Get data about the water quality for Ontario's inland lakes. The data is collected through volunteer monitoring efforts – citizen science. The Lake Partner environment map The Lake Partner Program (LPP) measures water quality in inland lakes across Ontario. This dataset provides water quality and water clarity data, as well as data on the concentrations of: * total phosphorus * calcium * chloride * sulphate Spatial information for lake monitoring locations across Ontario are also available. Keywords: Lake, Water, Citizen Science, Community Science, Volunteer, Phosphorus, Calcium, Chloride, Water Clarity

The Ontario Lake Partner Program (LPP) provides total phosphorus, chloride and calcium concentration data (as well as water clarity, when available) for hundreds of Ontario's inland lakes. The data are collected annually through volunteer monitoring efforts, known as community science. Engaging volunteers to take measurements and collect samples expands the geographic area monitored and fosters public interest in Ontario’s water quality and promotes lake stewardship. The Federation of Ontario Cottagers’ Associations (FOCA) has worked in partnership with the Ministry of the Environment, Conservation and Parks to collect this information.

Data includes E. coli data collected since 2000 under the guidance of various volunteer Lake Stewards and analyzed by laboratories accredited in Ontario. E. coli samples are collected by volunteers who are trained to follow a specific collection procedure. Phosphorus, calcium and chloride testing results have been posted by the Lake Partner program since 2000. In 2021 phosphorus samples were collected in research supervised by Carl Mitchell (U of T). The Manitouwabing Lake Community Association began collection of samples for Phosphorus and Calcium in August of 2022. Sample analysis funding is provided by the Township of McKellar.

America’s Great Lakes — Superior, Michigan, Huron, Erie and Ontario — hold 21 percent of the world’s surface fresh water and host habitat for a variety of fish and wildlife species of concern. They provide drinking water for more than 40 million people and economic benefits from fishing and recreation. The Great Lakes Region is also a major agricultural area, with more than 55 million acres of land under production. All of these uses impact the Great Lakes ecosystem. With the CCA designation, USDA will build on existing strong partnerships in the Great Lakes Region to provide approaches and tools for producers to better manage nutrients and sediment on agricultural land. Accelerated conservation on private lands will help improve water quality, leading to better habitat for fish and wildlife and increased economic opportunities, including maintaining agricultural productivity in this vital region. This dataset includes a printer-friendly CCA map and shapefiles for GIS. Resources in this dataset:Resource Title: Great Lakes Region. File Name: Web Page, url: https://www.nrcs.usda.gov/programs-initiatives/rcpp-regional-conservation-partnership-program/critical-conservation-areas Information about the project and links to a printer-friendly CCA map (PDF, 1.2MB) and Shapefiles for GIS (ZIP, 232KB).

Water quality data are collecting using tools in the Water Rangers Freshwater Explorer testkit, including portable probes and test strips, conductivity meter, secchi disc, and dissolved oxygen tests. Long term trends are tracked and logged on the Water Rangers data platform. Additional microbiological and chemical analysis samples are collected and tested at an external laboratory and data sets are managed internally and published on Skootamatta District Ratepayers Association website.

Supplementary data for "Alison Rentschler, Kathleen C. Williams, Community engagement and the importance of partnerships within the Great Lakes Areas of Concern program: A mixed-methods case study, Journal of Great Lakes Research, Volume 48, Issue 6, 2022, Pages 1473-1484, ISSN 0380-1330, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jglr.2022.08.005.". This dataset is not publicly accessible because: The supplementary data is covered by an IRB with the University of Michigan. It can be accessed through the following means: The supplementary data is available for download through the journal article published online. Format: A file with Figures and Tables is available for download as a docx. file through the journal article published online. This dataset is associated with the following publication: Rentschler, A., and K. Williams. Community engagement and the importance of partnerships within the Great Lakes Areas of Concern program: A mixed-methods case study. JOURNAL OF GREAT LAKES RESEARCH. International Association for Great Lakes Research, Ann Arbor, MI, USA, N/A, (2022).

"This data was collected by Tinkers Creek Watershed Partners as a part of the Lake Erie Volunteer Network Sampling program. Lake Erie Volunteer Science Network (LEVSN) is a regional community of practice that empowers community members to collect, share, and engage with water quality data for the conservation and enrichment of Lake Erie.

​Tinker’s Creek Watershed Partners’ water quality monitoring program teaches volunteers how to monitor a stream, show what conditions to look for that are cause for concern, and who to contact with questions and data. The data will be compiled and logged online and shared with partners to monitor the health of the creek and to find sites for future restoration projects. Volunteers are encouraged to adopt a site where they take on the sampling every month for their favorite spot in the watershed. These data help prioritize work and track pollution.

This dataset includes only the 4 core sampling parameters collected as a part of the LEVSN program. Additional calculated parameters, statistics, and reports can be found at https://www.clevelandwateralliance.org/lake-erie-volunteer-science-network and additional information about Tinkers Creek Watershed Partners can be found here: https://tinkerscreek.org/volunteer-tinkers-creek/"

The Nova Scotia Lake Survey program is a partnership initiative between the Department of Environment and Climate Change and the Department of Fisheries and Aquaculture to inventory lakes throughout the province determining baseline water quality, in support of both sport fisheries and water resource management areas. The following weblink connects to a Department of Environment and Climate Change web map that includes the locations of the monitored lakes within the province and an alternative method for downloading the same lake chemistry dataset: http://nse.maps.arcgis.com/apps/webappviewer/index.html?id=7ded7a30bef44f848e8a4fc8672c89bd"

A shapefile of freshwater water bodies hat have been sampled as part of the Nova Scotia Lake Survey. The Nova Scotia Lake Survey program is a partnership initiative between Nova Scotia Environment (NSE) and Nova Scotia Fisheries and Aquaculture (NSDFA) to inventory lakes throughout the province determining baseline water quality, in support of both sport fisheries and water resource management areas. The following weblink connects to a Nova Scotia Environment web map that includes the locations of the monitored lakes within the province and an alternative method for downloading the same lake chemistry dataset: http://nse.maps.arcgis.com/apps/webappviewer/index.html?id=7ded7a30bef44f848e8a4fc8672c89bd

The Nova Scotia Lake Survey program is a partnership initiative between Nova Scotia Environment (NSE) and Nova Scotia Fisheries and Aquaculture (NSDFA) to inventory lakes throughout the province determining baseline water quality, in support of both sport fisheries and water resource management areas.

The Great Slave Water Quality Monitoring Program is one component of the proposed Great Slave Lake Research and Monitoring Program which is in development with water partners to: coordinate long-term collection of baseline water quality across the lake; assess trends in water quality and quantity; carry out vulnerability assessments; better understand natural variability and changes being observed in the watershed; and to create long term capacity building research and monitoring partnerships.

Samples are collected at 29 sites from major tributary systems in 15 subwatersheds across the Lake Simcoe watershed, carried-out in collaboration with Lake Simcoe Region Conservation Authority (LSRCA) and provincial and municipal government partners. LSRCA has two tributary sampling programs, the Lake Simcoe Protection Plan program (LSPP; formerly known as LSEMS), which was initiated in the 1980s, and the Provincial Water Quality Monitoring Network (PWQMN), starting at some sites in the 1960s. Samples are collected year-round and include both non-event flow and targeted runoff event sampling, especially during the spring freshet. Both programs include laboratory analysis of nitrogen and phosphorus species, total suspended solids, and chloride, and the PWQMN program includes a suite of metals as well. Physical parameters including pH, temperature, dissolved oxygen, conductivity, and turbidity are measured instantaneously on-site using a hand-held sonde. Water quality is closely tied to changes in the watershed including land use and natural heritage areas, climate change, and road salting, and impacts the water quality of Lake Simcoe. Data are used to assess the health of the streams through comparison to water quality objectives and with long-term trend analysis, and as part of a Key Performance Indicator (KPI) program. Estimates of total phosphorus (TP) loads to the lake are used to evaluate the progress towards achieving water quality-related objectives of the Lake Simcoe Protection Plan (MECP, 2009) and other various research initiatives.

Data includes E. coli data collected since 2000 under the guidance of various volunteer Lake Stewards and analyzed by laboratories accredited in Ontario. E. coli samples are collected by volunteers who are trained to follow a specific collection procedure. Phosphorus, calcium and chloride testing results have been posted by the Lake Partner program since 2000. In 2021 phosphorus samples were collected in research supervised by Carl Mitchell (U of T). The Manitouwabing Lake Community Association began collection of samples for Phosphorus and Calcium in August of 2022. Sample analysis funding is provided by the Township of McKellar.

Le programme Nova Scotia Lake Survey est une initiative de partenariat entre le ministère de l'Environnement de la Nouvelle-Écosse (NSE) et le ministère des Pêches et de l'Aquaculture de la Nouvelle-Écosse (NSDFA) visant à inventorier les lacs de la province afin de déterminer la qualité de référence de l'eau, à l'appui de la pêche sportive et des zones de gestion des ressources en eau.

Popular lake and beach swimming spots are tested weekly from November through to April as part of Council’s recreational water quality monitoring program. This program is being run in partnership …Show full descriptionPopular lake and beach swimming spots are tested weekly from November through to April as part of Council’s recreational water quality monitoring program. This program is being run in partnership with the Office of Environment and Heritage’s (OEH) Beachwatch program. Council samples one beach and 13 lake sites and Hunter Water sample another five beach sites for Enterococci bacteria. The presence of Enterococci indicates that water may be polluted with stormwater or sewage, and Enterococci levels above 100 organisms/100mL indicate that water may be unsuitable for swimming.

The LakePulse Network performed a lake health assessment at the canadian scale. Launched in 2016 thanks to the funding of the NSERC (Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada) Strategic Partnership Program for Networks, LakePulse is an academic-government partnership that brings together 17 academic researchers from 13 Canadian universities, as well as eight provincial governments and two federal departments. Research interests were grouped under four research themes, with two to four projects within each theme. Approaches used in LakePulse include traditional, state-of-the-art and innovative methods in genomics, emerging contaminants, greenhouse gases, invasive pathogens, paleolimnology, spatial modelling, statistical analyses and remote sensing to answer the following main questions:

• How healthy are Canadian lakes?
• Is lake degradation widespread in Canada or worse in certain regions?
• Is lake health getting better, worse, or stable through time?
• How does land use and climate change affect lake health?

PURPOSE: This study is part of a two-decade series of research aimed to provide a comprehensive synthesis of the effects of harvest and environmental change on fisheries in Great Bear Lake. The main objectives are to assess demographic traits and the current status of harvested species, with a focus on evaluating sustainable harvest levels of lake trout, a cold-adapted species with a relatively narrow thermal niche. As part of this research, trends in water quality and primary productivity are monitored to evaluate potential effects of change on fisheries. DESCRIPTION: Great Bear Lake, one of the largest lakes in North America, contains culturally and recreationally important fish species. Great Bear Lake is located in the sub-Arctic and Arctic Circle. As part of a two-decade series of research aimed to provide a comprehensive synthesis of the effects of harvest and environmental change on fisheries in Great Bear Lake, the main objectives of this study are to assess demographic traits and the current status of harvested species, with a focus on evaluating sustainable harvest levels of lake trout, a cold-adapted species with a relatively narrow thermal niche. As part of this research, trends in water quality and primary productivity are monitored to evaluate potential effects of change on fisheries. From 2021 to 2024, surface water temperature data was collected at depths of 0.1 to 1.0 meters using an RBR Maestro3 through partnered community-led and community/Fisheries and Oceans Canada/university partner collaborative sampling. The project has strong community involvement, including youth through the Guardian Program, to facilitate capacity building and community leadership in the long-term monitoring of Great Bear Lake fisheries and the aquatic ecosystem. This data is an extension of baseline data sets on water quality on the lake. These data will contribute to a better understanding cumulative impacts of climate change on the functioning of large northern lake ecosystems and provide a benchmark for monitoring further change. This data will be important for developing effective strategies for maintaining community-led aquatic monitoring and managing natural resources, particularly fish, which are expected to be increasingly important to communities with declines in other country foods such as caribou. We acknowledge the data were collected in the Sahtú Settlement Area and are made publicly available with the agreement of the Délı̨nę Renewable Resources Council (Délı̨nę Ɂehdzo Got’ı̨nę (Renewable Resources Council)). Collaborators include: the Community of Délı̨nę partners (data collection), Délı̨nę Renewable Resource Council, Sahtú Renewable Resource Board, and University of Manitoba. Community of Délı̨nę partners and field workers that participated in data collection include Chris Yukon, Archie Vital, Ted Mackienzo, Daniel Baton, Lloyd Baton, Simon Neyelle, and Stanley Ferdanan. Funding and logistical support was provided by: Northwest Territories Cumulative Impact Monitoring, Sahtú Renewable Resource Board, the Polar Continental Shelf Program and Fisheries and Oceans Canada.

The Nova Scotia Lake Survey program is a partnership initiative between Nova Scotia Environment (NSE) and Nova Scotia Fisheries and Aquaculture (NSDFA) to inventory lakes throughout the province determining baseline water quality, in support of both sport fisheries and water resource management areas.

The Nova Scotia Lake Survey program is a partnership initiative between the Department of Environment and Climate Change and the Department of Fisheries and Aquaculture to inventory lakes throughout the province determining baseline water quality, in support of both sport fisheries and water resource management areas. The following weblink connects to a Department of Environment and Climate Change web map that includes the locations of the monitored lakes within the province and an alternative method for downloading the same lake chemistry dataset: http://nse.maps.arcgis.com/apps/webappviewer/index.html?id=7ded7a30bef44f848e8a4fc8672c89bd"

The Chicago Park District collects and analyzes water samples from beaches along Chicago’s Lake Michigan lakefront. The Chicago Park District partners with the University of Illinois at Chicago Department of Public Health Laboratory to analyze water samples using a new DNA testing method called Rapid Testing Method (qPCR analysis) which tests for Enterococci in order to monitor swimming safety.

The rapid testing method (qPCR analysis) is a new method that measures levels of pathogenic DNA in beach water. Unlike the culture based test that requires up to 24 hours of processing, the new rapid testing method requires a 4-5 hours for results. The Chicago Park District can use results of the rapid test to notify the public when levels exceed UPEPA recommended levels, which is 1000* CCE. When DNA bacteria levels exceed 1000 CCE, a yellow swim advisory flag is implemented. For more information please refer to the USEPA Recreational Water Quality Criteria (http://water.epa.gov/scitech/swguidance/standards/criteria/health/recreation).

Historically, the Chicago Park District used the culture based analysis method and statistical prediction models to monitor beach water quality. The culture based method tests for Escherichia coli (E. coli) bacteria which is an indicator species for the presence of disease-causing bacteria, viruses, and protozoans that may pose health risks to the public. This method requires 18-24 hours of processing to receive results. The Chicago Park District would use results of the culture based method to notify the public when levels exceed UPEPA recommended levels, which is 235* CFU. When bacteria levels exceed 235 CFU, a yellow swim advisory flag was implemented. This standard is still used at most beaches throughout the Great Lakes region. For more information please refer to the USEPA Recreational Water Quality Criteria.

The statistical prediction model forecasted real-time Escherichia coli (E. coli) bacteria levels present in the water. The Chicago Park District (CPD) in partnership with the US Geological Survey, developed statistical prediction models by using weather data pulled from CPD buoys (https://data.cityofchicago.org/d/qmqz-2xku) and weather stations (https://data.cityofchicago.org/d/k7hf-8y75). The Chicago Park District would use results of the predictive model to notify the public when bacteria levels would exceed 235 CFU. When bacteria levels exceed 235 CFU, a yellow swim advisory flag was implemented.

• The unit of measurement for Escherichia coli is Colony Forming Units (CFU) per 100 milliliters of water. (Culture Based Method / Statistical Prediction Model) *The unit of measuring DNA is Enterococci Calibrator Cell Equivalents (CCE) per 100 milliliters of water. (Rapid Testing Analysis)