Green Bay has suffered continuous influxes of pollutants and contaminants from the Fox River due to non-point source runoff in the watershed. Deterioration of the bay’s water quality extends well into the last century, and while cleanup efforts in the bay have been successful overall, continuous monitoring of the bay is important to ecosystem management. Researchers at the University of Wisconsin (UW) have been studying the bay for decades and have been actively monitoring it remotely since 2012. More recently, a team of three researchers, Jessie Grow (UW-Milwaukee), Michael Zorn (UW-Green Bay), and J. Val Klump (UW-Milwaukee), deployed NexSens data buoys in the bay to monitor water quality. Challenge: Green Bay as a Model Mesocosm of Stressors Green Bay is a model mesocosm of nearly all of the stressors that have disrupted the Great Lakes for more than a century, like excessive algal growth, harmful algal blooms (HABs), decreased water clarity, decreased submerged aquatic vegetation, and hypoxia.

In regions impacted by water insecurity, water quality monitoring can be foundational in improving water treatment and informing environmental regulations that protect source water. Helen Baulch, an associate professor at the School of Environment and Sustainability at the University of Saskatchewan, relies on real-time water quality monitoring systems in her work, focusing on making the region more water secure. Challenge: Worsening Water Quality and Water Insecurity While natural physical properties worsen some of the poor water quality conditions in the region, others are connected to land use. Most of Baulch's work has focused on Buffalo Pound Lake, a source water resource that supplies drinking water to two cities. High nutrient loads and organic carbon in Buffalo Pound Lake have deteriorated its water quality over time. Additionally, the lake is very shallow, so it stratifies periodically, which can influence its chemical and physical properties. The main concern for Baulch is cyanobacterial behavior in the lake, as well as the impacts of dissolved organic carbon on disinfectant byproducts.

Lake associations and individual researchers teaming up means more comprehensive and impactful monitoring programs. Lake Lillinonah in Connecticut has the benefit of being the subject of many researchers' work as well as being under the protection of Friends of the Lake (FOTL). Jen Klug, Professor of Biology in the College of Arts and Sciences at Fairfield University, is one of these researchers and works with FOTL to better understand what conditions threaten Lake Lillinonah—a mission shared by FOTL. Challenge: Nutrient Loading and High Production in Lake Lillinonah Lake Lillinonah is in particular need of protection due to excess nutrient loads leading to hypoxia and algal blooms. The goal behind monitoring the lake is to help provide the FOTL with water quality data to help support their advocacy.