Minnesota Pollution Control Agency

Contacts: Johanna Schussler, 651-282-6411 Jennifer Klang, 651-282-2618 Toll-free: 1-800-657-3864 Note to editors: The attached list of lakes is alphabetized by county, to make it easier to identify and publish the names of lakes in your area. St. Paul, Minn. -- Do you live on a lake? Own a boat or visit lakes in the summer? If so, the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency's (MPCA) Citizen Lake-Monitoring Program (CLMP) is looking for you. Volunteers are needed to monitor water quality on the following area lakes [editors see note above] weekly during the summer months. Monitoring data gathered by volunteers provides valuable information about the current health of Minnesota's waters. The MPCA would like to have volunteers on these lakes as they have all been monitored in the past, but don't currently have a CLMP volunteer. By getting current data, the MPCA can determine if water quality in these lakes is changing over time. Monitoring is a simple and relatively quick process. Volunteers visit a designated spot on one or more lakes weekly, where they drop anchor, make notes of the water's physical condition and recreational suitability, and measure the clarity of the water with a Secchi disk. A Secchi disk is an 8" white metal disk that is lowered into the water until it can no longer be seen. The depth, measured by markings on the cord, is a useful indicator of the lake's relative water quality. By helping the agency track long-term trends in Secchi transparency, volunteers help protect our precious lakes and contribute greatly to the MPCA's understanding of overall water quality in Minnesota. For information on becoming a CLMP volunteer, call the MPCA at 651-296-6300 or toll-free at 1-800-657-3864, or check the Web at www.pca.state.mn.us/water/clmp.html.