Algal Communities as a Biological Indicator of Stormwater Management Pond Performance and Function

An investigation into phytoplankton and periphyton algal communities of two recently constructed Stormwater management ponds suggests that Stormwater impacts on biological communities are reduced during passage through the ponds, providing a degree of protection for biological communities in their receiving waters. In both ponds, disturbance effects from the incoming Stormwater on algal community richness and evenness appear to be greatest in the sediment forebay and are reduced in the main pond. However, the nature of the disturbance in the two systems can be seen to be fundamentally different from a biological perspective, with Rouge Pond functioning primarily to reduce toxins harmful to algal communities (e.g., heavy metals), and Harding Pond acting to reduce nutrients. The taxonomic composition of the two sites provides an indication of the quality of the incoming Stormwater. Rouge Pond, which contains many marine and brackish water species, receives Stormwater runoff from a major highway, while Harding Pond, containing more nutrient rich species, receives Stormwater primarily from residential properties. Despite the nutrient-rich conditions present in both ponds, nuisance blue-green algae (cyanobacte-ria) are conspicuously absent, and the ponds appear to have little potential for developing harmful algal blooms. The lack of blue-green algae can be linked to the hydraulic functioning of the ponds, suggesting that Stormwater facilities may be engineered to inhibit undesirable algal communities.