You're walking along your favorite lakeshore. Today it looks a bit murky, but a few months ago it was looking quite clear. The wind is blowing a certain direction today, and you think perhaps sediment is getting kicked up from the bottom. But then you remember a time it smelled unpleasant and looked like pea soup.

Do you ever wonder what's really happening beneath the surface? Lakes have many faces from day to day, but these often don't reveal the deeper trend for weather the lake is healthy or not. 

This is why each year VLAWMO staff monitors local lakes and Lambert Creek every other week from May to September. With over 10 years of water data for many of VLAWMO's lakes, we're able to glimpse the long-term and many times slow-moving trends, and start to reveal a story.

Check out the a snapshot of this story with our 2021 water monitoring summary linked below, or take a deeper dive with the full 2021 monitoring report. In either case, the investment will provide you more context and a new set of "lake glasses" next time you're walking along the lakeshore. 

2021 Water Monitoring Summary

2021 Water Monitoring Report

The "Big 4"

Secchi disk, total phosphorus, chlorophyll-A, and chloride

Lake Graphs:

A glimpse of the long-term trends