Phosphorus balance of Lake Tiefwarensee during and after restoration by hypolimnetic treatment with aluminum and calcium salts

Abstract

Between 2001 and 2005, the recovery of Lake Tiefwarensee from eutrophic to mesotrophic state was successfully accelerated by the stepwise hypolimnetic addition of 137 g aluminum and 154 g calcium per square meter of profundal sediment. In response to the treatment, an 8-cm sediment cover was formed, which almost completely suppressed the phosphorus (P) release from the sediments, and is still present. The spatial variability of the sediments was analyzed at eight sampling points at different lake depths. With increasing lake depth, soluble reactive phosphorus decreased in the pore water, whereas the total phosphorus (TP) increased in treated sediment. Total P in the upper sediment layer (0-10 cm) increased by about 3 tons during the treatment period, consistent with the simultaneous decrease in the water from 0.223 mg/L in 1998 to 0.013 mg/L in 2005 (annual mean values for the whole water body). After initial settling, the drastic TP decrease in the water column can be attributed to an increase in the sediment P-binding capacity, which is related to a decrease of the mobile P pool (NH4Cl-TP) and a strong increase in the Al:P ratio in sediment. In the 3 years after completion of the treatment, the lake TP concentration was well described by the Vollenweider model, indicating that a sustainable state of nutrient equilibrium was achieved. © 2009 Copyright by the North American Lake Management Society.