Water Resources Research Act Program

Details for Project ID MI_2025_Giri1

Impact of Extreme Weather Events on Hydrology and Nutrient Transport in the Stony Creek Watershed

Institute: Michigan
Year Established: 2025 Start Date: 2026-01-01 End Date: 2026-12-31
Total Federal Funds: $10,000 Total Non-Federal Funds: $10,000

Principal Investigators: Subhasis Giri

Project Summary: Harmful algal blooms (HABs) are growing environmental concern in the freshwater systems in the Great Lakes region including Michigan. One of the primary contributors to HABs is nutrient loadings such as phosphorus and nitrogen from agriculture. Increase in extreme precipitation events has worsened the HABs situation in the Great Lakes region including Lake Erie. To reduce HABs in Lake Erie, MDARD and EGLE have set the target of 40% phosphorus reduction goal from Michigan portion of Western Lake Erie basin (WLEB) under the 2015 WLEB Collaborative Agreement. The proposed study area (Stony Creek Watershed) is one of the priority subwatersheds within the Michigan portion of WLEB. This study aims to unravel the transport of SRP and TP in the Stony Creek Watershed under extreme weather events and the outcomes will help development of conservation program by MDARD and other agencies to minimize the impacts of extreme weather events and improve water quality.