The Cook County Soil and Water Conservation District is once again looking for volunteers to monitor lakes around Cook County for the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency’s Citizen Lakes Monitoring Program. Thirteen lakes are targeted for monitoring this year: Agnes, Devil Track, Flour, Greenwood, Gunflint, Ward, Pike, East Bearskin, Elbow, Gust, Leo, McFarland and Tom.
These lakes were chosen because of their priority status in the Cook County Water Plan, their lack of water quality data and/or their potential for development. Soil and Water will provide training and pay for the cost of analyzing water samples and shipment to the lab.
Lake associations such as Caribou and Poplar have benefited from this program in the past by receiving feedback about current water quality trends and the need for land use best management practices. Water quality monitoring allows lake users to see if their practices result in the desired outcome or if more work is needed. Declines in water quality can be linked to poorly designed development and failing septic systems, among other things.
Volunteers are asked to take a water sample five to six times a summer for one to two summers. Volunteers can be any adult with access to a watercraft willing to get out on the lake about twice a month. The volunteers of Cook County work hard to protect the resources that bring and keep us here Lake monitor volunteers have kept an eye on valuable assets since the 1960s and 1970s.
For more information contact Cindy Gentz, Water Plan coordinator, at 387-3648.
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