Registration begins for national lake monitoring this summer
By Nicholas Allen Clarke - for the Lethbridge Herald on April 26, 2022.
The impacts of climate change on freshwater lakes are being studied through community-based water monitoring.Living Lakes Canada has begun asking people to register to monitor their favourite lakes as part of the 2nd Annual National Lake Blitz. Anyone with a camera can participate, with free kits being sent out upon registration for the program.
According to Lake Blitz Coordinator, Camille Leblanc, training for the program will begin on May 1 with the training also being available as a recording on the Living Lakes Canada website. There will be simple tools, support and background information that looks at the impact of temperature change, algae blooms and invasive species.
A research article, Development of a surveillance species list to inform aquatic invasive species management in the Laurentian Great Lakes, by Davidson Ad, et al. published in December 2021, explains there is a significant ecological impact in the Great Lakes area by invasive species, while going on to say early detection is more effective for the containment or eradication of invasive species.
This early detection is a big part of the Lake Blitz program, with detailed sections outlining how to spot the invasive plants and animals. Leblanc has noticed a lot of people are hearing or seeing the impacts of invasive species and climate change on their local freshwater lakes.
“It can sort of make you want to take action, but not know where to start,” said Leblanc.
The free kits provided by Living Lakes Canada aim to fix this problem with a comprehensive, barrier-free kit which according to Leblanc, “You don’t need a science degree or any technical know-how to use it.”
She said that utilizing the volunteer’s time without a fee is important so that they can just enjoy the learning aspect of the program. Leblanc hopes that people commit to long-term monitoring and gathering of data.
“You feel like you’re taking action and you are because you are providing increased data on freshwater lakes in Canada,” said Leblanc.
Leblanc said the data will allow them to go back and notice any changes or notice any trends that might be occurring in the lakes. There will also be consistent photographic data to show shoreline, water colour and invasive species.
“We’re asking people to register as soon as they have interest so that we can send out our kits,” said Leblanc.
Leblanc said those who are thinking about registering should think about a lake that you visit often and that is accessible for you to get there. If there’s multiple people monitoring, she said they can even set up teams.
“If they don’t know which lake that they want to monitor yet, then that’s where we can help them pick one no one is monitoring,” said Leblanc. “It’s really for anybody who just wants to give water monitoring a try.”
Those registered will be automatically added to an email list to stay updated on the program. They will get all the important communications for the coordination of the program as well as the launching for the third year.
Living Lakes Canada is a national non-profit organization based in B.C.’s Columbia Basin working towards the long-term protection of Canada’s freshwater.
More information can be found at the Living Lakes Canada website. 2
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