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National Lakes Assessment
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° A Collaborative Survey of the Nation's Lakes
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U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA).
2009. National Lakes Assessment: A Collaborative
Survey of the Nation's Lakes. EPA 841-R-09-001. U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency, Office of Water and
Office of Research and Development, Washington, D.C.
April 2010
Library of Congress
2011 505862
This report was prepared by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Office of Water
and Office of Research and Development. It has been subjected to the Agency’s peer review and
administrative review processes. This document contains information relating to water quality
assessment. It does not substitute for the Clean Water Act or EPA regulations, nor is it a regulation
itself. Thus, it cannot impose legally binding requirements on EPA, States, authorized Tribes or the
regulated community, and it may not apply to a particular situation or circumstance.
Cover photo of Emerald Bay on Lake Tahoe courtesy of ©Ted C. McRae http://beetlesinthebush.wordDress.com
Acknowledgements
The EPA Office of Water (OW) and Office of Research and Development (ORD) would like to thank
the many people who contributed to this project. Without the collaborative efforts and support by
state and tribal environmental agencies, federal agencies, universities and other organizations,
this groundbreaking assessment of lakes would not have been possible. In addition, the survey
could not have been done without the dedicated help and support of enumerable field biologists,
taxonomists, statisticians and data analysts, as well as program administrators, regional
coordinators, project managers, quality control officers, and reviewers. To the many participants,
EPA expresses its gratitude.
Collaborators Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe, Division of
Alabama Department of Environmental Resource Management
Management Maine Department of Environmental
Arizona Department of Environmental Quality Protection
Blackfeet Tribe, Environmental Program Maryland Department of Natural Resources
California Department of Fish and Game Massachusetts Department of Environmental
California State Water Resources Control Protection
Board Michigan Department of Environmental
Pueblo de Cochiti Department of Natural Quality
Resources and Conservation Minnesota Pollution Control Agency
Colorado Department of Public Health Mississippi Department of Environmental
and the Environment Quality
Connecticut Department of Environmental Montana Department of Environmental
Protection Quality
Delaware Department of Natural Resources Nevada Division of Environmental Protection
Eastern Shoshone Tribe and Northern Arapaho New Hampshire Department of Environmental
Tribe, Environmental Program Services
New Jersey Department of Environmental
Florida Department of Environmental
Protection
Protection
New York State Department of Environmental
Georgia Department of Natural Resources
Conservation
Idaho Department of Environmental Quality
North Dakota Department of Health
Illinois Environmental Protection Agency
Ohio Environmental Protection Agency
Indiana Department of Environmental
Oklahoma Water Resources Board
Management
Oregon Department of Environmental Quality
Iowa Department of Natural Resources
Pennsylvania Department of Environmental
Lac Courte Oreilles Band of Lake Superior
Protection
Chippewa, Conservation Department
Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribe
Lac du Flambeau Band of Lake Superior
Rhode Island Department of Environmental
Chippewa, Tribal Natural Resources
Management
Department
National Lakes Assessment: A Collaborative Survey of the Nation’s Lakes
Sisseton-Wahpeton Sioux Tribe, Virginia Department of Environmental Quality
Environmental Program Washington Department of Ecology
South Dakota Department of West Virginia Department of Environmental
Environment and Natural Resources Protection
Spirit Lake Nation, Tribal Environmental White Earth Band of Chippewa, Natural
Administration Resources Department
Tennessee Department of Environment and Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources
Conservation
Texas Commission of Environmental Quality
Turtle Mountain Band of the Chippewa
Indians Environmental Program
Utah Division of Environmental Quality
Vermont Department of Environmental
Conservation
The following people played a pivotal role and lent their expertise to the data analysis of this
project. These individuals painstakingly reviewed the dataset to ensure quality and consistency.
These NLA analysts included Neil Kamman (lead, on detail from VT Department of Environmental
Conservation), Richard Mitchell, and Ellen Tarquinio from EPA Office of Water; Phil Kaufmann, Tony
Olsen, Dave Peck, Spence Peterson, Steve Paulsen, Amina Pollard, John Stoddard, John Van Sickle
and Henry Walker from EPA Office of Research and Development; Donald Charles and Mihaele
Enache from the Academy of Natural Sciences, Philadelphia PA; Charles Hawkins from Utah State
University; Alan Herlihy from Oregon State University; Paul Garrison from WI Department of
Natural Resources; Jennifer Graham and Keith Loftin from U.S. Geological Survey, Lawrence, KS;
Jan Stevenson from Michigan State University, and Julie Wolin from Cleveland State University, OH.
Contributors
EPA would also like to thank those people who lent their scientific knowledge and/or writing
talent to this report.
Steve Heiskary, Minnesota Pollution Control Agency, MN; Neil Kamman, Department of
Environmental Conservation, VT; Terri Lomax, Department of Environmental Conservation, AK;
Alice Mayio, EPA Office of Wetlands, Oceans and Watersheds, Washington, DC: Amy Smagula,
Department of Environmental Services, NH; Kellie Merrell, Department of Environmental
Conservation, VT; Leanne Stahl, EPA Office of Science and Technology, Washington, DC.
The National Lakes Assessment survey project was led by Susan Holdsworth (OW) and Steve
Paulsen (ORD) with significant programmatic help from Sarah Lehmann, Alice Mayio, Richard
Mitchell, Dan Olsen, Carol Peterson, Ellen Tarquinio, Anne Weinberg, and EPA Regional Monitoring
Coordinators. Contractor support was provided by Computer Sciences Corp., Dynamac Corp.,
EcoAnalysts, Inc., Great Lakes Environmental Center, Inc., Raytheon Information Services,
TechLaw, Inc. and Tetra Tech, Inc.
National Lakes Assessment: A Collaborative Survey of the Nation’s Lakes
Additional Reports and Information
To augment the findings of this report, EPA is providing several additional reports. The first
is the National Lakes Assessment: Technical Appendix. This appendix describes in detail the
data analyses and scientific underpinnings of the results. It is intended to aid States and other
institutions who would like a more in-depth explanation of the data analysis phase with the possible
intention of replicating the survey at a smaller scale. Additional results are also forthcoming. Due
to a number of reasons, EPA is not able to report at this time the results from several indicators
(e.g., sediment mercury, enterococci, and benthic macroinvertebrates). Work is on-going for each
of these indicators and results will be published when complete. The Technical Appendix, Field
Methods and Laboratory Protocols are currently available on EPA's web site at http://www.epa.gov/
lakessurvev/.
For those wishing to access data from the survey to perform their own analyses, EPA has made
flat files of the data available via the internet at http://www.epa.gov/owow/lakes/lakessurvev/
web data.html. Additionally, raw data and information on the sampled lakes will be uploaded to
EPA's STOrage and RETrieval (STORET) warehouse at http://www.epa.QQv/STORET.
National Lakes Assessment: A Collaborative Survey of the Nation’s Lakes
Table of Contents
Acknowledgements.•
Collaborators.i
Contributors.ii
Additional Reports and Information.iii
Tables and Figures.vi
Executive Summary.viii
Chapter 1. Introduction.2
A Highly Valued and Valuable Resource.2
Why a National Survey?.2
The National Aquatic Resource Surveys.3
Chapter 2. Design of the Lakes Survey.8
Areas Covered by the Survey.8
Selecting Lakes.8
Lake Extent - Natural and Man-made Lakes. 11
Choosing Indicators. 12
Field Sampling. 14
Setting Expectations. 15
Chapter 3. The Biological Condition of the Nation's Lakes.20
Lake Health - The Biological Condition of Lakes.20
Stressors to Lake Biota. 25
Ranking of Stressors.31
Chapter 4. Suitability for Recreation.36
Algal Toxins.36
Contaminants in Lake Fish Tissue.39
Pathogen Indicators.40
Chapter 5. Trophic State of Lakes.44
Findings for Trophic State.45
National Lakes Assessment: A Collaborative Survey of the Nation's Lakes
