Lake Monitoring

Becoming a Cooperative Lakes Monitoring Program (CLMP) Volunteer

The CLMP provides sampling methods, training workshops, technical support, quality control, and laboratory assistance for volunteers to monitor their lakes.

CLMP volunteers monitor for indicators of lake productivity, or the amount of plant and animal life that can be produced within the lake. The gradual increase of lake productivity over time is a natural process called eutrophication, or lake aging. Impaired water quality can often cause excessive lake productivity, leading to problems such as excessive plant growth, algal blooms, and mucky bottom sediments. A primary objective of most lake management plans is to slow down eutrophication by reducing the input of plant nutrients, such as phosphorus, and sediments to the lakes.

Lake scientists have developed a variety of numerical indexes based on water quality data to express lake productivity on a numerical scale. The widely used Carlson Trophic State Index (TSI) incorporates water clarity, or transparency, as measured by a Secchi disk; the algal plant pigment chlorophyll a; and total phosphorus as indicators of lake productivity. The CLMP was designed to provide data on these parameters. Volunteers may classify their lake according to its level of productivity, or trophic state, using Carlson's TSI. Long-term monitoring of these parameters on a consistent and regular basis provides the data needed to recognize changes or trends in lake productivity.

For additional information about the CLMP, please visit the Michigan Lake and Stream Associations web site.

To enroll your lake in the CLMP program, please visit the online enrollment page.

Training Events:

Training for lake monitoring is provided each year at the Michigan Lake and Stream Associations Annual Conference. The 2013 training will be held on April

26-27 at the DoubleTree by Hilton Riverfront Hotel Conference Center in Bay City, Michigan. Please contact Paul Steen or Jean Roth for more information on these training sessions or visit the MLSA conference website.

This annual training is offered free of charge to all CLMP enrollees; however, participants are responsible for all associated lodging, meals and travel expenses that may be incurred to attend.

The MLSA annual conference events and seminars are separate from the free CLMP training sessions, and require separate registration and associated fees to attend.

Visit the MiCorps training page for more information on upcoming training opportunities.