Water quality monitoring of lakes

Description: 
Various monitoring techniques are available for assessing water quality in lakes. These look at water chemistry and water clarity and the macrophytes (aquatic plants) which grow within them. This allows us to judge the health of the water-body and can provide information about catchment health and quality.
Originator: 
CEH/EA/NE
Is this an existing or new approach to measuring landscape change?: 
Existing
Spatial coverage: 
Most large lakes
Geographical unit: 
lake with a catchment message- this adds up to a whole landscape
Frequency of measure: 
Indicator: 
N, P, chlorophyll, water clarity, mecrophyte assemblage, pH, dissolved oxygen, temperature and some other water chemisty
Barriers: 
The main barrier is a disconnect between the visual appearance of a lake and its real health. In the visual landscape a lake might look great but it could be deteriorating, full of sewage and blue green algae. So connecting the visual with the below water and chemical can tell us lots about the health and quality of out landscape. Even if you cant see it.
Resource requirements: 
Data is feely shared- just not used
Data source: 
Sampling programmes
Submitted by: 
simon webb
Natural England

Add new comment