Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Salinization of Mirror Lake by Road Salt

  • Published:
Water, Air, and Soil Pollution Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

The salinization of Mirror Lake in the White Mountains of New Hampshire has been ongoing steadily since Interstate 93 (I-93) was built through the NE subcatchment of the lake in the fall and winter of 1969–1970. Salt added to I-93 during winter as a deicer has been transported to the lake by different quantified, hydrologic pathways, but primarily from the Northeast Tributary, which was intersected by I-93. Now, surprisingly, after the New Hampshire Department of Transportation has spent more than $500,000 on recent structural modifications to divert salt from I-93 away from the Northeast subcatchment of Mirror Lake, applications of salt to a small, town road traversing the other two subcatchments for the lake and servicing a new housing development, have become the major source of salt to the lake. Streamflow from these two subcatchments currently provides more than three times as much salt to the lake as from I-93, and the salt concentration in the lake continues to rise.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4
Fig. 5

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Bormann, F. H., & Likens, G. E. (1985). Air and watershed management and the aquatic ecosystem. In G. E. Likens (Ed.), An ecosystem approach to aquatic ecology: Mirror Lake and its environment, (pp. 436–444). New York: Springer.

    Google Scholar 

  • Buso, D. C., Likens, G. E., & Eaton, J. S. (2000). Chemistry of precipitation, streamwater and lakewater from the Hubbard Brook Ecosystem Study: A record of sampling protocols and analytical procedures. General Tech. Report NE-275. Newtown Square, PA: USDA Forest Service, Northeastern Research Station. 52 pp.

  • Buso, D. C., Likens, G. E., Bade, D., & LaBaugh, J. (2009). Nutrient dynamics of Mirror Lake, 1981-2000. In T. C. Winter and G. E. Likens (Eds.). [Chapter 3] Mirror Lake: Interactions Among Air, Land and Water. University of California Press (In Press).

  • Dixit, S. S., & Smol, J. (1994). Diatoms as indicators in the Environmental Monitoring and Assessment Program-Surface Waters (EMAP-SW). Environmental Monitoring and Assessment, 31, 275–306.

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Jones, P. H., Jeffrey, B. A., Watler, P. K., & Huchon, H. (1992). Environmental impact of road salting. In F. M. D’Itri (Ed.), Chemical deicers and the environment, (pp. 1–116). Ann Arbor, MI: Lewis.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kaushal, S. S., Groffman, P. M., Likens, G. E., Belt, K. T., Stack, W. P., Kelly, V. R., et al. (2005). Increased salinization of fresh water in the northeastern United States. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 102(38), 13517–13520. doi:10.1073/pnas.0506414102.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Likens, G. E. (Ed.). (1985). An Ecosystem Approach to Aquatic Ecology: Mirror Lake and Its Environment. Springer, New York Inc. 516 pp.

  • Likens, G. E. (1992). The ecosystem approach: its use and abuse. Excellence in ecology, Vol. 3, (p. 167). Oldendorf/Luhe, Germany: Ecology Institute.

    Google Scholar 

  • Likens, G. E., & Bormann, F. H. (1995). Biogeochemistry of a forested ecosystem (2nd ed.), (p. 159). New York: Springer.

    Google Scholar 

  • Likens, G. E., & Buso, D. C. (2006). Variation in streamwater chemistry throughout the Hubbard Brook Valley. Biogeochemistry, 78, 1–30. doi:10.1007/s10533-005-2024-2.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Likens, G. E., & LaBaugh, J. W. (2009). Mirror Lake: past, present and future. In T. C. Winter and G. E. Likens (Eds.). [Chapter 6] Mirror Lake: Interactions Among Air, Land and Water. University of California Press (In Press).

  • Lovett, G. M., Likens, G. E., Buso, D. C., Driscoll, C. T., & Bailey, S. W. (2005). The biogeochemistry of chlorine at Hubbard Brook, New Hampshire, USA. Biogeochemistry, 72, 191–232. doi:10.1007/s10533-004-0357-x.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Ramakrishna, D. M., & Viraraghavan, T. (2005). Environmental impact of chemical deicers—a review. Water, Air, and Soil Pollution, 166, 49–63. doi:10.1007/s11270-005-8265-9.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Rosenberry, D. O., & Winter, T. C. (2009). Hydrologic processes and the water budget of Mirror Lake for the 20-year period 1981-2000. In T. C. Winter & G. E. Likens (Eds.). [Chapter 2] Mirror Lake: Interactions Among Air, Land and Water. University of California Press (In Press).

  • Rosenberry, D. O., Bukaveckas, P. A., Buso, D. C., Likens, G. E., Shapiro, A. M., & Winter, T. C. (1999). Movement of road salt to a small New Hampshire lake. Water, Air, and Soil Pollution, 109, 179–206. doi:10.1023/A:1005041632056.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Salt Institute (2008). Statistical Report of US Salt Sales. Public Statements & News Releases. www.saltinstitute.org/publications.

  • Transportation Research Board (1991). Highway deicing: comparing salt and calcium magnesium acetate. Special report 235, (p. 158). Washington, DC: National Research Council of the National Academies.

    Google Scholar 

  • Transportation Research Board (2008). Potential impacts of climate change on U.S. transportation. Special report 290, (p. 298). Washington, DC: National Research Council of the National Academies.

    Google Scholar 

  • Vitaliano, D. F. (1992). An economic assessment of the social costs of highway salting and the efficiency of substituting a new deicing material. Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, 11(3), 397–418. doi:10.2307/3325069.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Winter, T. C., & Likens, G. E. (Eds.). (2009). Mirror Lake: Interactions Among Air, Land and Water. University of California Press (In Press).

  • Zehetner, F., Rosenfellner, U., Mentler, A., & Gerzabek, M. H. (2009). Distribution of road salt residues, heavy metals and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons across a highway-forest interface. Water, Air, and Soil Pollution, 198, 125–132. doi:10.1007/s11270-008-9831-8.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

Funding was provided by the National Science Foundation through the Long-Term Research in Environmental Biology (LTREB) and the Long-Term Ecological Research (LTER) programs. We thank C. J. Perron for salt application data and P. Likens, B. Minicucci, and T. Wooster for assistance with manuscript preparation, field collections, and data processing. The Hubbard Brook Experimental Forest is operated and maintained by the USDA Forest Service Northern Research Station, Newtown Square, PA. This is a contribution to the program of the Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies and the Hubbard Brook Ecosystem Study. We acknowledge an anonymous reviewer for thoughtful comments. This publication does not reflect the view of any sponsoring agency.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies, Box AB, Millbrook, NY, 12545, USA

    Gene E. Likens & Donald C. Buso

Authors
  1. Gene E. Likens
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Donald C. Buso
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Gene E. Likens.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Likens, G.E., Buso, D.C. Salinization of Mirror Lake by Road Salt. Water Air Soil Pollut 205, 205–214 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11270-009-0066-0

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11270-009-0066-0

Keywords

Search

Navigation