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Section 319
NONPOINI SOURCE PROGRAM SUCCESS STURY
Adding Lime to Acidic Lake Restores Fishery
Waterbody Improved
Atmospheric deposition of sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxide
particles created low pH conditions in Pennsylvania's Lake
Jean, As a result, the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (PA DEP)
added the lake to the 1996 Clean Water Act (CWA) section 303(d) list of impaired waters for
failing to support its aquatic life designated use. Semiannual liming of the lake has neutral-
ized the lake's acidity. Lake Jean now meets the pH water quality standard and supports
a healthy and diverse fish population, prompting PA DEP to remove the lake's aquatic life
support impairment from the state's impaired waters list in 2010. (The lake is still listed as
impaired because of mercury from atmospheric deposition.)
Problem
Lake Jean lies in northeastern Pennsylvania, on
the border of Luzerne and Sullivan counties, within
Ricketts Glen State Park (Figure 1). The lake covers
approximately 245 acres and is relatively shallow,
with an average depth of 5.9 feet. Kitchen Creek,
also called Ganoga Tributary, flows from Ganoga
Lake and feeds the western end of Lake Jean
(Figure 2).
Coal-burning power plants, automobile exhaust
and other emission sources in the Ohio River Valley
contribute sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxide gases
to the air. As the gases are carried in atmospheric
winds over the eastern United States, they combine
with oxygen and water vapor in the air to form
sulfuric and nitric acids. The acids gradually fall to
the earth as wet or dry deposition. The soils and
rocks in Lake Jean's watershed do not offer much
buffering capacity to neutralize acid inputs.
Over time, atmospheric deposition caused a decline
in Lake Jean's pH levels, which led to a loss of
desirable fish species. Monitoring data for Lake
Jean showed that the average pH in the summer
of 1991 was 5.8—below the state standard, which
requires a minimum pH of 6.0 for aquatic life use
support. As a result, PA DEP placed the lake on
Pennsylvania's 1996 CWA section 303(d) list of
impaired waters for not supporting Its aquatic life
designated use because of low pH. The lake is also
listed as impaired by mercury from atmospheric
deposition.
A Diagnostic Feasibility Study of Lake Jean was
completed in the mid-1990s using CWA section
314 funds provided by EPA as part of the Clean
Figure 2. Ganoga Lake and Lake Jean in
Pennsylvania's Fishing Creek watershed.
Figure 1. A boat launch at Lake Jean
E3"1"
I 1 Lake Jean Watershed
NCROCoimlles
/\/Fishing Creel Stream?
I I Fishinj Creek Watershed

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Lakes Program. In addition, PA DEP completed a
total maximum daily load for Lake Jean in 2004.
Rainfall monitoring data collected by the National
Atmospheric Deposition Program indicated that
the average rainfall in the area in 2002 had a pH of
approximately 4.4.
The lake's acidic condition negatively affected
the fish community. Studies documented low fish
species diversity, and population and fish health
were in poor condition as well. In addition, a nui-
sance aquatic plant plagued Lake Jean before lake
restoration efforts. Bladderwort, an acid-tolerant
floating-stem plant, dominated the lake's surface to
the point that PA DCNR personnel needed to rake it
from the beach daily.
Project Highlights
In 1995 the Pennsylvania Department of
Conservation and Natural Resources (PA DCNR)
began adding lime (using ground agricultural
limestone) to the lake and Ganoga Tributary, and
continues to do so semiannually (spring and fall). An
average total of approximately 19 tons of lime has
been applied to the lake annually, except in 2001
and 2003 when less lime was needed because of
lake drawdown and good water quality.
Results
Applying the recommended amount of lime over
the years has raised the lake's pH and improved
water quality and habitat conditions for aquatic life.
Samples taken during a PA DEP study of the lake in
2007 found that the pH levels at various locations
and depths throughout the lake ranged from 6.5 to
7.4, meeting the state's water quality criteria for pH
(6.0 to 9.0).
Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission (PA F&BC)
studies documented increasing fish populations, a
greater diversity of species, and an overall improve-
ment in fish health soon after lime was applied to
the lake. Monitoring showed that the relative weight
of several fish species (pumpkinseed, bluegill,
largemouth bass, black crappie and yellow perch)
increased between 1997 and 2007. The diversity of
fish collected increased from 7 species in 1997 to
12 species in 2007 (Figure 3). In addition, PA F&BC
lake assessments in 2003 and 2007 found a drastic

Fish Species Collected in Lake Jean
141







12










10












6
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1985
1997
2007
Figure 3. Fish surveys documented an increase in the number of
fish species present in Lake Jean since 1985.
reduction of bladderwort due to the rise in pH. Less
acidic conditions facilitated the growth of acid-intol-
erant plant species, which out-competed bladder-
wort, resulting in a more diverse plant community.
The pH in Lake Jean now meets water quality cri-
teria and supports the aquatic life use. As a result,
PA DEP removed Lake Jean's aquatic life support
impairment from the state's list of impaired waters
in 2010. Lake Jean remains on the impaired waters
list because of elevated levels of mercury in fish
tissue.
Partners and Funding
Since completion of the diagnostic study in the
mid-1990s, state agencies (PA DCNR, PA F&BC, PA
DEP) and the Fishing Creek Sportsmen Association
have collaborated on efforts to create a more viable
fishery. The PA DCNR, with assistance from the
Fishing Creek Sportsmen Association, has been
responsible for providing funding and applying lime
to the lake. The PA DEP and PA F&BC have studied
and sampled the aquatic vegetation and fish popula-
tions. Approximately $12,000 has been spent to add
lime to Lake Jean and its main tributary since 1995.
The most recent addition of lime to the Lake was
April 2009. PA DCNR continues to add lime to the
lake on an as-needed basis.
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U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Office of Water
Washington, DC
EPA 841 -F-11 -001K
February 2011
For additional information contact:
Joe Kelly, Pennsylvania Department of
Environmental Protection
717-783-2404 • josephkel@state.pa.us
Steve Means, Pennsylvania Department of
Environmental Protection
570-327-3683 • smeans@state.pa.us

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