Directed Lakes
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Purpose

The Directed Lakes category has been created to initiate a standardized lake monitoring approach for plants and habitat. This category also budgets for monitoring activities that have been consistently proposed as part of the Local Needs projects each year.

Objective

The objective of directed lake surveys is to strategically collect holistic lake information needed for assessment and management needs on a two-year planning cycle. The focus of this work is to collect biological, physical, and chemical data on lakes with a statewide perspective, but also to address localized lake management issues including: aquatic plant management, shoreland zoning, high capacity wells, lake restoration projects, dam regulations, and blue green algae blooms.

Outcome

Condition assessment of water chemistry, plant communities, and shoreland habitat on lakes that have never been sampled or do not have recent information.

Study Design

At a minimum, monitoring surveys will include: water chemistry samples for the Trophic Status Index (Secchi depth, water temperature/dissolved oxygen profiles, and an epilimnetic sample of total phosphorus and chlorophyll a taken at least once during the summer index period), an aquatic plant point-intercept survey, and a shoreland habitat survey. Lake selection will occur jointly between district and central office staff. Lakes are prioritized for monitoring if they are on the fisheries management monitoring rotation and if they lack other means of data collection (e.g., lake grants). Lakes shall be stratified by geographic location, lake type, and lake size. Some lakes shall be chosen for protection activities and some for impairment or restoration activities.

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Targeted Monitoring
113522226
2015
Active