Lake Monitoring

Becoming a 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. (Note: Enrollment for the 2009 spring/summer monitoring season has now ended. Please check back later in the year for information on the 2010 sampling season.)

Training Events:

Training for lake monitoring is provided each year at the Michigan Lake and Stream Associations Annual Conference. The 2009 training was held on April 24 and 25, 2009, in Houghton Lake, Michigan. Please contact Paul Steen for more information on these training sessions.

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