2006 Water Samples Confirm Reason for Concern


Roy Hansen says water quality testing for the season has been completed. Five samples were taken between may and October. The tests measure water clarity, water temperature at 3-foot intervals, phosphorous content, chlorophyll content and dissolved oxygen. Click "Read More" to learn what we do - and don't - know about our water quality right now.




These Secchi disk images are from a great NASA page on lake water quality. Click the link if you want to explore it.

Hansen reports the results of the chemical tests will not be available from the DNR until next spring, but the clarity test results are immediate.

The Secchi reading reached a low of 4 feet in September. That's the point where the disk is no longer visible from the surface.

The water cleared up in October. The last reading for the season is 7.5 feet, the same as two years ago.

The average Secchi reading for 2006 was 7.08 feet. The average in 2005 was 9.85 feet, a 28% decline in water clarity in one year.

Hansen says, "Each one of us needs to be aware of the problem and do our part to insure the quality of the lake is not being impaired by our actions. We need to maintain buffer zones on the shoreline. We also should avoid running our boats at high speed near the shoreline and in shallow areas, as it stirs up the bottom of the lake. If each of us does our part we can help and improve and maintain good water quality for Johnson Lake.

Posted: Sun - November 26, 2006 at 07:40 PM      

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