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| More than 1,200 natural lakes and reservoirs grace outdoor
Indiana. Regular monitoring of all these lakes is beyond the means of
our state agencies. The Volunteer Lake Monitoring Program was
created to enlist the aid of citizens in protecting these crown jewels. Citizen volunteers work as partners with
IDEM and SPEA to implement this important program.
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| Graphic courtesy of
Minnesota
Pollution Control Agency |
About the program
The volunteer lake monitoring program was started in 1989.
The goals of the program are to:
 | Identify long-term water quality trends in lakes |
| Involve citizens in the active stewardship of their lakes |
| Provide opportunities for citizens to learn more about lakes |
What the volunteers do
Volunteers collect water transparency data using an
8-inch, circular, black & white disk attached to a fiberglass measuring tape.
This tool is called a Secchi disk. About once every two weeks during the summer,
volunteers boat to a designated spot on their lakes to collect transparency
readings. The volunteer lowers the disk into the water until it is no longer
visible and notes that depth from the markings on the tape. The disk is then
lowered a little further and then raised back up until it is just visible. This
second depth reading is averaged with the first, and the final number is
recorded on a data sheet. Volunteers can send in their data on pre-posted
data cards, via e-mail, and new for 2000 - direct entry onto our web page.
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Arnie and Velda Dose take Secchi disk readings on Big
Otter Lake in Steuben Co., Indiana as part of the Indiana Volunteer Lake
Monitoring Program |
What does the Secchi disk measure?
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The Secchi disk is a measure of the amount of suspended
material in the water. This suspended material may be living algae,
eroded soil from the watershed, re-suspended lake sediments, or other
materials. The more suspended material in the water, the more turbid
the lake and the less transparency. Poor Secchi disk transparency
has been linked to lake eutrophication. |
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