The phytoplankton community, physical variables, and nutrient and chlorophyll a (Chl a) concentrations were monitored during the first two of six open-water seasons of hypolimnetic oxygenation in double-basined Amisk Lake, Alberta. Deep mixing of the water column in the treated basin (Zmax = 34 m) in spring was enhanced by hypolimnetic oxygenation. Oxygenation began in June 1988, when stratification was likely already established, but subsequent year-round treatment favoured an extended spring diatom bloom (Asterionella formosa and Cyclotella spp.), followed by a delay in the development of, and reduction in the severity of, cyanobacterial blooms (Aphanizomenon flos-aquae and Anabaena flos-aquae) in 1989. Historically, mean summer Chl a and total phosphorus (TP) concentrations in the euphotic zone (0-6 m) of the treated basin were 15.9 ± 1.6 and 33.5 ± 1.5 µg ·L-1, respectively, indicating a eutrophic lake. In 1988 and 1989, mean summer Chl a (10.0 ± 0.6 and 8.1 ± 0.7 µg ·L-1, respectively) and TP concentrations (29.0 ± 0.5 and 22.5 ± 0.9 µg ·L-1, respectively) in this stratum were lower than historic values (P < 0.05), indicating that the trophic status of Amisk Lake had shifted towards mesotrophy.
Hypolimnetic oxygenation 1: win–win solution for massive salmonid mortalities in a reservoir tailwater hatchery on the Mokelumne River, California