2003 Johnson Lake Water Testing Yields Mixed Results


You may have noticed that Johnson Lake water seemed cloudier than normal during much of the summer. Readings taken by JLPOA volunteers appear to confirm what we hope is a temporary decline in water clarity. JLPOA member Dick Golding reports this year's Secchi disk readings and puts some perspective on the results. This story was updated on October 7, 2003 with thanks to Roy Hanson, who took the October measurements along with Fred Weber and John Okerstrom.

2003 Secchi Disk Readings

4/30 9ft
5/13 9.75ft
5/27 8.25
6/15 8.5
6/30 8.5
7/4 6.5
7/16 5.5
8/05 5.0
8/22 6.0
9/05 5.0
9/20 6.0
10/7 9.0

As you can see, the water was cloudiest during early August and early September. Golding says, "these readings are pretty low compared to previous years. I believe the poor readings can be attributed to several factors, including the large amount of rainfall this spring, lots of runoff, increased recreational usage which stirs up the bottom, development of lakeshore property, use of fertilizers and saturation of wetlands surrounding the lake.

The good news is that we did not have an algae bloom as we did in 1996--so looking forward, if mother nature cooperates and we continue to remind lakeshore owners and users to be good stewards of this precious resource, we should see water clarity improve from this year's level."

Water clarity typically improves in mid to late fall, when colder water temperatures slow down plant growth and when human activity slows.

Click here to learn more about Secchi readings, how they're done and what they mean.

Posted: Tue - September 23, 2003 at 10:10 PM      

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