Thirty-year trends in suspended sediment in seven Lake Erie tributaries.

Sediment is an important pollutant for Lake Erie and its tributaries as a carrier of other substances and as a pollutant in its own right. Environmental managers have called for major reductions in sediment loadings in Lake Erie tributaries. In this study, 30-yr (1975-2005) datasets with daily resolution are analyzed to identify and interpret trends in sediment concentrations and loads in major US tributaries to Lake Erie.