Water Quality Monitoring Program
Lake Pend Oreille and the Pend Oreille River
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One of LPOW's core programs, The Lake Pend Oreille Water Quality Monitoring Program (WQMP) is a consistent long-term monitoring effort to measure water quality across Lake Pend Oreille and the Pend Oreille River.
This effort is driven by the power of citizen science! Since 2012, this citizen science initiative has tracked changes to water quality conditions at designated sites across our lake and river, gathering critical water quality information from June through October each year. By continually monitoring year after year, the WQMP is building a solid understanding of local waterways; documenting current water quality conditions and creating a reference point for any future changes that may occur. |
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The program's goals are to inform the public and provide high-quality scientific data that regulatory agencies can use when making water quality-based decisions for our local waterways.
The Water Quality Monitoring Program Story
To date, LPOW and our crew of dedicated Citizen Scientists have collected over 900 water quality measurements from the program’s 15 monitoring stations on Lake Pend Oreille and the Pend Oreille River.
Each station is evaluated for 11 different biological, chemical, and physical tests once per month from June through October. Data was collected for the following measurements: water temperature, dissolved oxygen, pH, transparency, total nitrogen, nitrate+nitrite, total phosphorus, orthophosphorus, total organic carbon, and total coliform bacteria and E. coli.
Taking these measurements on a regular basis helps us understand local waterways and the overall “health” of our lake and river systems. Click here to view the data collected through this project as series of interactive graphs or use the interactive map below to view specific station data:
To date, LPOW and our crew of dedicated Citizen Scientists have collected over 900 water quality measurements from the program’s 15 monitoring stations on Lake Pend Oreille and the Pend Oreille River.
Each station is evaluated for 11 different biological, chemical, and physical tests once per month from June through October. Data was collected for the following measurements: water temperature, dissolved oxygen, pH, transparency, total nitrogen, nitrate+nitrite, total phosphorus, orthophosphorus, total organic carbon, and total coliform bacteria and E. coli.
Taking these measurements on a regular basis helps us understand local waterways and the overall “health” of our lake and river systems. Click here to view the data collected through this project as series of interactive graphs or use the interactive map below to view specific station data:
Why do we track so many different water quality measurements?
Each of the 11 measurements taken through our Water Quality Monitoring Program (WQMP) tells us something unique and important about the health of our lake and river ecosystems. These 11 tests can also be studied collectively to provide a better understanding of the factors that may affect regional water quality both seasonally and annually.
Understanding water quality and the factors affecting it helps us define what "normal" is for a particular area of our lake or river. Once we know what is normal, we can identify any potential threats to water quality and help ensure that our waters remain drinkable, fishable, and swimmable for years to come!
Each of the 11 measurements taken through our Water Quality Monitoring Program (WQMP) tells us something unique and important about the health of our lake and river ecosystems. These 11 tests can also be studied collectively to provide a better understanding of the factors that may affect regional water quality both seasonally and annually.
Understanding water quality and the factors affecting it helps us define what "normal" is for a particular area of our lake or river. Once we know what is normal, we can identify any potential threats to water quality and help ensure that our waters remain drinkable, fishable, and swimmable for years to come!
How has our water quality monitoring data been used?
Want to learn why we measure E. coli levels and other water quality tests? Want to learn what all these measurements tell us? View the data now!
Want to learn why we measure E. coli levels and other water quality tests? Want to learn what all these measurements tell us? View the data now!
Support this program! |
The Water Quality Monitoring Program is one of LPOW's core programs, and also one of our most costly. Laboratory analysis of water samples can be very expensive, totalling about $1,000 per station per field season. That's why we need lots of community support to keep the Water Quality Monitoring Program running strong! Your generous donations cover the costs of collecting water samples and analyzing these samples each month.
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Become a volunteer! |
Another great way to support the Water Quality Monitoring Program is to become a trained citizen scientist. Collecting water samples is a great way to enjoy time on the water and get involved in active stewardship of our local waterways!
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