{"id":30760,"date":"2018-12-03T10:15:10","date_gmt":"2018-12-03T14:15:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.fondriest.com\/news\/?p=30760"},"modified":"2018-12-03T10:15:10","modified_gmt":"2018-12-03T14:15:10","slug":"the-national-lakes-assessment-in-focus","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.fondriest.com\/news\/the-national-lakes-assessment-in-focus.htm","title":{"rendered":"The National Lakes Assessment In Focus"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Recently, EM reported on research from a team led by Dr. Dina Leech that shows America&#8217;s lakes are getting murkier. That study made use of the <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.epa.gov\/national-aquatic-resource-surveys\/nla\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">National Lakes Assessment (NLA)<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, a unique collaboration between states, the <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.epa.gov\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, and tribal governments. NLA is generating a tremendous amount of limnological data and making it<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.epa.gov\/national-aquatic-resource-surveys\/data-national-aquatic-resource-surveys\"> <span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">publicly available<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">; Tricia Lynn of the EPA&#8217;s Office of Public Affairs corresponded with <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">EM<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> about the NLA.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cThe National Lakes Assessment is designed to assess the status of and changes in select water quality characteristics of lakes in the continental US,\u201d explains Lynn. \u201cThe NLA uses a statistically representative site selection process and an intense single-time sampling approach on 1,000 lakes across the country to provide a snapshot of select water quality characteristics in the continental US. Because the project uses standardized field and lab methods, we can compare results from different parts of the country and between years.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Crews conduct NLA field sampling every five years from June through September. During these assessment periods, crews collect data at approximately 1,000 lakes, including natural lakes, ponds and reservoirs throughout the continental US. So far, there have been three of these events (2007, 2012 and 2017) and each has been a true team effort.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cStates and tribes participate in these surveys through the Monitoring Initiative portion of their<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.epa.gov\/water-pollution-control-section-106-grants\/monitoring-initiative-grants-under-section-106-clean\"> <span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Clean Water Action Section 106 grants<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">,\u201d Lynn describes. \u201cThey are integral partners working to plan NLA, conducting field and some lab work, and providing support from beginning to the end of each cycle.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The EPA supports each site by leading implementation of the surveys; developing quality assurance, field and lab manuals; and providing logistical support such as field crew training and standardized supply kits for sampling. The EPA also manages incoming data and conducts the core data analysis. Coinciding with the publication of the NLA 2012 report, the EPA released a<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/nationallakesassessment.epa.gov\/#\"> <span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">new interactive data dashboard<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> that allows users to explore population-scale results from the NLA and compare conditions nationally, across ecoregions, and EPA regions.<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><span style=\"color: #808080;\">A unique design<\/span><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">According to Lynn, the EPA created the NLA&#8217;s<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.epa.gov\/national-aquatic-resource-surveys\/what-national-lakes-assessment#tabs-1\"> <span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">probability-based design<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> for the project, incorporating survey design techniques as part of a statistical sampling approach. The technique allows a representative sample of a relatively small group of individuals to be chosen from a large group of possibilities, using a stratified random design that controls for spatial distribution, lake size, and representative geographical character and variation.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><div id=\"attachment_30757\" style=\"width: 553px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-30757\" class=\"size-full wp-image-30757\" src=\"https:\/\/www.fondriest.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/National_Lakes_Medlake_aerial_USGS.jpg\" alt=\"National Lakes Assessment\" width=\"543\" height=\"353\" srcset=\"https:\/\/news.fondriest.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/National_Lakes_Medlake_aerial_USGS.jpg 543w, https:\/\/news.fondriest.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/National_Lakes_Medlake_aerial_USGS-300x195.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 543px) 100vw, 543px\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-30757\" class=\"wp-caption-text\"><span style=\"color: #808080;\">Aerial view of Medicine Lake, California from the northeast. (Credit: Photo by Julie Donnelly-Nolan [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons)<\/span><\/p><\/div><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cGenerally, the design process remains the same over time; however, we did make a change related to lake size between 2007 and 2012,\u201d Lynn comments. \u201cIn 2012 and 2017, to be included in the survey, a water body had to be either a natural or man-made freshwater lake, pond, or reservoir greater than 2.47 acres (1 hectare), at least 3.3 feet (1 meter) deep, with a minimum quarter acre (0.1 hectare) of open water.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This is a change from 2007, during which the team assessed only those lakes greater than 10 acres (4 hectares) in size.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cAdditionally, to offset the potentially competing objectives of assessing condition and identifying trends, the design for every year includes about 40 percent resample lakes,\u201d clarifies Lynn. \u201cThese are included to improve change\/trend analyses.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The NLA includes a core set of indicators monitored for each survey, and the teams also add research or other supplemental indicators in some situations. Lynn details:<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cThe indicators collected in 2017 were: water chemistry (NH4, NO3), major anions and cations, alkalinity (ANC), DOC, TSS, silica, conductivity , true color, nutrients, Chlorophyll-a; vertical profile measurements (DO, temperature, pH); Secchi Disk transparency; benthic macroinvertebrate assemblage; zooplankton assemblage; phytoplankton (cyanobacteria); physical habitat characterization; algal toxins (microcystins and cylindrospermopsin); bacteria (E. coli); Atrazine pesticide screen; lake area, basin morphometry, and characteristics of watershed; and several research indicators including sediment contaminants, TOC, and grain size; dissolved gases (3 types); and fish eDNA.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><span style=\"color: #808080;\">Reference lakes, changing times<\/span><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">To assess conditions, the NLA team compares metrics to benchmarks developed from the range of values observed in a set of \u201creference lakes.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cA reference lake in the NLA is a lake, either natural or man-made, with attributes (such as water quality) that come as close as practical to those expected in a natural state, i.e., a least disturbed lake,\u201d states Lynn. \u201cTo reflect the natural variability of the U.S., the definition of what is least disturbed varies by ecological region or ecoregion. For this reason, reference conditions are established regionally and<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/nationallakesassessment.epa.gov\/\"> <span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">screening criteria<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> may differ among these regions.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><div id=\"attachment_30759\" style=\"width: 610px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-30759\" class=\"size-large wp-image-30759\" src=\"https:\/\/www.fondriest.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/National_Lakes_Lake_Tenaya_in_Yosemite_NP-600x521.jpg\" alt=\"National Lakes Assessment\" width=\"600\" height=\"521\" srcset=\"https:\/\/news.fondriest.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/National_Lakes_Lake_Tenaya_in_Yosemite_NP-600x521.jpg 600w, https:\/\/news.fondriest.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/National_Lakes_Lake_Tenaya_in_Yosemite_NP-300x261.jpg 300w, https:\/\/news.fondriest.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/National_Lakes_Lake_Tenaya_in_Yosemite_NP-768x667.jpg 768w, https:\/\/news.fondriest.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/National_Lakes_Lake_Tenaya_in_Yosemite_NP-1536x1335.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/news.fondriest.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/National_Lakes_Lake_Tenaya_in_Yosemite_NP-940x817.jpg 940w, https:\/\/news.fondriest.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/National_Lakes_Lake_Tenaya_in_Yosemite_NP.jpg 2000w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 600px) 100vw, 600px\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-30759\" class=\"wp-caption-text\"><span style=\"color: #808080;\">Tenaya Lake, Tioga Pass, Yosemite National Park. (Credit: Brocken Inaglory [CC BY-SA 3.0 (https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by-sa\/3.0) or GFDL (http:\/\/www.gnu.org\/copyleft\/fdl.html)], from Wikimedia Commons)<\/span><\/p><\/div><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In other words, experts would expect remote lakes in high elevation wilderness areas to be virtually pristine, but even the least disturbed lakes in agricultural and urban regions could never have such a best-case scenario. Therefore, to maintain a realistic result, the agency uses reference lakes.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The EPA (and others, such as<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/pubs.acs.org\/doi\/abs\/10.1021\/acs.est.5b05950\"> <span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">this separate analysis<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> from Dr. Dina Leech) are now reporting on observations of conditions and changes from 2007 to 2012. For most indicators, no change occurred, but changes in total phosphorus, two algal toxin indicators, and a physical habitat indicator are exceptions.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cWhile EPA did not observe changes in the condition categories for the nutrient phosphorus,<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/aslopubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com\/doi\/full\/10.1002\/lno.10967\"> <span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Leech et al. 2018<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> found an 18.2 percent decline in the percentage of oligotrophic lakes (very clear lakes with less than 10 \u03bcg\/L of total phosphorus) and an overall increase in the median concentration of phosphorus across all lakes,\u201d comments Lynn. \u201c<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/nationallakesassessment.epa.gov\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The NLA 2012 Assessment Report<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> observed a change within algal toxin measures. An analysis of cyanobacteria cell density, a measure of the density of cells that could produce cyanotoxins, showed a statistically significant increase (+8.3%) in the percentage of lakes in the most disturbed category between 2007 and 2012. The NLA identified a significant increase in the detection of microcystin among lakes in 2012 (+9.5%). However, concentrations of this algal toxin remained low and rarely exceeded WHO recreational levels of concern (&lt;1% of the population) in both assessments.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/nationallakesassessment.epa.gov\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The NLA 2012 Assessment Report<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> also found fewer lakes in the least disturbed category and more lakes in the moderately disturbed category for the habitat complexity indicator\u2014which has to do with lakeshore habitat and buffering qualities.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The ability to \u201csee\u201d these trends on a national scale is impressive. This highlights the NLA as a truly unique resource, which is filling a gap in state and local monitoring of American lakes.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cImportantly, NLA serves as a valuable complement to state and tribal programs,\u201d adds Lynn. \u201cFor example,<\/span><a href=\"http:\/\/dec.vermont.gov\/watershed\/lakes%E2%80%90ponds\/permit\/shoreland\"> <span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Vermont used information from the NLA<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> to look at how lakeshore habitat quality in Vermont differed from lakes nationally and regionally eventually passing new lake shoreland protection legislation.<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.pca.state.mn.us\/water\/national-lakes-assessment\"> <span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Minnesota leveraged the NLA<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> to expand sampling to achieve state-scale assessments and to add additional parameters such as pharmaceuticals. Ohio leveraged the fieldwork and subsequent analysis from NLA 2007 as momentum to expand algal toxin monitoring in lakes within the state. The strength of the NLA, including the national scope, randomized design, standardized field and lab methods, and co-located data continue to allow EPA, states and other researchers to utilize the resulting data to address a variety of questions.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><em><span style=\"color: #808080;\">Top image: Lake Tahoe&#8217;s water is known for its clarity, with Tahoe Regional Planning Agency reporting an average annual clarity level for 2014 of 77.8 feet. (Credit: inkknife_2000 (7.5 million views +) [CC BY-SA 2.0 (https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by-sa\/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons).\u00a0<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The National Lakes Assessment is helping to bridge an enormous limnological data gap across the continental United States.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":31,"featured_media":30758,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5,32,8,510],"tags":[492,75,60,1282,1129,1281,500,1256,109],"class_list":["post-30760","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-featured-articles","category-lakes-reservoirs","category-newsfeed","category-water-quality","tag-clean-water-act","tag-epa","tag-featured","tag-lake-survey","tag-lakes","tag-long-term-data","tag-monitoring","tag-national-lakes-assessment","tag-news-ticker"],"remote_post_permalink":false,"remote_post_featured_image":false,"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.4 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>The National Lakes Assessment In Focus<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The National Lakes Assessment is helping to bridge an enormous limnological data gap across the continental United States.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.fondriest.com\/news\/the-national-lakes-assessment-in-focus.htm\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The National Lakes Assessment In Focus\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The National Lakes Assessment is helping to bridge an enormous limnological data gap across the continental United States.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.fondriest.com\/news\/the-national-lakes-assessment-in-focus.htm\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Environmental Monitor\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2018-12-03T14:15:10+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.fondriest.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/National_Lakes_Lake-Tahoe.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1178\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"705\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Karla Lant\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Karla Lant\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"6 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.fondriest.com\\\/news\\\/the-national-lakes-assessment-in-focus.htm#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.fondriest.com\\\/news\\\/the-national-lakes-assessment-in-focus.htm\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Karla Lant\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.fondriest.com\\\/news\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/51170f7bfa3a05b94cea6f517ce4e79b\"},\"headline\":\"The National Lakes Assessment In Focus\",\"datePublished\":\"2018-12-03T14:15:10+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.fondriest.com\\\/news\\\/the-national-lakes-assessment-in-focus.htm\"},\"wordCount\":1253,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.fondriest.com\\\/news\\\/the-national-lakes-assessment-in-focus.htm#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/news.fondriest.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2018\\\/12\\\/National_Lakes_Lake-Tahoe.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"clean water act\",\"EPA\",\"featured\",\"lake survey\",\"lakes\",\"long-term data\",\"monitoring\",\"National Lakes Assessment\",\"news ticker\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Featured Articles\",\"Lakes &amp; 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