Tusen: A thousand lakes in the Norwegian landscape
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Tusen: A thousand lakes in the Norwegian landscape This article belongs to Ambio’s 50th Anniversary Collection. Theme: Acidification David F. Brakke
As fall arrived in 1986 and lake water columns were circulating, an incredible team of scientists at the Norwegian Institute for Water Research (NIVA) embarked on a very ambitious project. They surveyed the chemistry of a thousand lakes across Norway, from the north to the south, across a landscape of great distance and with significant topographic relief. It was a major logistical undertaking to sample lake water outlets and have the samples arrive within days for analysis at NIVA. The Thousand Lake Survey (Tusen) painted a picture of lake water quality in Norway. It also told the story of acidification impacts on water chemistry and fish populations in Norway. A picture painted by many colored points and a story, while amazing and impressive, were all built on a history of concerted effort and research on lake water acidification conducted by NIVA over many years, including previous regional surveys in 1974–1975. The team of scientists conducting the survey were led and directed by Dr. Arne Henriksen, a pioneer in research on the impacts of acid rain on aquatic ecosystems. They managed to sample the thousand lakes and process all of the water samples with extreme care and with the highest quality control. The Thousand Lake Survey was one of the crowning achievements of NIVA, along with many others, to underscore the impacts of transboundary air pollution impacts on dilute and sensitive lake systems in Norway. Many of the readers of Ambio will know the numerous accomplishments documented in the many reports and publications emanating from NIVA by Arne Henriksen, Dick Wright, Bjørn Olav Rosseland, and others. Back to the Thousand Lake Survey and its meaning. At the time, other surveys of lakes were being conducted, including the Eastern and Western Lake Surveys in the United States, in which I was also involved, and a notable survey of lakes in Finland. The surveys in the U.S.
were designed to answer a simple question from the Administrator of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency at the time, Bill Ruckeleshaus, on ‘‘how many acidic lakes are there in the Adirondacks?’’ No one could give him an answer. The surveys in the U.S. were based on a statistical design to be representative of the lake water chemistry of areas determined to be sensitive to acidification in the US. The surveys were conducted in consecutive years and produced many important results. After the two U.S. surveys were done by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the reports were completed, I had a sabbatical leave opportunity from my university. With a fellowship from the Royal Norwegian Academy of Sciences I was able to spend a very special year at NIVA. I had been in Norway for a sampling of humic lakes in two different areas of Norway in September and returned in December as the results from the Thousand Lake Survey were coming in. A fellow traveler for the year was S
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