DOI: 10.25976/2eh8-7s91
title: LakeKeepers Water Quality Data

description: LakeKeepers aims to address the gaps in lake water quality data that exist in many parts of Alberta. Current monitoring strategies restrict much of the Provincial data to lakes within easy driving distance from Edmonton or Calgary – however, many of Alberta’s invaluable water resources exist outside of this range and as a result have little water quality data. Current monitoring strategies for the ice-on period through the winter months are also limited. Citizen scientists collect information such as water clarity, chlorophyll-a, total Kjeldahl Nitrogen, total Phosphorus, microcystin concentrations, water temperature, dissolved oxygen, and some other water quality parameters. Information is also collected through the year, with monitoring occurring in both the summer and winter months. While the focus of the summer sampling is to gather baseline water quality information, the winter sampling is focused towards collecting parameters that best represent fish habitat quality, since ice anglers are the primary citizen scientists in the winter months.
description: SUMMER: A single sample site is chosen for each lake as close as possible to the deep spot of the main basin. Volunteers are provided with field sheets, a YSI ProODO temperature and dissolved oxygen meter, a tape and weight, a Secchi disk, a chlorophyll filtering apparatus, and bottle sets. Discrete grabs for nutrients, microcystin, and chlorophyll-a are collected at 0.5 m depths. Sulfuric acid is added to the nutrient sample bottle for preservation. Samples are filtered for chlorophyll-a onto Whatman GF-C filter papers. Readings for temperature and dissolved oxygen are taken at 1 m depth intervals until the bottom of the lake was reached. Starting in 2020, all lakes' profiles were measured with a YSI ProODO meter. For some sampling events in 2019 and earlier, discrete grabs for temperature were collected ideally at 1 m, mid-depth, and 1 m off the bottom of the lake, and measured with a digital thermometer. Total phosphorus and total Kjeldahl nitrogen analysis was performed at Bureau Veritas, chlorophyll-a was submitted to Innotech in Vegreville, and microcystin samples were submitted to the Alberta Centre for Toxicology in Calgary. In Summer 2020, a special project included sampling small lakes (many unnamed) in the Carvel Pitted Delta, West of Edmonton. These lakes were only sampled once each, and some had profiles collected for pH and conductivity. A Kemmerer was used to collect 0.5 m grabs for nutrients, plus some routine chemical parameters. Bottom grabs for nutrients also took place. In some cases, routine chemistry samples were taken from shore on another date other than on-lake sampling. WINTER: Sample sites were chosen by the volunteer depending on where they were ice fishing, or where anglers were ice fishing on the lake, in the case of volunteers who did not auger their own hole through the ice. This resulted in samples being collected not necessarily at the deepest part of the lake. This also resulted, in some cases, sampling across multiple locations on the lake multiple times through the ice-on season. Volunteers were provided with same materials as in summer, but with some additional bottles. In some cases, volunteers were also provided with a 3.2 L horizontal Van Dorn Beta sampler to collect discrete water samples. A discrete grab for nutrients (total phosphorus, total Kjeldahl nitrogen) was collected by hand at a 0.5 m depth, and in some lakes, a discrete water sample was collected near the bottom of the lake with a Van Dorn sampler. Sulfuric acid was added to the nutrient bottle for preservation. Temperature and dissolved oxygen readings were taken at 1 m depth intervals. Ice thickness, depth of snow cover, air temperature and bottom depth were also recorded. In 2020-2021, some samples were analyzed for conductivity, pH, chloride, TDP, DOC and chlorophyll-a (ie. not all sampling events had all samples taken, due to logistics). In 2021-2022, some samples were analyzed for ammonia, nitrate, and nitrite.