Upper Klamath Basin nutrient-loading study- estimate of wind-induced resuspension of bed sediment during periods of low lake elevation

BACKGROUND Upper Klamath Lake (fig. 1) was eutrophic when first discovered by non-Indian settlers in the 1800's; however, in recent years, significant nutrient enrichment has caused a hypereutrophic condition. In the late 1980's, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Bureau of Reclamation, University of California-Davis, Klamath Tribes, Pacific Power and Light, Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife, and U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) began to discuss research and reclamation options to improve water quality in the lake. A study was begun by the USGS in 1991 in cooperation with the Bureau of Reclamation primarily to examine external sources of nutrients to the lake, and also to identify resuspension of lake-bed sediment, which could be a significant source of nutrients internal to the lake. The following is a report on the bed-sediment resuspension process in the lake and its potential effect on internal nutrient loading. Increases in algal abundance and changes in algal composition in Up