Lake Water Quality Monitoring
The Anoka Conservation District monitors lake water quality on most major lakes in the county. The purpose of this program is to detect and diagnose water quality problems that may affect the suitability of lakes for recreation or adversely affect people or wildlife. This information is also necessary to set regulatory actions into motion to correct problems or to apply for government monies for lake improvement projects. Particular emphasis is placed upon those lakes with recreational potential or those with many lakeshore homes. We monitor every lake 2-5 years on a rolling basis.
This website is a good place to start in locating specific data, but other sources, may be used as well. The same body of water is never monitored by two different agencies at the same time, but monitoring responsibility may have transferred from agency to agency at some time in the past, or available volunteer data may be limited for years when the ACD was not monitoring. After searching our website, the other best source of water quality data is the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency's website.
To view or download raw data about a particular lake from this website, use our Data Access tool. To read the latest narrative summary for a particular lake go to AnokaNaturalResources.com and use the links in the Lakes Directory.
Funding for our lake monitoring efforts has come from many sources. In the last four years those sources have included Natural Resources Block Grants sponsored by the Board of Water and Soil Resources (BWSR), the Anoka County Ag. Preserves Program, Coon Creek Watershed District, Rice Creek Watershed District, Six Cities Watershed Management Organization, Sunrise River Watershed Management Organization, Lower Rum River Watershed Management Organization, and the City of Fridley.
Related Information on ANR.com: Lakes
ACD Contact : Jamie Schurbon 763/434-2030 ext. 12
Links: Lakes Monitored by Agency by Year
Water Quality Letter Grades for Some Lakes
Lake Water Quality Monitoring Methods and Q&A