The Lakes Lay Monitoring Program is an ongoing effort between the state of NH and the University of New Hampshire. The objective of the program is to provide a long-term assessment of water quality in the state's lakes.
Lakes are a critically important component of the state's environmental and economic health.
Tourism provides a significant fraction of the state's economic base, and high water quality drives much tourism activity. The ecological health of the state is also tied to the health of its lakes. Lakes provide much of the state's biodiversity as well as a quantitatively significant fraction of the state's total aquatic habitat. Water samples are taken at approximately monthly intervals through the ice-idle period in most of New Hampshire's major lakes. A total of over 100 lakes are sampled each year.