ing the spring runoff and heavy rains, and the highest were during low water in late 

 summer and the colder periods of winter. Concentrations of nitrate, silica, and sul- 

 fates were lowest in the spring and summer. Concentrations of tanninlike and lignin- 

 like compounds were highest during the spring runoff and other high-water periods, 

 and were lowest during freezeup when surface runoff was minimal. The pH values 

 were highest from June to September and lowest during the spring runoff. Phenol- 

 phthalein alkalinity was detected primarily inthe summer and coincided occasionally 

 with low flows just before the spring thaw. Total hardness usually was lower in 

 streanns tributary to Lake Superior than in streams tributary to Lake Michigan. 

 The total hardness was higher in the streams in Wisconsin than in the streams in 

 Michigan along the west shore of Lake Michigan. It was lowest in the northernmost 

 streams. 



The water quality of the streams in an area was related to the geological char- 

 acteristics of the land. 



INTRODUCTION 



A study of the water quality of streams 

 tributary to Lakes Superior and Michigan was 

 made in conjunction with control of the sea 

 lamprey, Petromyzon marinus, in the Great 

 Lakes. The primary purpose was to observe 

 the natural levels and seasonal fluctuations 

 in concentrations of aluminum, copper, iron, 

 magnesium, calcium, chloride, nitrate, nitrite, 

 silica, sulfate, tanninlike and ligninlike com- 

 pounds, phenolphthalein alkalinity, total alka- 

 linity, and total hardness, and in values of pH 

 and conductivity. A secondary purpose was to 

 determine the variation in water quality of 

 streams from different geological regions in 

 the drainages of Lakes Superior and Michigan. 



The Bureau of Commercial Fisheries and 

 the Fisheries Research Board of Canada have 

 used the selective larvicide, TFM (3-tri- 

 fluoromethyl-4-nitrophenol), in the control of 

 the sea lamprey (Applegate, Howell, Moffett, 

 Johnson, and Smith, 1961). The toxicity of TFM 

 is influenced by physical and chemical prop- 

 erties of water. The amount of TFM required 



to kill larval lampreys increases as alka- 

 linity, conductivity, and pH increase. The 

 degree of selectivity of TFM between am- 

 mocetes and other fishes and the amount of 

 toxicant required vary with seasons, and from 

 stream to streann and location within the stream 

 (Howell and Marquette, 1962). A method for 

 the estimation of the biological activity of 

 TFM by its relation to properties of water has 

 been determined (Kanayama, 1963). 



In late 1962 three streams tributary to Lake 

 Superior and three tributary to Lake Michigan 

 were selected for collection of surface water 

 at 2- to 4-week intervals for information on 

 seasonal variation. The Chocolay, Big Garlic, 

 and Little Garlic Rivers were chosen for Lake 

 Superior and the Ford, Pensaukee, and Ahna- 

 pee Rivers for Lake Michigan. In addition, 

 water was collected for analyses of the chemi- 

 cal characteristics before treatment with TFM 

 of streams tributary to the two lakes. Other 

 streams were sampled when time permitted. 



This report includes information from 

 samples taken at various times from August 

 1962 through December 1965 for 142 stations 



