Great Black Swamp - Sandusky, Ohio

One of the major social and environmental forces that have shaped the water of my hometown, Sandusky, Ohio, was the draining of the Great Black Swamp. This massive wetland was created 20,000 years ago by the Wisconsin glacier. It stretched the northwest corner of Ohio and into northeastern Indiana. The swamp was thick with trees and had chest-high murky water. Settlers traveling through this area saw the swamp as unproductive land that made traveling difficult and produced mosquitoes which spread malaria. Settlers were moved to drain all 1,500 square miles of wetland staring in the mid-1800's. Once drained, the land was developed and used for the purpose of agriculture due to the swamp's fertile wetland soils.

Historic Map of the Great Black Swamp. Created by Gary L. Franks.

Today, algal blooms in Lake Erie's western basin are a major ecological issue that have stemmed from the draining of the Great Black Swamp. These blooms are fed by agricultural fertilizers containing phosphorous. Heavy spring rains create runoff form farm fields that wash fertilizers into tributaries which flow into the Maumee River. The Maumee River then discharges the fertilizers into Lake Erie's western basin. Lake Erie's western basin has the perfect conditions for algal blooms to grow out of control with its shallow, warm, and stagnant waters. Climate change is predicted to enhance the growth of algal blooms with more rain in northwestern Ohio and higher temperatures warming the lake. When blooms grow out of control, they not only look unsightly with their pea soup color, they can pose health concerns for recreational users, lakeshore homeowners, and residents who get their drinking water from Lake Erie. A cyanotoxin called microcystin is known to cause skin rashes, respiratory issues and even death in humans if ingested. Blooms also can create "dead zones" or hypoxic areas in the lake which have been known to cause massive fish kills and disrupt fishing grounds.

Wetlands are important ecosystems that act like kidneys to filter out any pollutants or toxins within the water. They also slow the flow of water and sediments. If the swamp had not been drained, then Sandusky and other coastal communities on Lake Erie's western basin would not be experiencing the severity and frequency of blooms as we currently are now. 

The tourism industry in Sandusky has attracted people from all sorts of places. Sandusky is home to Cedar Point amusement park, multiple ferries that boat to several of Lake Erie's islands, and what was once the "largest freshwater fish market in the world" according to city officials, (Ohio History Central). These attractions have brought in weekend boaters and new developers for the construction of waterfront businesses and residential homes. Shoreline erosion from boat wake and land development have impacted terrestrial and aquatic vegetation communities. Another major industry that has shaped the ecology of Sandusky is the Great Lakes shipping industry and the St. Lawrence Seaway. This has brought in a number of invasive species such as the zebra mussel that also influences algal blooms and the round goby which impacts native fish populations.

Sources

https://blogs.bgsu.edu/blackswampjournal/2011/04/14/history-of-the-great-black-swamp/

https://ohiohistorycentral.org/w/Sandusky,_Ohio

https://lakeeriealgae.com/algae-vs-harmful-algae/