Winter Lake Drawdown Project

In a winter drawdown (WD), the lake level is artificially lowered (via controls in a dam) during the winter to expose shoreline vegetation to freezing conditions, thereby killing them and preserving recreational value of the lake. However, this practice can impact water quality (including prevalence of harmful algal blooms) and native aquatic plants and animals in lakes. This research will specifically investigate WD standard practices and understand how, when, and why WDs can be better managed in differing climates. Further, we will map WD lakes across the entire northeast and midwest regions for the first time, providing policy makers with a first-ever estimate of the total number of WD lakes, the total amount of water released by these lakes (via new hydrology models we will build), and the prevalence of harmful algal blooms. This research will give state and local governments and lake managers a much-needed scientific basis for managing lakes, to ideally to optimize water quality and macrophytes for both human use and ecosystem integrity under future climates.