United States
      Environmental Protection
      Agency __
Office of Research and Development  E
Office of Environmental Information ,r~^
Washington, DC 20460
      Delivering Timely—^
      Water Quality Informati
       'our Communif
                   III
    E   M   P A  C  T
Environmental Monitoring for Public Access
        & Community Tracking

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Disclaimer
This document has been reviewed by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and approved for publication.
Mention of trade names or commercial products does not constitute endorsement or recommendation of their use.

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                                      EPA/625/R-00/013
                                       September 2000
   Delivering Timely Water Quality
   Information to Your Community
The Lake Access-Minneapolis Project
          United States Environmental Protection Agency
          National Risk Management Research Laboratory
             Office of Research and Development
                 Cincinnati, OH 45268
                                    . Printed on paper containing at least
                                     30% postconsumer recovered fiber.

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CONTRIBUTORS

Dr. Dan  Petersen (U.S. Environmental  Protection Agency [EPA],  National  Risk Management  Research
Laboratory) served as principal author of this handbook, and managed its development with the support of
Eastern Research Group, Inc., an EPA contractor. Contributing authors included the following:

    Rich Axler, Natural Resources Research Institute, University of Minnesota—Duluth

    John Barten, Suburban Hennepin Regional Park District

    Jose Coin, Apprise Technologies,  Inc.

    Cindy Hagley Minnesota Sea Grant

    George Host, Natural Resources Research Institute, University of Minnesota-Duluth

    Barbara Liukkonen, University of Minnesota-Extension

    Dr. Bruce Munson, Department of Education, University of Minnesota-Duluth

    Chris Owen, Apprise Technologies, Inc.

    Barb Peichel, Minnesota Sea Grant

    Elaine Ruzycki, Natural Resources Research Institute, University of Minnesota—Duluth

    Brian Vlach, Suburban Hennepin Regional Park District

    Norm Will,  Natural Resources Research Institute, University of Minnesota—Duluth

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CONTENTS
1. INTRODUCTION                                                                       1
2. HOW TO USE THIS HANDBOOK                                                        5
3. WATER QUALITY MONITORING                                                        7
   3-1  Water Quality Monitoring—An Overview                                                7
   3.2  Designing a Time-Relevant Water Quality Monitoring Project                              10
   3.3  Selecting Your Sampling Frequency                                                     13
   3-4  Selecting Water Quality Parameters for Monitoring                                       14
   3-5  Selecting Monitoring Equipment                                                       16
   3.6  Siting Monitors                                                                     20
   3.7  Installing RUSS Units                                                                23
   3.8  Operating RUSS Units                                                               27
   3.9  Maintaining RUSS Units                                                             29
   3.10 Other Local Monitoring Efforts                                                       32
4. COLLECTING, TRANSFERRING, AND MANAGING TIME-RELEVANT
   WATER QUALITY DATA                                                                41
   4.1  System Overview                                                                   41
   4.2  Getting Your Equipment and Software in Place                                           43
   4.3  Programming Your System for Scheduled Transfers of Data                                 46
   4.4  Managing Data at the Base Station                                                     53
   4.5  Troubleshooting Q&A                                                               57
5. DEPICTING TIME-RELEVANT WATER QUALITY DATA                                  59
   5.1  What is Data Visualization?                                                           59
   5-2  Data Visualization Software                                                           61
6. COMMUNICATING TIME-RELEVANT WATER QUALITY INFORMATION                  71
   6.1  Creating an Outreach Plan for Time-Relevant Water Quality Reporting                       71
   6.2  Elements of the Lake Access Project's Outreach Program                                   76
   6.3  Resources for Presenting Water Quality Information to the Public                           79
APPENDIX A
   Glossary of Terms                                                                       A-l
APPENDIX B
   Lake Access Brochure                                                                    B-l
APPENDIX C
   Lake Access Survey                                                                      C-l

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 1.   INTRODUCTION

    People who spend time in, on, or close to lakes in and near your community
    can use timely and accurate information  about lake water quality to help
    make day-to-day decisions about lake use and lake issues. For example, swim-
mers can use information about fecal coliform levels to protect their health when
levels  of these bacteria near swimming beaches are  high. Anglers can use water
quality information (e.g., temperature and  oxygen  levels) to help  them decide
where  and when to go fishing. Time-relevant information can help recreational
lake users, businesses, resource managers,  lakeshore residents, and other landown-
ers  located farther from the  lakeshore understand how a lake's water quality is
affected by land use practices within its watershed.

This handbook  offers step-by-step instructions  about how to  provide time-
relevant water quality data to your community.  It was developed by the U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA's) EMPACT program.  EPA  created
EMPACT  (Environmental  Monitoring for  Public Access  and  Community
Tracking) in 1996, at President Clinton's direction. The program takes advantage
of new technologies that make it possible to provide  time-relevant environmental
information to the public.

EMPACT is working with the 86  largest metropolitan areas of the country to
help communities in these areas:

•  Collect, manage, and distribute time-relevant environmental
   information.

•  Provide residents with easy-to-understand information they can use in
   making informed, day-to-day decisions.

To make EMPACT more effective, EPA is partnering with the National Oceanic
and Atmospheric Administration and the U.S. Geological Survey. EPA will work
closely with these federal agencies  to help achieve nationwide  consistency in
measuring environmental data, managing the information, and delivering it to
the public.

To date, environmental information projects have been initiated in  84 of the 86
EMPACT-designated metropolitan areas. These projects cover a wide range of
environmental issues, including groundwater contamination, water quality, smog,
ultraviolet radiation, and overall ecosystem quality.  Some of these projects were
initiated directly by EPA. Others  were launched  by  EMPACT communities
themselves. Local governments from any of the 86 EMPACT metropolitan areas
are  eligible  to apply for EPA-funded  Metro Grants to develop their own
EMPACT projects. The 86 EMPACT metropolitan  areas are listed in the table at
the end of this chapter.

Communities selected for Metro Grant awards are responsible for building their
own time-relevant environmental monitoring and information delivery systems.
To  find out how to apply for a  Metro Grant, visit the EMPACT Web site at
http://www.epa.gov/empact/apply.htm.
INTRODUCTION

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One such Metro Grant recipient is the Lake Access—Minneapolis project. The
project provides the public with time-relevant and historical water quality data for
lakes within the largest, most populated watershed districts in Minnesota.

The Lake Access Project team is using Remote Underwater Sampling System
(RUSS) devices to collect time-relevant water quality data from three locations—
two in Lake Minnetonka and one in Lake Independence. The Lake Access team
has developed an Internet interface for the RUSS units that allows data from the
RUSS sensors to be displayed in near-real time on the Lake Access Web site at
http://www.lakeaccess.org. The project is a cooperative effort of the Suburban
Hennepin Regional Park District, the Minnehaha Creek Watershed District, the
University  of Minnesota Water on  the Web  Investigators  (i.e., the  Natural
Resources Research Institute, the University of Minnesota—Duluth Department of
Education, and Minnesota Sea Grant), and Apprise Technologies, which holds the
license to RUSS technologies. The project team also collects data from monitor-
ing stations established as part of other monitoring programs. The team integrates
data supplied by these non-RUSS sites with RUSS-generated data to track condi-
tions in area lakes.  Many of the  project Web site's key features, such as the
Limnology Primer and the Data Visualization Tools, were developed under a grant
from  The  National Science Foundation's Advanced  Technology Education
Program.

The Technology Transfer and Support Division of the EPA Office of Research and
Development's (ORD's) National Risk Management Research Laboratory initiat-
ed development of this handbook  to  help  interested communities learn more
about the Lake Access Project. The handbook also provides technical information
communities  need to develop and  manage  their  own  time-relevant lake water
monitoring, data visualization, and information dissemination programs. ORD,
working with the Lake Access Project team, produced this handbook to maximize
EMPACT's investment in  the project and minimize  the resources needed to
implement similar projects in other  communities.

Both print and CD-ROM versions  of the handbook are available  for direct
on-line  ordering   from  EPA's   Office   of  Research and  Development
Technology Transfer  Web site at http://www.epa.gov/ttbnrmrl. You can also
download  the handbook from the  Lake  Access—Minneapolis Web  site  at
http://www.lakeaccess.org. You can  also obtain a copy of the handbook by
contacting the EMPACT program office at:

       EMPACT Program
       U.S. EPA (2831)
       Ariel  Rios Building
       1200 Pennsylvania Avenue,  NW
       Washington,  DC 20460
       Phone: 202 564-6791
       Fax: 202 565-1966

We hope you find the  handbook worthwhile, informative, and easy to  use. We
welcome your comments, and you can send them by  e-mail from EMPACT's
Web site at http://www.epa.gov/empact/comments.htm.
                                                        CHAPTER  1

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  EMPACT Metropolitan Areas
  Albany-Schenectady-Troy, NY
  Albuquerque, NM
  Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton, PA
  Anchorage, AK
  Atlanta, GA
  Austin- San Marcos, TX
  Bakersfield, CA
  Billings, MT
  Birmingham, AL
  Boise, ID
  Boston, AAA-NH
  Bridgeport, CT
  Buffalo-Niagara Falls, NY
  Burlington, VT
  Charleston-North Charleston, SC
  Charleston, WV
  Charlotte-Gastonia-Rock Hill, NC-
  SC
  Cheyenne, WY
  Chicago-Gary-Kenosha, IL-IN-WI
  Cincinnati-Hamilton, OH-KT-IN
  Cleveland-Akron, OH
  Columbus, OH
  Dallas-Fort Worth, TX
  Dayton-Springfield, OH
  Denver-Boulder-Greeley, CO
  Detroit-Ann Arbor-Flint, Ml
  El Paso, TX
  Fargo-Moorhead,  ND-MN
  Fresno, CA
  Grand Rapids-Muskegon-Holland,
  Ml
  Greensboro-Winston Salem-High
  Point, NC
Greenville-Spa rtanburg-Anderson,
SC
Harrisburg-Lebanon-Carlisle, PA
Hartford, CT
Honolulu, HI
Houston-Galveston-Brazoria, TX
Indianapolis, IN
Jackson, MS
Jacksonville, FL
Kansas City, MO-KS
Knoxville, TN
Las Vegas, NV
Little Rock-North Little Rock, AR
Los Angeles-Riverside-Orange
County, CA
Louisville, KY-IN
Memphis, TN-AR-MS
Miami-Fort Lauderdale, FL
Milwaukee-Racine, Wl
Minneapolis-St. Paul, MN
Nashville, TN
New Orleans, LA
New York-Northern New Jersey-
Long Island, NY-NJ-CT-PA
Norfolk-Virginia Beach-Newport
News, VA-NC
Oklahoma City, OH
Omaha, NE-IA
Orlando, FL
Philadelphia- Wilmington-Atlantic
City,  PA-NJ-DE-MD
Phoenix-Mesa, AZ
Pittsburgh, PA
Portland, ME
Portland-Salem, OR-WA
Providence-Fall River-Warwick, Rl-
MA
Raleigh-Durham-Chapel Hill, NC
Richmond-Petersburg, VA
Rochester, NY
Sacramento-Yolo, CA
Salt Lake City-Ogden,  UT
San Antonio, TX
San Diego, CA
San Francisco-Oakland-San Jose,
CA
San Juan, PR
Scranton-Wilkes-Barre-Hazleton, PA
Seattle-Tacoma-Bremerton, WA
Sioux Falls, SD
Springfield, MA
St. Louis-E. St. Louis, MO-IL
Stockton-Lodi, CA
Syracuse, NY
Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater, FL
Toledo, OH
Tucson, AZ
Tulsa, OK
Washington-Baltimore, DC-MD-VA-
WV
West Palm Beach-Boca Raton, FL
Wichita, KS
Youngstown-Warren, OH
INTRODUCTION

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2.    HOW  TO   USE
        THIS   HANDBOOK
    This handbook provides you with step-by-step information on how to develop
    a program to provide time-relevant water quality data to your community,
    using the Lake Access Project in the Minneapolis-St. Paul, Minnesota, area as
a model. It contains detailed guidance on how to:
  Design, site, operate,
  and maintain a
  system to gather
  time-relevant water
  quality data.
Design, operate, and
maintain a system to
retrieve, manage,
and analyze your
time-relevant water
quality data.
Use data visualization
tools to graphically
depict these data.
Develop a plan to
communicate the
results of your
time-relevant water
quality monitoring
efforts to residents in
your community.
   Chapter 3 provides information about water quality monitoring—the
   first step in the process of generating time-relevant information about
   water quality and making it available to residents in your area. The
   chapter begins with an overview of water quality monitoring in fresh-
   water systems and then focuses on the remote time-relevant water qual-
   ity monitoring conducted as part of the Lake Access Project. It also
   provides step-by-step instructions on how to install, operate, and main-
   tain the Remote Underwater Sampling Station (RUSS) units used by
   the Lake Access Project team to gather time-relevant water quality data.

   Chapter 4 provides step-by-step instructions on how to operate and
   maintain an automated system to transmit, store, retrieve, and analyze
   the water quality data collected from the remote time-relevant water
   quality monitors. The chapter focuses on the software used by the Lake
   Access Project team from their RUSS units to their base station, and it
   also contains information on data quality assurance and control.

   Chapter 5 provides information about using data visualization tools
   to graphically depict the time-relevant water quality data you have
   gathered. The chapter begins with a brief overview of data visualization.
   It then provides a more detailed introduction to selected data visualiza-
   tion tools developed by the Lake Access team. You might want to use
   these software tools to help analyze your data and in your efforts to
   provide time-relevant water  quality information  to your community.

   Chapter 6 outlines the steps  involved in developing  an outreach plan
   to communicate information about water quality in your community's
   lakes. It also provides information about the Lake Access Project's out-
   reach efforts. The chapter includes a list of resources to help you
HOW  TO  USE  THIS  HANDBOOK

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   develop easily understandable materials to communicate information
   about your time relevant water quality monitoring program to a variety
   of audiences.

This handbook is  designed for decision-makers considering whether to imple-
ment a time-relevant water quality monitoring program in their communities and
for technicians responsible for implementing these programs. Managers and deci-
sion-makers likely will find the initial sections of Chapters 3, 4, and 5 most help-
ful. The latter sections of these chapters are targeted primarily at professionals and
technicians and provide detailed "how to" information. Chapter 6 is designed for
managers and communication specialists.

The  handbook also refers you to supplementary sources of information, such as
Web sites and guidance documents, where you can find additional guidance with
a greater level of technical detail. Interspersed throughout the  handbook are text
boxes that describe some of the  lessons learned by the Lake Access team in devel-
oping and implementing its time-relevant water quality monitoring, data man-
agement, and outreach program.
                                                          CHAPTER  2

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3.   WATER  QUALITY
       MONITORING
T
I his chapter provides information about water quality monitoring—the first
step in the process of generating time-relevant information about water qual-
ity and making it available to residents in your area.
The chapter begins with a broad overview of water quality monitoring (Section
3-1)- It then focuses on the remote time-relevant water quality monitoring con-
ducted as part of the Lake Access Project. It  also provides information about
installing, operating,  and maintaining the equipment used by the Lake Access
Project team to gather time-relevant water quality data. Section 3.2 discusses fac-
tors to consider when designing a remote time-relevant water quality monitoring
project.  Sections 3.3,  3.4, and 3-5 explain how to  select remote time-relevant
monitoring frequencies, parameters, and equipment. Section 3.6 describes how to
select the locations of your remote time-relevant water quality monitoring sta-
tions. Sections 3.7, 3.8, and 3-9 explain how you can install, operate, and main-
tain the remote time-relevant water quality monitoring equipment used by the
Lake Access Project. The chapter concludes with a brief overview of other water
quality monitoring projects conducted in the Twin Cities area  (Section 3.10).

Readers primarily interested in an overview of water quality monitoring might
want to focus on the introductory information in Sections 3.1 and 3.2. If you are
responsible for the actual design and implementation of a monitoring project, you
should review Sections 3.3 through 3.9. They provide an introduction to the spe-
cific steps involved in developing  and operating a remote time-relevant water
quality monitoring project and information on where to find additional guidance.

3.1   Water Quality Monitoring: An Overview
Water quality monitoring provides information about the condition of streams,
lakes, ponds, estuaries, and coastal waters. It can also tell us if these waters are safe
for swimming, fishing, or drinking. The Web site of the U.S. EPA Office of Water
(http://www.epa.gov/owow/monitoring/) is  a good source  of background
information on water quality monitoring. (The information presented in the fol-
lowing paragraphs is summarized from this Web site.)

Water quality monitoring can consist of the following types of measurements:

•  Chemical measurements of constituents such as dissolved oxygen, nutri-
   ents, metals, and oils in water, sediment, or fish tissue.

•  Physical measurements of general conditions such as temperature, clari-
   ty, flow, and water color.

•  Biological measurements of the abundance, variety, and growth rates of
   aquatic plant and animal life in  a water body or the ability of aquatic
   organisms to survive in a water  sample.

You can conduct several kinds of water quality monitoring projects, such as those:
WATER  QUALITY  MONITORING

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•  At fixed locations on a continuous basis

•  At selected locations on an as-needed basis or to answer specific ques-
   tions

•  On a temporary or seasonal basis (such as during the summer at swim-
   ming beaches)

•  On an emergency basis (such as after a spill)

Many agencies  and organizations conduct water quality monitoring, including
state pollution  control agencies, Indian tribes, city  and county environmental
offices, the U.S. EPA and other federal agencies, and private entities, such as uni-
versities, watershed organizations, environmental groups,  and  industries.
Volunteer monitors—private citizens who voluntarily collect and  analyze water
quality samples, conduct visual assessments  of physical conditions, and measure
the biological health  of waters—also provide increasingly important water quali-
ty information. The U.S. EPA provides specific information about volunteer
monitoring at http://www.epa.gov/owow/monitoring/vol.html.

Water quality monitoring is conducted for many reasons, including:

•  Characterizing waters and identifying trends or changes in water quality
   over time.

•  Identifying existing or emerging water quality problems.

•  Gathering information for the design of pollution prevention or
   restoration programs.

•  Determining if the goals of specific programs (such as the implementa-
   tion of pollution prevention strategies) are being met.

•  Responding  to emergencies such as spills or floods.

EPA helps  administer grants for water quality monitoring projects and provides
technical guidance on how to monitor and report monitoring results. You can
find a number of EPA's water quality monitoring technical guidance documents
on the Web at http://www.epa.gov/owow/monitoring/techmon.html.

In addition to the U.S.  EPA resources listed above, you can obtain information
about lake and reservoir water quality monitoring from the North American Lake
Management Society (NALMS). NALMS has published many technical docu-
ments, including a  guidance manual  entitled Monitoring Lake  and Reservoir
Restoration.  For  more  information,  visit   the   NALMS  Web   site   at
http://www.nalms.org. State and local agencies also publish and recommend doc-
uments to help organizations and communities conduct and understand water qual-
ity monitoring.  For example, the Minnesota Lakes Association maintains a Web site
(http://www.mnlakesassn.org/main/resources/waterquality/index.cfm)  that
lists resources for water quality monitoring and management. State and local organ-
izations in  your community might maintain similar listings. The  University  of
Minnesota-Duluth's Water on the Web site also maintains a list of links for water
quality information and resources, including sampling and monitoring methods, at
http://wow.nrri.umn.edu/wow/under/links.html. (The Water on the Web project
                                                         CHAPTER  3

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provides on-line, time-relevant lake data as a tool for teaching basic and environ-
mental science.)

In some cases, special water quality monitoring methods, such as remote moni-
toring, or special types of water quality data, such as time-relevant data, are need-
ed to meet a water quality monitoring program's objectives. Time-relevant envi-
ronmental  data are data collected and communicated to the public in  a time
frame that  is useful to their day-to-day decision-making about their health and
the environment, and relevant to the temporal variability of the parameter meas-
ured. Monitoring is called remote when the operator can collect and analyze data
from a site  other than the monitoring location itself.

Remote Time-Relevant Water Quality Monitoring: The Lake Access Project

The Lake Access Project helps community lake management and research organ-
izations learn more about the characteristics of lakes  in the Minnehaha  Creek
Watershed District (MCWD) and the Suburban Hennepin Regional Park district
(Hennepin Parks) through remote time-relevant monitoring of lake water quali-
ty. In turn, the data gathered through the Lake Access Project are used to com-
municate time-relevant information about lake water quality to the local public.

The Lake Access Project team conducts remote time-relevant monitoring at two
locations in Lake Minnetonka and at one location in Lake Independence. At each
location,  the  project team operates  a  remote underwater  sampling  station
(RUSS™) unit, manufactured by Apprise Technologies, Inc. The RUSS unit con-
sists of a mobile underwater monitoring sensor tethered to a buoy and featuring
an  onboard computer, batteries, solar panels,  telemetry equipment,  and other
optional monitoring equipment. Four times daily, each RUSS unit raises and low-
ers  a tethered multiprobe water quality sensor manufactured by Yellow Springs
Instruments® (YSP) to collect a profile in 1 -meter intervals from the lake surface
to the lake bottom. The RUSS unit measures the following parameters:

•  Temperature

•  pH

•  Dissolved oxygen

•  Electrical conductivity

•  Turbidity

•  Depth

The Lake Access Project team uses a land-base station  to communicate with the
RUSS units via cellular connection. Time-relevant data are remotely downloaded
from the RUSS units daily.

The diagram on page 10 illustrates some of the basic RUSS unit components, and
it shows how the RUSS unit communicates with the land-base station. This dia-
gram was taken from the RUSS System Manual, which is available from Apprise
Technologies. For more information about Apprise Technologies and the RUSS
unit, visit http://www.apprisetech.com.


WATER  QUALITY MONITORING

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                                     Collular ,' Radio ! Satellite
                                            tnlmrtmcm
                                                                 Remote Station
                                                                 (multiple sites)

                                                        Meteorological
                                                            OP*

                                                       Communication*
                                                            Module
                                                       BUOY
                                                             Dttwr
                                                          MuHJ
rd
                            Diagram  showing some of the RUSS unit components and illustrating the
                            communication between the  RUSS unit and the land-base station. (Taken
                            from  the  RUSS  System Manual,  available from Apprise Technologies at
                            http://www.apprisetech.com.)
                            The remainder of this chapter highlights the Lake Access Project. The text box
                            below provides some background information on the characteristics of the lakes
                            studied in the Lake Access Project, and it introduces some important  technical
                            terms  relevant to the study of these lakes. The information in this text box was
                            taken  from the Lake Access Web site, which provides extensive online  informa-
                            tion about  lake ecology.  For  more information,  visit these Web  pages  at
                            http://www.lakeaccess.org/ecology/lakeecology.html.

                            3.2   Designing a Time-Relevant Water Quality
                                   Monitoring  Project
                            The first step in developing any water quality monitoring project is to define your
                            objectives. Keep in mind that remote time-relevant monitoring might not be the
                            best method for your organization or community. For  example, you would not
                            likely  require a remote time-relevant monitoring capability  to conduct monthly
                            monitoring to comply with a state or federal regulation.
1 0
                CHAPTER  3

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  Lake Stratification and Lake Mixing
  This text box provides some basic information about the effects of seasonal temperature variations on the
  types of lakes studied by the Lake Access Project team.
  Lakes are directly influenced by fluctuations  in seasonal air temperature.  The following figure shows the
  seasonal activities and  characteristics of lakes, such as Lake Minnetonka  and  Lake Independence in the
  Minneapolis area, with  an annual pattern of two seasonal mixing periods. (Lakes with this pattern of mix-
  ing are known as dimictic lakes.)


                   EARLYSUMMER    LATE SUMMER       EARL/FALL
                SPRING MOVER     WINTER         FALLTURNOVER

               Figure showing the  activities and characteristics of the types of lakes
               studied through the Lake Access Project. (Taken from the Lake Access Web
               site at http://www.lakeaccess.org/ecology/lakeecologyprim4.html).

  Seasonal air temperatures directly affect lake temperatures. Lake temperatures, in turn, affect lake water
  densities. Water is most dense at about 4°C and becomes less dense at higher and lower temperatures.
  The typical  seasonal lake temperature and density characteristics seen in dimictic lakes  are described
  below:
  Summer. During the summer, the lake surface is warmed by the sun, while the lake bottom remains cold.
  These differing temperatures affect lake water density, causing the water in deeper lakes to separate  into
  layers. This  process of separation is called stratification. The figure on page 1 2 shows the following three
  layers of a typical stratified lake:
  •  The epilimnion is the upper layer.  It is warm, well-mixed, and rich in dissolved oxygen.

  •  The mefa/imn/on is also called the thermodine  region. The thermodine is the point of maximum tem-
     perature  change within the metalimnion. In this layer, water temperature declines and density increas-
     es rapidly with depth. The drastic density change in this layer prevents the epilimnion and hypolimnion
     from mixing.

  •  The hypolimnion is the bottom layer of cold water. Because this layer is isolated from the  atmosphere
     and the epilimnion, it becomes cmox/'c (i.e., the water does not contain any dissolved oxygen). Anoxic
     conditions can result in many events, including the release of phosphorus, a nutrient, from the lake  bot-
     tom sediment into the hypolimnion.

  Stratified layers develop different physical  and  chemical characteristics, and support different  types of
  aquatic life.  Lake  stratification usually persists until the fall.
                                                                         (continued on next page)
WATER  QUALITY  MONITORING
1 1

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             THERMAL STRATIFICATION
  Figure showing the three distinct layers of a typical stratified lake.
  (Taken from the Lake Access Web site at http://www.lakeaccess.org/ecology/lakeecologyprim4.html).

  Fall. As air temperatures cool in the fall, the water temperature in the epilimnion cools and water density
  increases. Fall winds mix the lake to greater depths, and the thermocline deepens. Then, when the tem-
  perature and density of the epilimnion approach the temperature and density of the hypolimnion, fall
  winds mix the entire lake. This mixing event is called a turnover.
  Winter.  During the winter, the water temperature in the epilimnion cools even further, until a layer of ice
  forms on the lake surface. Under the ice, the lake again stratifies. Winter stratification differs from summer
  stratification because the temperature in the epilimnion is lower than that of the  hypolimnion, which stays
  at about 4°C throughout the winter. The stratification is also less stable than in the summer, because the
  temperature and density differences between the layers is not large. Because the  ice isolates the lake from
  wind mixing,  however, stratification usually persists throughout the winter. Anoxia occurs at the bottom  of
  most lakes during the winter.
  Spring. During the spring, the water in the epilimnion is heated. As the temperature approaches 4°C, the
  density increases. When the temperature and density of the epilimnion approach that of the hypolimnion,
  very little wind energy is needed to mix the lake. After this turnover, the temperature and density of the
  water in the epilimnion continue to increase until this layer becomes too warm and too buoyant to mix with
  the lower layers.
                           Here are some questions to help determine if remote time-relevant monitoring is
                           appropriate to meet your monitoring objectives:

                           •  What types of questions about water quality would you like to
                              answer, and do you need time-relevant data to answer these ques-
                              tions? For example, do you want to know more about how rapid
                              events, such as urban or agricultural runoff from rainstorms, might
                              affect water quality in your area by stimulating algal blooms?

                           •  If you already have other water quality monitoring projects in place,
                              how would the  addition of time-relevant data enhance them?
1 2
CHAPTER  3

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   For example, would the frequent review of time-relevant data allow you
   to tailor your other monitoring projects to yield more representative
   water quality data or conserve your organization's labor and analytical
   resources
•  How would your community or organization benefit from a time-rel-
   evant monitoring project? For example, would time-relevant data pro-
   vide you with a better opportunity to communicate water quality issues
   to your community?

Designing the Lake Access Project

The Lake Access Project team's decision to collect time-relevant water quality data
using RUSS units grew out of an interest to learn more about rapid, weather-relat-
ed mixing events in Lake Minnetonka. To do so, Minnehaha Creek Watershed
District (MCWD)  and Hennepin Parks required time-relevant water quality data
and the capability  to collect these data remotely. The box on page 14 provides
more information on the design of the Lake Access Project.

3.3    Selecting Your Sampling Frequency
The sampling frequency  you select for your remote time-relevant water quality
monitoring project depends upon your project's objectives. For example:

•  If you want to determine the effects of storm-related nonpoint sources
   on water quality in your area, you could tailor your monitoring fre-
   quency to collect data during storm events.

•  If you want to study a water body affected by tidal flow, you could tai-
   lor your monitoring frequency to collect data during tidal events.

It is appropriate to experiment with different monitoring frequencies to optimize
your ability to fulfill your project's objectives.

Lake Access Project Monitoring Frequency

The Lake Access Project  team typically programs its RUSS units to collect lake
profile samples four times daily. This monitoring frequency enables team mem-
bers to observe short-term changes in lake stratification and water quality, and to
document day-to-night differences for the purpose of teaching basic and  envi-
ronmental science through the Water on the Web curriculum. In order to provide
a high-quality data set for understanding and managing the lakes, the data's  accu-
racy needs to be certified. See the box on page 1 5 for more information.

The Lake Access Project  team can adjust the RUSS unit monitoring frequency
from the land-base station. For example, to allow for a more detailed analysis of
rapid lake mixing, Lake Access team members can program the RUSS unit to col-
lect samples at a greater frequency during severe storm or wind events.

With frequent review of the time-relevant data, the project team has been able to
tailor the frequency of its  manual water quality monitoring projects to yield more
representative  data. For example, the  team can conduct manual monitoring in


WATER  QUALITY  MONITORING                                                        13

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  Using Remote Time-Relevant Monitoring to Study Rapid Lake Mixing
  The remote time-relevant monitoring conducted using RUSS  units  has provided the Lake Access Project
  team with new opportunities for data collection and analysis.
  During several years of water quality  monitoring, Minnehaha Creek Watershed District (MCWD) and
  Hennepin Parks  personnel learned that water quality conditions in  Twin Cities Metropolitan Area (TCAAA)
  lakes varied on an annual basis. Although MCWD  and Hennepin Parks personnel weren't particularly sur-
  prised by this finding, they were quite surprised that the data showed no correlation between water quali-
  ty in TCMA lakes and the characteristics of runoff from  surrounding watersheds. Instead, the data showed
  that mixing events occurring within TCMA lakes seemed to have a  more significant impact on lake water
  quality than the effect of watershed runoff.
  In addition, water quality data collected from  Lake Minnetonka  during several summers showed highly
  variable phosphorus concentrations at the lake bottom. Typically, lake-bottom phosphorus concentrations
  increase steadily throughout the summer as decreased oxygen levels at the hypolimnion cause phospho-
  rus to be released from bottom sediment. At first,  MCWD and Hennepin  Parks personnel assumed their
  highly variable data were caused by sampling error.  If they had accidentally hit the lake bottom during
  manual sampling, they could have inadvertently collected sediment with high phosphorus concentrations.
  However, several years of highly variable phosphorus data convinced them of the improbability of making
  the same sampling mistake year after year!
  MCWD and Hennepin  Parks personnel began to  suspect that weather events, such as strong  winds or
  storms, were causing rapid lake mixing events. They suspected these mixing events were similar to sea-
  sonal mixing that typically occurs in the spring and  fall, but that these events were occurring very  rapidly—
  often in one or two days. As a result, the phosphorous concentration near the  lake bottom decreased, and
  the phosphorous concentration in the upper layer of the lake, where sunlight penetrates, increased, there-
  by promoting  algae growth.
  MCWD and Hennepin Parks personnel  realized they could  not test the validity of their theory using their
  "traditional" methods for monitoring water quality for the following reasons:
  •  Rapid lake mixing events  typically occur during  strong winds or  storms. Field personnel could not col-
     lect manual water quality samples to document these rapid mixing events because of safety  concerns
     associated  with working on lakes during severe  weather.
  •  Lake mixing events can occur rapidly, and algae growth can double in one  day under prime conditions.
     MCWD  and Hennepin Parks could not provide the laboratory or analytical resources to conduct water
     quality monitoring at the short intervals required to fully document these types of rapid events.
  As you will  read  in this chapter, remote time-relevant monitoring has allowed the Lake Access Project team
  to document and study rapid lake mixing events in Lake Minnetonka.
                            Halsteds Bay immediately after documenting a rapid mixing event with time-rel-
                            evant data. The team can then use the data collected through manual monitoring
                            to determine the effect of the mixing event on the lake.

                            3.4   Selecting Water Quality Parameters for
                                   Monitoring
                            Your selection of time-relevant monitoring parameters depends on your project's
                            objectives and on the remote time-relevant technologies available to you. To sat-
                            isfy the objectives of the Lake Access Project, the project team chose to monitor


14                                                                                CHAPTERS

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  Data Quality Assurance and Quality Control (QA/QC)
  QA/QC procedures ensure that data are accurate, precise, and  consistent. QA/QC involves following
  established rules in the field and in the laboratory to ensure that samples are representative of the water
  you are monitoring, free from contamination, and  analyzed following standard  procedures. (Chapter 4,
  section 4.4, provides additional information on standard QA/QC analysis procedures used by the Lake
  Access Project.)

  The Lake Access Project uses two types of water quality data:

  1.  Time-relevant data collected with a YSI  multiprobe water quality sensor controlled by the RUSS unit.

  2.  "Conventional" data collected by trained field staff, including manual measurements with a YSI multi-
     probe water quality sensor, as well as the collection of water samples analyzed at a laboratory.

  Many state and federal monitoring projects use YSI multiprobe or similar water quality sensors. To ensure
  the QA/QC of data  collected with these sensors,  the  Lake Access  Project team follows manufacturer's
  instructions for sensor calibration and maintenance. (See Section 3.9 for more information on the calibra-
  tion and maintenance procedures followed by the team.) To ensure the QA/QC of "conventional" data, the
  Lake Access  Project  team follows guidelines set forth by the U.S.  EPA and American Public Health
  Association, in addition to those set forth  by the Minnesota Department of Health.

  The team also has several years of experience identifying systematic errors associated with sensor deteri-
  oration, or biofouling, that occurs when algae,  bacteria, and fungi grow on the sensor while it is  continu-
  ally submerged in water beneath the  RUSS unit.

  The  Lake  Access Web site provides  more  information  about  the team's  QA/QC  procedures
  at    http://www.lakeaccess.org/QAQC.html.   EPA's   publication  The    Volunteer   Monitor's
  Guide to Qualify Assurance  Project Plans provides more information on QA/QC plans for monitoring
  projects.  For  more  information  on  this guide, visit  http://www.epa.gov/owowwtrl/monitoring/
  volunteer/qappexec.htm.
five basic water quality parameters on a time-relevant basis: temperature, pH, dis-
solved oxygen, electrical conductivity, and turbidity.

The Lake Access Project team uses time-relevant measurements of temperature,
dissolved oxygen, and electrical conductivity as indicators of lake stratification
and rapid mixing events. When summer lake stratification is stable, parameter
measurements typically show the following:

•  Temperature at the lake surface is about 4° to 5° warmer than tempera-
   ture at the lake bottom, and a thermocline region exists with a temper-
   ature gradient of greater than 1 ° C per meter.

•  Dissolved oxygen in the upper mixed layer is nearly saturated. Below
   the thermocline, dissolved oxygen decreases very rapidly and most of
   the hypolimnion is completely anoxic until fall overturn.

•  Electrical conductivity tends to be higher below the thermocline, and it
   increases as the summer progresses due to the release of carbon dioxide
   and other ions from decomposing organic matter.

Immediately after a rapid lake mixing event, time-relevant measurements of tem-
perature, dissolved oxygen, and electrical conductivity are nearly identical at the


WATER QUALITY MONITORING                                                      15

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                             lake surface and the lake bottom. In addition, the Lake Access Project team usu-
                             ally observes increased turbidity measurements in the lake's upper layer, where
                             sunlight penetrates as algae growth increases because of the additional phospho-
                             rus mixed into the upper layer. The project team will often collect manual sam-
                             ples for laboratory analyses of additional parameters immediately after a mixing
                             event to learn more about the effects of the event on the lake.

                             The Lake Access Web site at http://www.lakeaccess.org/russ/ contains descrip-
                             tions of time-relevant water quality parameters measured through the Lake Access
                             project and the significance of their measurements. The  descriptions are briefly
                             summarized in the box on page 17.

  Making the Most of Your Time-Relevant Water Quality Data
  Currently, your organization will find a limited number  of cost-effective time-relevant monitoring technolo-
  gies available. Also keep in mind that time-relevant data might  not be as accurate, precise, or consistent
  as "conventional" laboratory analytical data. You will want to carefully consider how your project will use
  time-relevant data  and make the most of the time-relevant monitoring parameters you select.
  In designing your program, think about how you could use time-relevant measurements of certain param-
  eters as indicators of the phenomena you wish to document. For example, depending  on your water body's
  characteristics and  the location of your monitoring equipment, you could use turbidity and  dissolved oxy-
  gen measurements as indicators of an algae bloom. Then you could learn more about the bloom by con-
  ducting manual monitoring of parameters that might not currently be available to you on a cost-effective,
  time-relevant basis (e.g.,  chlorophyll-a,  phosphorus,  nitrogen). Another example  might  involve  using
  time-relevant measurements of turbidity and electrical conductivity to trace the influx of streams laden with
  higher  loads of  particulate  (as  indicated by turbidity) and  dissolved solids  (as indicated by electrical
  conductivity).


                             3.5   Selecting Monitoring Equipment
                             Your selection of remote  time-relevant water  quality monitoring equipment
                             depends on  your project's objectives. When selecting monitoring equipment,
                             you should also consider  equipment  lifetime,  reliability,  and  maintenance
                             requirements.

                             Lake Access Equipment Selection

                             The Lake Access Team selected the RUSS unit to provide  the capability to collect
                             time-relevant water quality data remotely. This capability has provided the Lake
                             Access Project team with new opportunities for data collection and analysis:

                             •  The daily collection of multiple depth profiles enables personnel to
                               view characteristics of lake stratification and metabolism on a daily
                               basis.

                             •  Because the remote equipment can collect and analyze water  samples
                               over frequent time intervals and during severe weather conditions, the
                               Lake Access Project team can document lake mixing episodes. In some
                               instances, some bays of Lake Minnetonka can completely mix in a 24-
                               hour period. Scientists had discussed the potential for  this type of rapid
16                                                                                  CHAPTERS

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   mixing to occur, and other organizations had attempted to document
   these events by conducting monitoring on a daily basis, but Lake
   Access is the first project to successfully measure and document this
   phenomenon in Lake Minnetonka.


  Lake Access Time-Relevant Water Quality Parameters
  Temperature. Temperature has a direct effect on biological activity and the growth of aquatic organisms
  because most aquatic organisms are "cold-blooded" (i.e., they cannot regulate their core body tempera-
  tures). Temperature also affects biological activity by influencing  lake water chemistry. For example,
  because warm water holds less oxygen than cold water, it might not contain enough oxygen to support
  some types of aquatic life.
  pH.  pH  is a measure of the acidity of the water. A pH of 7 is neutral. Values lower than 7 are acidic and
  higher than 7 are basic. Many important chemical and biological reactions are strongly affected by pH. In
  turn, chemical reactions and biological  processes (e.g., photosynthesis and  respiration) can affect pH.
  Lower pH values can increase the amount of dissolved metals in the water, increasing the toxicity of these
  metals.
  Dissolved oxygen. The concentration of dissolved oxygen in water determines the number and type of
  aquatic organisms that can live in the water. Dissolved oxygen must be present at adequate concentrations
  to sustain these organisms.
  Electrical conductivity. Electrical conductivity is an estimator of the amount of total dissolved salts or total
  dissolved ions in water. Many factors influence the electrical conductivity of lake water, including the water-
  shed's geology, the watershed's  size in relation to lake's size, wastewater from point sources, runoff from
  nonpoint sources, atmospheric inputs,  evaporation  rates,  and  some types of bacterial  metabolism.
  Electrical conductivity is also a function of temperature; therefore,  RUSS data are "standardized" to 25°  C.
  Turbidity. Turbidity describes the  clarity of water. Turbidity increases as the  amount of total suspended
  solids in  the  water  increases. Increased turbidity  measurements  might have several  adverse effects on
  lakes, including the  following:
  •  If light penetration  is reduced  significantly, growth of aquatic plants and organisms can  decrease.
     Reduced photosynthesis can result in decreased daytime releases of oxygen into the water.
  •  Particles of silt, clay, and other  organic materials can  settle to the lake bottom, suffocate eggs and/or
     newly hatched  larvae, and fill in potential areas of habitat for aquatic organisms.
  •  Turbidity can affect fish populations.  Increased turbidity can reduce the ability of predators,  such  as
     northern pike and muskellunge, to locate prey—shifting fish populations to  species that feed at the lake
     bottom.
  •  Fine particulate material can affect aquatic organisms by clogging or damaging their sensitive gill struc-
     tures, decreasing their resistance to disease, preventing proper egg and larval development, and poten-
     tially  interfering with particle feeding activities.
  •  Increased inputs  of organic particles, either produced from plant growth  in the lake or washed in from
     the watershed, can deplete oxygen as the organic particles decompose.
  •  Increased turbidity raises the cost of treating surface water for the drinking  water supply.
The RUSS  unit,  developed  through a  cooperative effort between Apprise
Technologies and the University of Minnesota, performs remote water quality
monitoring  using commercially  available  monitoring sensors. The  sensors

WATER QUALITY  MONITORING                                                      17

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                              The Lake Access Project: A Success Story
                              Prior to initiation of the Lake Access Project, a feasibility study was conduct-
                              ed to identify methods for improving Halsteds Bay's water quality. The study
                              concluded  that a $5.5  million project focusing  on watershed  restoration
                              and  improvement was necessary to accomplish this task. (This  restoration
                              project was not implemented.) Since that study, the Lake Access  Project has
                              shown  that rapid  weather-related  mixing events  cause the  release of
                              approximately 10  times  more  phosphorus to  the epilimnion than  runoff
                              events  from the surrounding watershed. The  sediments are providing a
                              reservoir of phosphorus from historical  pollution that will take decades to
                              flush out.
                              The  Lake Access Project has  provided valuable information—watershed
                              management  alone will not  improve  the water quality  of  Twin  Cities
                              Metropolitan  Area  lakes  in  all cases. With a greater understanding  of  the
                              characteristics and causes of phosphorus concentrations in these lakes,  the
                              Lake Access  Project team can  apply  appropriate  lake  management and
                              water treatment strategies to improve water quality, and apply them  with a
                              much higher  potential for success.
                             transmit time-relevant water quality data to a computer onboard the unit. Using
                             wireless communication, the RUSS  unit can both receive programming  and
                             transmit data to a land-base station.

                             The RUSS unit consists of a mobile underwater monitoring sensor tethered to a
                             module that floats on the water surface. The flotation module contains batteries;
                             solar panels;   telemetry  equipment;  and  a Remote Programming, Data
                             Acquisition, and Retrieval (RePDAR) unit. A diagram of the RUSS unit is  pre-
                             sented on page  19. This diagram, which shows the flotation module, tethered pro-
                             filer, and three-line unit anchoring system, was taken from  the RUSS  System
                             Manual. For more information about Apprise Technologies and the RUSS unit,
                             visit http://www.apprisetech.com.

                             RePDAR Unit. The RePDAR unit allows for remote water quality monitoring
                             sensor operation, data storage, and data transmission. Each RePDAR unit con-
                             tains a central processing unit (CPU), power supply  charging  controls,  and
                             telemetry modules enclosed in a watertight resin case. The RePDAR unit enables
                             the user to:

                             •  Collect, process, and store data at user-specified intervals.

                             •  Transmit data to the  land-base station via wireless communication
                               systems, including cellular, radio, satellite, or 900 MHz.

                             •  Program the RUSS Unit from the land-base station.

                             •  Operate the RUSS Unit in the field with a portable computer.

                             •  Call the land-base station or an  emergency telephone number when a
                               water quality monitoring sensor parameter exceeds a user-specified
                               range.

18                                                                                  CHAPTERS

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Diagram of RUSS unit, showing the flotation module, tethered profiler, and
three-line anchoring system. (Taken from the RUSS System Manual, available
from Apprise Technologies at http://www.apprisetech.com.)
Flotation module. The flotation module is a yellow, three-armed, floating buoy.

Profiler. The RUSS unit profiler is controlled by the RePDAR unit. The profiler
carries the water quality monitoring sensor to multiple depths within the water
column beneath the flotation module. A special profiler cable transmits power
and buoyancy-control protocols from the RePDAR unit to the profiler and trans-
mits data from the water quality monitoring sensor to the RePDAR unit.

An illustration of the profiler is presented on page 20.

Field controller. The field controller is used during the field service mode of oper-
ation. With the field controller, you can manually move the profiler and connect
a portable computer to the water quality monitoring  sensor and the RePDAR
unit without removing the electronics hatch cover. The field controller consists of
a small patch box with a receptacle for the profiler cable and a connector plug for
the electronics hatch cover.

Software.  The  RUSS unit can be operated with two Apprise  Technologies
software programs:

•  RUSS-Base, which allows you to operate  the RUSS unit remotely using
   a computer at your land-base station.  (See Chapter 4 for information
   about using RUSS-Base software.)

•  CONSOLE, which allows you to operate the RUSS unit using a
   portable computer in the field.
WATER  QUALITY  MONITORING
1 9

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                                   Wet Cylinder Purge Valve

                                        Wet Cylinder

                                     Top Plate
                                                                       Main Rods
Dry Cylinder
                                        Screw Clamp

                                      Bottom Plate
                                                                                         Ballast Rod
                                                                                         Ballast Weight
                              RUSS  unit profiler.  (Taken from the RUSS System Manual, available from
                              Apprise Technologies at http://www.apprisetech.com.)


                              3.6   Siting Monitors
                              You should select monitoring locations that best fulfill the  objectives  of your
                              remote time-relevant water quality monitoring project; however, you will need to
                              consider several factors when making your  final  siting  decisions. Consider the
                              checklist of questions on page 21 when choosing your location:

                              Siting the Lake Access Project Monitoring Locations

                              The Lake Access Project team selected three locations for siting RUSS units:

                              •  Halsteds Bay in Lake Minnetonka, which receives runoff from a large
                                 watershed of both agricultural and urban residential land use. Because
                                 of nutrient loading from the runoff, the water quality in Halsteds  Bay
                                 is poor. Halsteds Bay is subject to rapid weather-related mixing during
                                 the summer because of its relatively shallow depth (about 9-10 meters).

                              •  West Upper Lake in Lake Minnetonka, which is much deeper than
                                 Halsteds Bay and has much better water quality. This basin receives
                                 runoff only from the area immediately adjacent to its shoreline. Because
                                 it is deeper than Halsteds Bay and has lower algal growth, West Upper
                                 Lake does not experience the same types of rapid weather-related mix-
                                 ing events.
20
 CHAPTER  3

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  Monitoring Site-Selection Checklist
  Q  Are the time-relevant data you collect at these locations likely to fulfill
      your project's objectives?  Specifically, what questions will you be  able
      to answer with your data, and how will the answers assist you with ful-
      filling your objectives?
  Q  Will  people  in your  community support equipment installation  and
      remote time-relevant monitoring at your locations?
  Q  Will  monitoring equipment at your locations pose a  potential danger
      to the people in your community? For example, are your  monitoring
      locations near heavily trafficked areas of the water body?
  Q  Will  monitoring equipment be safe at your locations? In other words,
      will  equipment be  especially susceptible to vandalism, tampering,  or
      damage?
  Q  What local, state, or federal regulations will you need to consider when
      choosing your locations?
  Q  Is flexibility important to  your  project?  Would you like the option  to
      move your monitoring equipment to different locations, or would you
      like to monitor at several  locations concurrently?
  Q  Do  you  foresee any  site-specific problems with  installing, operating,
      and  maintaining your monitoring  equipment  at these locations? Do
      these locations pose any safety hazards to your personnel?
  Q  Can you adequately survey and assess your locations? What equip-
      ment-specific considerations will you need to make?


•  Lake Independence, which lies within the metropolitan region but
   receives primarily agricultural runoff. The water quality conditions in
   Lake Independence are intermediate to the conditions in Halsteds Bay
   and West Upper Lake.

The map below shows the locations of these three monitoring stations.
                                                            4  Miles
                    3
WATER  QUALITY  MONITORING
2 1

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                             The Lake Access Team selected these three locations for the following reasons:

                             •  The team can study data spanning the range of water quality condi-
                                tions typically seen in Twin Cities Metropolitan Area (TCMA) lakes.

                             •  MCWD conducts manual monitoring of the runoff to Halsteds Bay.
                                The combination of these data, historical watershed-based land use and
                                cultural data, and the Lake Access time-relevant water quality data from
                                Halsteds Bay allows MCWD  to study the link between land use pat-
                                terns and bay water quality.

                             •  Data from Halsteds Bay allow the Lake Access team to study the rapid
                                weather-related mixing events that transport phosphorus from the lake
                                bottom to the lake's upper layer.

                             •  By comparing data from  Halsteds Bay and West Upper Lake,  the Lake
                                Access team is able to determine how differences in lake basin shape
                                and depth can produce dramatic differences in lake water quality,
                                which  in turn affect watershed and lake management decisions.

                             Before making final siting decisions, the Lake Access Project team met with com-
                             munity members to ensure their  approval of proposed monitoring locations. The
                             team decided against one proposed location because community members had
                             concerns  that  monitoring  equipment  might  interfere with  lake recreational
                             opportunities or adversely affect  the lake's appearance.

                             The team also met with local agencies to ensure that the proposed monitoring
                             locations  complied with  local regulations. To comply with boater safety regula-
                             tions, the  Lake Access team could not locate RUSS units in main lake traffic areas.
                             As a result, the locations are closer to shore than the project team would have pre-
                             ferred. The Lake Access  Project  team was required to obtain navigational buoy
                             permits from the county-level sheriff's office before installing the RUSS units.

                             The team also considered siting requirements specific to  the  RUSS units. The
                             RUSS System Manual provides  guidance on properly siting these  units.  Before
                             installation, the manual recommends a site characterization survey consisting of
                             the following:

                             •  Maximum depth measurement. You will need to make these measure-
                                ments  when installing the RUSS unit profiler. The manual recom-
                                mends several depth measurements within a 6-meter radius  of the
                                deployment location to account for local depth variations. If the water
                                body you are monitoring fluctuates in depth, you must update the
                                maximum depth in the profiler program. The profiler will sustain dam-
                                age from repeated contact with the bottom of the water body.

                             •  Depth contour assessment. Depth contour measurements will assist you
                                with deploying the RUSS unit anchoring system. The manual recom-
                                mends depth measurements in concentric circles surrounding  the
                                deployment location to generate a rough contour map of the anchoring
                                site.
22                                                                                    CHAPTERS

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   Bottom type assessment. You might need to assess the material at the
   bottom of the water body to ensure proper anchoring of the RUSS
   unit. Different types of anchor designs are available for different bot-
   tom types.

   Signal strength assessment for the data telemetry device. You will need
   to ensure that cellular signal strength is reliable or radio telemetry is
   possible at the location.

   Temporary site marking. You should mark the assessed location to
   ensure that the RUSS unit is deployed in the proper location.

  The Lake Access Project: Looking Ahead
  Hennepin  Parks would like to conduct future remote time-relevant monitor-
  ing with a RUSS unit in a shallow area of Lake Minnetonka where boating
  occurs. Lake Minnetonka is one of the most heavily used lakes for boating
  in  the United States. Hennepin Parks would  use  the time-relevant data to
  study the magnitude at which boat traffic stirs up bottom sediments and the
  impact these events have on the lake's water quality. If data indicate that
  boat traffic adversely affects lake water quality, Hennepin Parks would
  advocate no-wake zones in near-shore areas to maintain ecosystem health.
3.7   Installing  RUSS Units
This section summarizes some of the basic RUSS unit installation procedures.
These procedures were taken from the RUSS  System Manual, available from
Apprise Technologies at http://www.apprisetech.com. You will need to consult
this manual for detailed step-by-step installation guidance.

Unpacking and inspecting the RUSS unit

The first step to installing a RUSS unit is unpacking and inspecting the unit. You
should follow these procedures when receiving the unit:

1.  Remove the packing material surrounding the flotation module. Take
   care when removing the packing material, as some items might have
   shifted during shipment.

2.  Remove the solar panels and solar panel blank (if included) from each
   arm of the flotation module.

3.  Remove the electronics  hatch cover to access the dry compartment
   inside one arm of the flotation module, and remove all items located in
   the compartment.

4.  Using the enclosed packing slip, perform an inventory of all items. If
   you are missing any items,  contact Apprise Technologies.

5.  Conduct a thorough visual inspection of all items.  If you observe any
   damage, contact Apprise Technologies and the carrier.


WATER  QUALITY   MONITORING                                                      23

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                              Preparing and assembling the RUSS units

                              You will need to conduct a series of preparation and assembly activities on land,
                              on shore, and at the RUSS unit deployment location. Complete the following
                              activities on land:

                              •  Ensure your battery(ies) is charged.

                              •  Assemble and connect the arms of the flotation module.

                              •  Install the light and antenna.

                              •  Attach the barrier float anchoring cables.

                              •  Secure an appropriately sized line for towing the unit to the deploy-
                                ment site.

                              •  Calibrate your water quality monitoring sensor according to manufac-
                                turer's instructions.

                              •  Install the Apprise Technologies RUSS-Base software program on your
                                land-base station computer.

                              •  Install the Apprise Technologies CONSOLE software program on your
                                field portable computer.

                              Once you have completed the on-land assembly of the RUSS  unit, you will need
                              to transport it to a shore-side location  suitable for working on  the unit. Complete
                              the following activities on shore:

                              •  Position your battery(ies) and the RePDAR unit within the dry com-
                                partment.

                              •  Position and connect the two solar panels.

                              •  Assemble the electrical system.

                              •  Connect the RePDAR unit to the electrical system.

                              •  Connect the profiler.

                              •  Place the  unit in the field service mode of operation and perform elec-
                                trical testing. For more information on the field service mode of opera-
                                tion, see section 3.8.

                              When you have completed your electrical tests, you should disconnect the profil-
                              er and field controller and install your remaining solar panel or solar panel blank
                              on the arm with the dry compartment. You are now ready to  tow the RUSS unit
                              to your monitoring location. When you tow the unit, take the  water quality mon-
                              itoring sensor, the profiler (with its ballast weights), and the field controller with
                              you in the boat.

                              Anchoring the RUSS unit

                              When you reach the deployment location, you will anchor your RUSS unit. Your
                              anchoring system must meet the following requirements:

24                                                                                    CHAPTERS

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•  The system must maintain the flotation module in a fixed location and
   prevent excessive drifting.

•  Anchoring lines must maintain proper tension in all water conditions.

•  Anchoring lines should not enter the water column below the flotation
   module (i.e., the working area of the profiler).

Apprise Technologies recommends a  three-line anchoring  system to provide
dynamic control of the flotation module while maintaining proper orientation at
the deployment location.  A diagram  of the recommended anchoring system's
components is presented below.
                                                               Flotation Module
                                                 Barrier Float Anchor Cable
                           Variable Buoyancy Anchoring Cable

                            Variable Buoyancy Anchor
*7\ ,

\
/

•


1 A
.
            Terminus Anchoring Cable
hea of Operation
     of the
    Profiler
    Terminus
     Anchor
Diagram of the recommended anchoring system components (only one of the three lines is illustrated).
(Taken from the RUSS System Manual, available from Apprise Technologies at http://www.apprisetech.com.)

Each anchoring  line  of the recommended system  contains  the following
components:

•  Barrier float anchoring cable—A 5-foot stainless steel cable of 3/16-
   inch diameter or greater connecting the flotation module to the barrier
   float.

•  Barrier float—A small flotation buoy connecting the barrier float
   anchoring cable and the variable buoyancy anchoring cable. The three
   barrier float buoys (one on each line) can be essential for locating  the
   RUSS unit during rough wave conditions.
WATER  QUALITY  MONITORING
                     25

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                               Variable buoyancy anchoring cable—A cable connecting the barrier
                               float to the variable buoyancy anchor.

                               Variable buoyancy anchor—Located between the barrier float and the
                               terminus anchor. The variable buoyancy anchor provides tension in
                               both the variable buoyancy anchoring cable and the terminus anchor-
                               ing cable.

                               Terminus anchoring cable—A cable connecting the variable buoyancy
                               anchor to the terminus anchor.

                               Terminus anchor—A device used to fix the end of the terminus anchor-
                               ing cable to the bottom of the water body. The type of terminus anchor
                               you use depends on the type of material at  the bottom of the water
                               body. As part of the survey and assessment  of the monitoring location
                               you conduct before installation and deployment, you determine this
                               type  of material and select a suitable anchor.
                              Anchoring the Lake Access Project RUSS Units
                              The Lake  Access  Project team  experienced  difficulty  with  its  RUSS  unit
                              anchoring system during the first year the units were deployed. The system
                              allowed the RUSS units to drift,  and the  anchoring lines tangled with  one
                              another and with the profiler unit. In addition, the terminus anchors were
                              too heavy to move by hand, so field personnel had to use a barge  and
                              crane to move  and retrieve them. As a solution, the team installed a three-
                              line anchoring  system.
                              The Lake Access Project team  is pleased with  the current recommended
                              three-line anchoring system. RUSS  unit drifting has been  minimized.  The
                              anchor lines remain tense and have not tangled with  one another or inter-
                              fered with the profiler operation. In addition, the terminus anchors are sized
                              so team members can move them by hand. The Lake Access Project team
                              has also replaced the steel anchoring  cables with  suitably sized rope
                              because personnel have cut their hands  on the steel cables while moving
                              the anchors.
                            Deploying the profiler

                            When your RUSS unit is anchored, you will connect your water quality moni-
                            toring sensor to the profiler and deploy the profiler by following these general
                            steps:

                            1.  Measure the length of profiler cable to match the maximum depth of
                               the deployment site plus two meters.  As part of your survey and assess-
                               ment of the monitoring location before installation and deployment,
                               you will have determined the maximum depth. If the water body fluc-
                               tuates in depth, you must update the maximum depth in the profiler
                               program. The profiler will sustain damage from repeated contact with
                               the bottom of the water body.

26                                                                                 CHAPTERS

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2. Connect the profiler cable to the profiler and the electrical system.

3. Fill the profiler's wet cylinder with water and place ballast weights on
   the ballasting rods to achieve zero profiler buoyancy and vertical sus-
   pension.

4. Place the unit in the field service mode of operation and test the profil-
   er movement. For more information on the field service mode of opera-
   tion, see section 3.8.

Once your profiler testing is complete, your RUSS unit is ready for operation!

3.8    Operating RUSS Units
Although RUSS  units are  designed for remote operation from a land-base station,
you can also operate them in the field. (See Chapter 4, section 4.2, for more infor-
mation about communicating with your RUSS unit from the land-base station.)
This section summarizes  the basic  procedures for operating your RUSS unit in
field service mode. These  procedures were taken from the RUSS System Manual,
available from  Apprise  Technologies  at  http://www.apprisetech.com.  You
will need to consult this manual for detailed step-by-step field service operation
guidance.

Field service operation

The  RUSS unit's field service mode of operation allows you to monitor the unit
during  deployment and  in emergency situations. You will need the following
equipment to operate your RUSS unit in field service mode:

•  The key to the RUSS  unit's electronics hatch cover

•  The field controller

•  A portable computer running Apprise Technologies CONSOLE
   software

•  A null-modem computer cable

Follow these steps to enter the field service  mode of operation:

1. Connect the field controller to the RePDAR unit.

2. With the null-modem cable, connect your portable computer to the
   field controller.

3. Set the field controller rotary switches to enable communication
   between the RePDAR unit and your portable computer, and to enable
   automatic movement of the profiler.

4. Turn the electronics hatch cover key to SERVICE to provide power to
   the RePDAR unit.
WATER  QUALITY  MONITORING                                                       27

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                             Your portable computer, with the CONSOLE software running, will act as your
                             window to the RePDAR unit. Shortly after you provide power to the RePDAR
                             unit, it will initialize. You will notice a 10-second pause after the initialization.
                             You have two options during this pause:

                             Option 1.   If you need to perform an emergency download of data in the
                                         RePDAR unit's memory, you can press M during the pause.
                                         (You will not need a password for this emergency download,
                                         but you will need to send the binary data file to Apprise
                                         Technologies or an authorized service site to have the file con-
                                         verted to standard format.)

                             Option 2.   You can press L to log in during the pause. If you do not pro-
                                         vide a password, you will be able to perform only deployment
                                         and hardware setup functions. If you enter the Level 1 pass-
                                         word, you will have access to stored data.  If you enter the
                                         Level 2 password, you will be able to make changes to the
                                         profiler and telemetry setup. If you do not log in during the
                                         pause, the software will prompt you for the appropriate pass-
                                         word when you try to access any protected information.

                             After the 10-second pause, the RePDAR unit will enter the Main Setup menu. In
                             this menu, you can access, review, and enter the following information:

                             •  Current time and date

                             •  Profiler schedule and depth

                             •  Water quality monitoring sensor type

                             •  RS-232 baud rate

                             •  Modem baud rate and initialization strings

                             •  RUSS unit call sign and location

                             •  Data access and programming passwords

                             Under the main menu's Data Access option, press A to see a screen display of the
                             stored data. As you view this display,  the CONSOLE software will automatically
                             capture these data to a file identified  by the RUSS unit's call sign.

                             Under the main menu's Proceed to Hardware Init option, you can initialize the
                             RUSS  unit hardware according to the configuration you selected. When the ini-
                             tialization is complete, you will see a brief status report for each RUSS unit sub-
                             system (e.g., the profiler, the water quality monitoring sensor, the modem) on
                             your portable computer screen.  The status report screen will allow you to do the
                             following:

                             •  View the programmed configuration, including the time, date, and the
                                RUSS unit's call sign and location.

                             •  View the battery voltage.
28                                                                                    CHAPTERS

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•  View the results of the RePDAR unit's attempts to establish a link with
   the water quality monitoring sensor.

•  Test  profiler operation by pressing (P)ark, (S)tartprofile, or (H)alt.

m  View modem information and test commands.

•  Test  the modem link quality by calling a preprogrammed telephone
   number. You will be able to view a modem status message of the call's
   progress.

Setting up the water quality  monitoring sensor

In addition to properly calibrating your water quality monitoring sensor accord-
ing to manufacturer's instructions, you will need to take the following steps to
ensure your equipment operates properly:

•  In the RUSS unit field mode of operation, confirm the programmed
   water quality monitoring sensor type and proper units of measurement
   and ensure that sensor operation is enabled.

•  You should set the interval between  sampling to a minimum of 3 sec-
   onds to ensure reliable profiler operation.

•  Water quality monitoring sensors usually have two distinct modes of
   operation: the menu system is used for calibration and setup, and the
   data string mode is used during monitoring.  You will need to make
   sure your sensor is in the proper operation mode.

Lake Access Project RUSS  unit operation

The Lake Access Project team programs its RUSS units to collect sample profiles
at 1-meter intervals four times daily. Profiles  begin at the lake  surface at 12:00
p.m.,  6:00 p.m., 12:00 a.m., and 6:00  a.m. Data are typically transferred to the
land-base station each morning.

Apprise Technologies has altered the internal program for the Lake Access Project
RUSS units to  allow for a 5-minute delay between profiler movement and sam-
ple collection. This delay allows the YSI multiprobe water quality sensor to equil-
ibrate to the different water temperature and dissolved oxygen conditions at each
depth. Once the sensor has equilibrated,  parameter measurement  takes about 3
minutes.

When the sampling profile  is complete, the profiler parks at a depth programmed
by the Lake Access Project  team. Parking depth is selected to place the sensor in
the area of lowest light without placing it in the anoxic water layer.

3.9    Maintaining RUSS  Units
You will likely focus most of your scheduled equipment maintenance on cleaning
and calibrating your water quality monitoring sensors to  meet your project's
QA/QC protocols. The required effort and frequency for this maintenance will
depend on the types  of sensors you use and the water quality conditions at your

WATER  QUALITY  MONITORING                                                        29

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                              monitoring locations. In addition to water quality monitoring sensor cleaning
                              and calibration,  you might  need to perform  scheduled maintenance on your
                              RUSS unit. Required maintenance will depend on factors specific to your proj-
                              ect, your community, and your monitoring locations.

                              Lake Access Project Maintenance Activities

                              Lake Access  Project maintenance activities include cleaning and calibrating the
                              YSI multiprobe water quality sensors, maintaining a RUSS-unit bird deterrent
                              system, removing the RUSS  units during lake  freezing and thawing conditions,
                              reinstalling the units following these conditions, and repairing damaged or van-
                              dalized RUSS units.

                              Monitoring sensor maintenance and calibration

                              The  Lake  Access Project team cleans and calibrates the YSI multiprobe water
                              quality sensors on the three RUSS units every 1  to 4 weeks. The accuracy and pre-
                              cision of data derived from water quality monitoring instruments depend on
                              sound instrument calibration procedures. (Accuracy is the extent to which meas-
                              urements represent their corresponding actual values, and precision is a measure-
                              ment of the variability observed upon duplicate collection or repeated analysis.)

                              Sensor  cleaning and calibration is a multistep  activity that begins with  the fol-
                              lowing steps:

                              1.  Traveling to the monitoring location.

                              2.  Collecting a manual water quality profile near the unit using a YSI
                                 multiprobe water quality sensor identical to the one used on the RUSS
                                 unit.

                              3-  Placing the RUSS unit in the field service mode of operation and man-
                                 ually moving  the profiler to collect a water quality profile.

                              4.  Manually moving the RUSS profiler to the surface.

                              5.  Removing the sensor from the profiler and manually moving the profil-
                                 er to its parking depth.

                              6.  Transporting the sensor to the laboratory.

                              At the laboratory, a set of known parameter standards are measured with the sen-
                              sor. By comparing these sensor measurements with the known standards and by
                              comparing the two  manual water quality measurements taken in the field, the
                              Lake Access Project team can more accurately estimate the amount of error asso-
                              ciated with recent sensor measurements and determine the quality of recently col-
                              lected data.

                              Lake Access Project personnel clean,  calibrate, and inspect the multiprobe sensors
                              according to detailed instructions provided by YSI. The sensors are carefully and
                              thoroughly cleaned  to remove algae and other  organisms  that cause sensor
30                                                                                    CHAPTERS

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biofouling. The pH, conductivity,  and turbidity meters are  calibrated against
known standard solutions. To ensure accurate calibration, the team selected these
standards in ranges at which the parameters are typically detected in the field. The
temperature meter is calibrated against the temperature in the laboratory. The dis-
solved oxygen meter is calibrated using a YSI calibration cup. The depth probe is
calibrated out of water to a depth of zero.

CjPTip.  Although cleaning  and calibration  activities can occur in the field,
           Lake Access Project personnel  prefer to  calibrate the monitoring
           sensors within the laboratory's  controlled  environment. Because of
           temperature changes in the field, the sensors can take a long time
           to  equilibrate—even  if they are submerged  in a  bucket of water.
           Overall, the Lake Access Team has found that the entire cleaning
           and  calibration activity  takes longer in the field  than in  the
           laboratory.
Lake Access personnel complete the cleaning and calibration activity by:

1.  Traveling to the monitoring location.

2.  Placing the  unit in the field service mode of operation and manually
   moving the profiler to the surface.

3.  Connecting the sensor to the profiler, placing the RePDAR unit in the
   ON position, and removing the key to the electronics hatch cover.
   When the key is removed, the RePDAR unit will move the profiler to
   its parking position and resume normal RUSS unit  operation.

Lake Access Project personnel are able to complete sensor cleaning and calibration
activities on the three RUSS units on Lake Minnetonka and Lake Independence
in  1 day, unless a sensor component requires repair or replacement.
  Resolving Calibration Issues
  Because of water quality conditions in Lake Minnetonka and Lake Independence, the Lake Access Project
  team  has  had some difficulty maintaining the calibration  of the units' dissolved oxygen  meters. During
  summer months, the team noticed significant errors in dissolved  oxygen measurements.  Sometimes the
  team  had  to calibrate the dissolved oxygen  meters every 7  to 10 days.
  The Lake Access Project team had typically parked the RUSS unit profilers at 5  meters  deep—below the
  sunlit  layer of the lake—to reduce the rate of algae growth and subsequent biofouling of the sensors. Lake
  stratification can make Twin Cities Metropolitan Area (TCMA) lakes anoxic  below 3 meters deep. In the
  anoxic area, the level of hydrogen sulfide in the water increases. Lake Access team members began to sus-
  pect that the hydrogen sulfide in the anoxic zone was reacting with the potassium chloride in the dissolved
  oxygen probe, causing the calibration to rapidly decay. The team raised the profiler parking depth to 3
  meters—out of the anoxic zone,  but still deep enough to reduce the rate of sensor biofouling during the
  summer months.
  During the winter, the Lake Access Project team typically reprograms the profilers to park at 5 meters deep
  because, during these months, this level of the lake is dark but remains well oxygenated.
WATER  QUALITY MONITORING                                                       31

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                             Bird deterrence

                             Some birds love to land on RUSS units! So many birds landed on the Lake Access
                             Project  units that guano covered the solar panels, preventing adequate battery
                             charging. Team members sometimes had to clean the solar panels daily.

                             To prevent this nuisance and ensure  adequate battery charging, the Lake Access
                             Project  team experimented with bird deterrent systems.  First, the team placed
                             coiled wires over the solar panels. Although the wires stopped birds from landing
                             on the  solar panels, they prevented  field  personnel from working comfortably
                             with the RUSS units. The team replaced the coiled wires with chicken-wire cov-
                             ers that fit over the solar panels. The chicken wire is easier to handle and keeps
                             birds off the panels just as well.

                             Lake freezing and thawing conditions

                             The Lake Access team temporarily removes its units from the lakes during freez-
                             ing conditions in the late fall and thawing conditions in the early spring because
                             the units could be severely damaged if left  on the ice during these conditions.

                             Freezing conditions. Just prior to lake freezing conditions, the team removes the
                             RUSS units from the lakes. The team retrieves all portions of each unit (includ-
                             ing the buoys, anchors, and anchoring lines), brings the profiler to the surface and
                             detaches it, and tows the unit to shore. The RUSS units are stored intact in a large
                             shed. When the lakes have frozen over, the project team erects an ice house at each
                             monitoring location. The team does not use the RUSS unit flotation module dur-
                             ing the winter  months. The solar panels  are mounted on top of the ice shed,
                             which is oriented to allow for maximum solar exposure and angled to minimize
                             snow accumulation. The RePDAR  unit and batteries  are stored inside the ice
                             shed, and the profiler is  deployed through  a hole in the ice.

                             Thawing conditions. Just prior to lake  thawing conditions, the Lake Access Project
                             team removes the icehouses and the RUSS unit components. During winter mon-
                             itoring, the ice hole cut for the profiler freezes around the cable. Although the ice
                             does not adversely affect the operation of the profiler, personnel have to chip
                             through the ice to remove the cable and the profiler. When the lakes have thawed
                             completely,  the project team redeploys the complete RUSS units at the monitor-
                             ing locations.

                             3.10  Other Local Monitoring  Efforts
                             This section provides information about additional water quality monitoring
                             efforts being conducted in the Minnehaha  Creek Watershed and Hennepin Parks
                             district. Minnesota researchers and  natural resource managers are conducting
                             these projects to learn more about the characteristics of Twin Cities Metropolitan
                             Area (TCMA) lakes, detect water quality trends and recreational use impairments,
                             develop lake management strategies and determine their effectiveness, and ensure
                             the safety and health of lake users. Some of these monitoring methods might help
                             satisfy your community's water quality monitoring objectives. For example, there
                             may be times when you are unable to conduct remote time-relevant monitoring
                             (e.g., due to equipment  malfunction; during lake freezing and thawing condi-


32                                                                                   CHAPTERS

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tions; when remote time-relevant monitoring technology is not available for a
particular location or analytical parameter; or when required resources are insuf-
ficient). In these instances, you could use the data collection methods described
in these projects to supplement time-relevant data.

Specific monitoring efforts conducted by Minneapolis community lake manage-
ment and research organizations include:

•  Monitoring for water quality trends

•  Nutrient budget monitoring

•  Health and safety monitoring

•  Project-specific monitoring

Monitoring for Water Quality Trends

For more than 5 years, MCWD and Hennepin Parks have conducted water qual-
ity monitoring on approximately 15 lakes throughout the two districts  and on
nearly 20 bays in Lake Minnetonka. By measuring four water quality parameters
(chlorophyll-a,  total and soluble reactive phosphorous, and nitrogen), MCWD
and Hennepin Parks personnel can determine how changes in lake nutrient con-
centrations affect the growth of algae and how the growth of algae affects lake
water quality:

•  Chlorophyll-a measurements show how much algae is present in the
   water.

•  Total and soluble reactive (i.e., dissolved)  phosphorus measurements
   indicate the amount of phosphorus available for algae growth. Very lit-
   tle phosphorus is needed to dramatically change lake water quality; one
   pound of phosphorus entering a lake from the  surrounding watershed
   can grow 300 to 500 pounds of algae in the lake.

•  The relationship between the amounts of nitrogen and phosphorus in a
   lake can help personnel determine whether phosphorous or nitrogen is
   the limiting nutrient for algae growth.

Collectively, MCWD and Hennepin  Parks staff use  these data to detect water
quality trends. These trends can indicate if impacts such as recreational use or
urbanization are impairing water quality,  or if management initiatives  such as
public education or stream, lake, and wetland restoration are leading to improved
water quality.

MCWD and Hennepin Parks staff travel to each monitoring location biweekly to
collect water quality samples.  Before collecting  samples, personnel  determine
Secchi disk depth (see the box on page 34) and use a YSI multiprobe water qual-
ity sensor to gather time-relevant  data on  temperature, pH, dissolved oxygen,
electrical conductivity, and depth in a profile of 1-meter intervals from the sur-
face to the bottom of the lake. Personnel use these data in the field to determine
the water depth and locate the lake's thermocline.
WATER  QUALITY  MONITORING                                                        33

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                              What is a Secchi Disk?
                              A Secchi disk is a tool used to measure the water's clarity.  It is a weighted,
                              round  metal  plate about  8 to  1 2 inches  in diameter with an alternating
                              black-and-white pattern like the one shown below.
                              Field  personnel  lower the  disk into  shaded water  (because sunlight can
                              affect the measurement) until it is no  longer visible. Then they raise the disk
                              until it is barely visible. The average  of these two depths is the Secchi disk
                              depth, which provides a measure of the water's clarity or transparency.
                              (For more  information on  Secchi disks, see the Lake Access Web site at
                              http://www.lakeaccess.org/russ/index.html.
                             Staff collect a 2-meter surface composite sample, a grab sample at the thermocline
                             depth, and a grab sample one-half meter from the bottom. The table below sum-
                             marizes the purposes and techniques for collecting these types of samples.
                             Nutrient Budget Monitoring

                             Each year, MCWD and Hennepin Parks conduct nutrient budget monitoring in
                             two to three streams  that feed  Lake  Minnetonka.  This type of monitoring
                             includes analyses for the following parameters:

                             • Total phosphorus

                             • Total nitrogen

                             • Total suspended solids

                             • Total solids

                             • Soluble reactive phosphorus

                             • Ammonia

                             • Nitrate

                             • Temperature

                             • pH

                             • Electrical conductivity


34                                                                                  CHAPTERS

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  Sample Type      Purpose
                                   Collection Technique
  Two-meter
  surface
  composite
This type of sample represents the
strata of biological activity (e.g.,
algae growth) in the lake's upper
layer, where sunlight penetrates.
MCWD and Hennepin Parks collect 2-
meter surface columns because sun-
light typically penetrates the upper 2
meters of TCMA lakes. This is also the
standard surface water sampling pro-
tocol used by the Minnesota Pollution
Control Agency.
Samples are collected using a PVC pipe 3
inches in diameter and 2 meters long. Field
personnel submerge this pipe vertically to
collect a column of water from the upper 2
meters of the water body. Each composite
sample is brought to the surface, poured
into a composite container, mixed, and
divided into subsamples for laboratory
analyses.
  Thermocline
  grab
A lake thermocline typically deepens
during the summer as the upper,
wind-mixed layer of the lake (the
epilimnion) rises in temperature. The
thermocline grab sample indicates
how much phosphorus will be avail-
able to algae if storms mix the lake
below the thermocline depth.
Using a rope, personnel lower a special
sampling device (typically a Van Dorn or
Kemmerer water bottle) to the thermocline
depth. The sampling device consists of a
tube with spring-loaded closures on each
end. When the device has reached the ther-
mocline depth, personnel send a weight
(called a messenger) down the rope.  When
this weight contacts the sampling device, the
spring-loaded closures seal both ends of the
tube. The grab sample is brought to the
surface and divided into subsamples for lab-
oratory analyses.
  Bottom grab
This sample indicates how much
phosphorus is located at the lake bot-
tom (and how much phosphorus
would be available to algae if the
lake were to mix completely).
Field personnel collect the bottom grab by
lowering the same type of sampling device
used for the thermocline grab to a depth of
one-half meter from the bottom. The grab
sample is brought to the surface and divid-
ed into subsamples for laboratory analyses.
By measuring these parameters, MCWD  and Hennepin Parks  can characterize
total annual nutrient loading from the monitored stream into a lake.

Total phosphorus and total nitrogen measurements indicate the amounts of phos-
phorus  and nitrogen—in particulate and dissolved forms—that  enter the  lake
from the inflow stream.

Measurements of total solids  and  total  suspended solids  help  MCWD  and
Hennepin Parks determine the amounts of phosphorus  and nitrogen that exist in
particulate form. Best management practices (BMPs) such as sediment detention
ponds or constructed wetlands are  typically designed to remove nutrients in  par-
ticulate form.

The  soluble reactive phosphorus measurement indicates the amount of phospho-
rus dissolved in the water. The nitrate and ammonia measurements describe the
major forms of nitrogen available  to algae that  are present  in  the water.  These
measurements are important because they indicate how much phosphorus  and
WATER  QUALITY   MONITORING
                                                                                                    35

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                             nitrogen are present in the forms most available for algal growth and most diffi-
                             cult to remove by BMPs.

                             Temperature, pH,  and electrical  conductivity measurements further describe
                             water quality of the inflow stream. (See Section 3.4 for more information about
                             monitoring for these parameters.)

                             To conduct nutrient budget monitoring, field personnel install automated flow
                             meters on lake inflow streams to measure and electronically log flow. Automatic
                             samplers are linked to  the flow meters to collect flow-weighted composite sam-
                             ples. Composite samples are made up of individual volumes  collected over time.
                             At a predetermined stream-flow interval, the flow meter sends a signal to the sam-
                             pler to collect each volume  of the composite sample. At the conclusion of the
                             composite period (which typically spans a storm event, plus one hour), field per-
                             sonnel retrieve, mix, and divide composite samples into subsamples for analysis at
                             the Hennepin Parks water quality laboratory.

                             Health and Safety Monitoring at Swimming Beaches

                             Hennepin  Parks manages nine swimming beaches. At  three of these beaches,
                             Hennepin Parks uses rubber beach curtains that encompass 1 to 1.5 acres of lake
                             area for swimmers and restrict water movement between the  swimming area and
                             the lake. These curtains reduce the volume of lake water Hennepin  Parks must
                             manage for swimmers. For example, algae  blooms can be quite severe on some
                             lakes, but Hennepin Parks has several options for managing blooms within beach
                             curtains. These include pumping fresh water into the swimming area, using foun-
                             tains to prevent buildup of algae scum on the water surface, and applying alu-
                             minum sulfates (alum) to remove phosphorous and algae within the swimming
                             area.

                             During the swimming season, personnel monitor swimming waters to ensure they
                             are safe for the  public.  Lifeguards determine the Secchi disk  depth of swimming
                             waters three times daily. By comparing Secchi disk depths in water within the
                             beach curtain to water outside the curtain, Hennepin Parks can demonstrate that
                             the beach curtains provide the public a better swimming experience.

                             Hennepin Parks monitors recreational waters for fecal coliform bacteria weekly.
                             Samples  are analyzed at the Hennepin Parks water quality laboratory. Hennepin
                             Parks adheres to national  and state guidelines to maintain fecal coliform counts
                             lower than 200 colonies per every 100 mL of water. Studies have shown that the
                             probability of human  health  risk  is  minimal if fecal  coliform counts are kept
                             below this  level. When Hennepin  Parks personnel detect coliform levels greater
                             than the guideline level, they immediately analyze a water sample for the bacteri-
                             um E. coli. This tells personnel what percentage of fecal coliform can actually
                             pose a health risk to swimmers. Fecal coliform bacteria data are posted weekly the
                             Web at http://www.hennepinparks.org.
36                                                                                    CHAPTERS

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  Making Lake Waters Safe for Swimmers
  Hennepin Parks personnel take immediate action to reduce fecal coliform  levels when they exceed the
  guideline level for human health and safety. Typically, high fecal coliform levels in Twin Cities Metropolitan
  Area lakes can be  directly attributed  to  local goose  populations.  Each morning,  lifeguards patrol the
  beaches with strainers to remove goose droppings. If a few geese have  become particularly fond of a
  swimming beach, lifeguards attempt to chase the geese away. If a large number of geese descend upon
  a swimming beach, Hennepin Parks uses a border collie service to herd the geese off the beach.
  When fecal coliform sources have been minimized,  Hennepin Parks treats the swimming water, if neces-
  sary. Personnel have used the following strategies to  lower the fecal coliform level  in swimming waters:
  •  Flushing the swimming area within the beach curtain with city drinking water, which contains a small
     amount of chlorine for disinfection.
  •  Flushing the swimming area with fresh ground water.
  •  Raising sections of the beach curtain at deep swimming sites to pull in lake water to flush the swimming
     area. Lake water is pulled from the bottom to minimize the amount of algae and swimmer's itch organ-
     isms pulled into the swimming area.
  •  Because fecal coliform bacteria are typically associated with solids, using small amounts of aluminum
     sulfate to settle any solid material in the swimming area can reduce health risks.
  If every available strategy has been  used and fecal coliform levels are still above the guideline for 2 to 3
  consecutive days,  Hennepin Parks closes the beach until the waters reach safe levels again.
Project-Specific Water Quality Monitoring

MCWD and Hennepin Parks also conduct water quality monitoring on project-
specific bases. A few examples of these projects are described below.

Monitoring Sediment Detention Pond Effectiveness. When one district lake's water
quality began to  decline, Hennepin Parks monitored the effectiveness of a sedi-
ment detention pond designed to remove nutrients from the lake's inflow stream.
Hennepin Parks personnel suspected the sediment detention pond had filled with
too much sediment to remain effective. To confirm this suspicion, personnel used
the nutrient budget monitoring method to measure flow and collect samples at
monitoring locations located upstream and downstream of the sediment deten-
tion pond. By comparing the parameters  measured at each monitoring location,
Hennepin Parks determined that the sediment detention pond was not effective-
ly removing nutrients from the inflow stream. The pond was dredged of excess
sediment, and Hennepin Parks conducted additional monitoring to ensure that
the dredging increased the pond's effectiveness.

Lawn Fertilizer Runoff Study. Hennepin Parks conducted a series of lawn fertiliz-
er runoff studies. To determine the number of lawns requiring phosphorus fertil-
izer, Hennepin Parks collected and analyzed soil samples from approximately 200
suburban lawns. Although most suburban home owners use fertilizers with phos-
phorus, Hennepin Parks found that only about  15 percent of the lawns actually
required the addition of phosphorus for healthy turf.
WATER  QUALITY  MONITORING                                                      37

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                              Using sampling devices designed by the U.S. Geological Survey, Hennepin Parks
                              monitored runoff from about 30 suburban lawns, some of which were fertilized
                              and some of which were not. Each sampling device consisted of two 5-foot long,
                              1 -inch diameter PVC pipes with slits cut lengthwise. These pipes were placed hor-
                              izontally on each lawn to form a "V" pointing down the lawn's slope toward its
                              storm water drainage area. Where the pipes met, personnel attached a cup and
                              placed an 8-inch long, 6-inch diameter PVC pipe (vertically) into the cup. In this
                              pipe,  personnel placed a  sample bottle.  During  a rainfall event,  runoff water
                              flowed into the slits, through the "V" pipes, and into the sample bottle.

                              Because most of the monitored lawns were small  and because most district rain
                              events are brief, the samplers typically collected all runoff from each rainfall event.
                              By comparing the concentrations of phosphorus measured in the runoff from fer-
                              tilized and unfertilized lawns, personnel determined that much of the phospho-
                              rus fertilizer applied to the lawns not needing additional fertilizer runs off.

                              Golf Course Runoff Study. To determine the characteristics of runoff that TCMA
                              lakes typically receive from golf courses, Hennepin Parks conducted runoff stud-
                              ies using the nutrient budget monitoring method. In addition to these parame-
                              ters, personnel also analyzed samples for any pesticides and fungicides used by the
                              golf course.

                              Hennepin Parks and  many community golf courses are cooperating  to help
                              improve the quality of local lakes.  During the past  several years,  district golf
                              courses have saved money, maintained suitable turf, and improved the quality of
                              runoff water to TCMA lakes by using the following management strategies:

                              •   Reducing the use of all fertilizers, especially those containing
                                 phosphorus.

                              •   Reducing the use of pesticides and fungicides by eliminating preventa-
                                 tive treatments. District courses now use these agents to treat only
                                 problem areas.
38                                                                                     CHAPTERS

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  Using Monitoring to Help Meet Lake Water Quality Goals
  Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board
  The Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board (MPRB) conducts a variety of water quality monitoring projects
  in Minneapolis lakes. The MPRB undertakes some of this monitoring to measure progress toward meeting
  water quality goals set by the Minneapolis Chain of Lakes Citizen  Committee. In  1993, the Committee
  developed water quality  goals for  Lake Calhoun, Lake  Harriet, Cedar Lake, and  Lake of the  Isles. The
  Committee hopes, over the long term, to restore the water quality of these lakes to  conditions as close as
  possible to those that existed before urbanization. To achieve its goals, the Committee has recommended
  reducing in-lake phosphorus concentrations and managing influent pollutant loads to each lake with a
  unique scheme of in-lake manipulations and  watershed best management practices  (BMPs). The MPRB
  uses monitoring data to measure changes in water quality and evaluate the effectiveness of the BMPs used.
  The MPRB also conducts monitoring in other Minneapolis lakes to  measure long-term water quality trends,
  establish water quality goals and lake management plans, and compare the water  quality trends in these
  lakes with trends measured in the Chain of Lakes.

  Lake Water Quality Monitoring

  The  Environmental Operations Section  of the  MPRB conducts  long-term water  quality monitoring in
  Minneapolis lakes. The MPRB plans  to conduct this type of monitoring for about three to five years to ensure
  that water quality changes in city lakes are not  masked by annual variations in weather patterns.  The long-
  term monitoring program includes  analyses for the following parameters:

   •  Dissolved oxygen              •  Total dissolved phosphorus      • Chloride
   •  pH                           •  Soluble reactive phosphorus    • Hardness
   •  Conductivity                  •  Total nitrogen                  • Chlorophyll
   •  Temperature                  •  Silica                         • Phytoplankton
   •  Total phosphorus              •  Alkalinity                     • Zooplankton

  The MPRB selected these  parameters to allow for a detailed characterization  of the  in-lake processes that
  affect water quality. The MPRB's year-round sampling frequency increases during the lake growing season
  (May through September), when in-lake conditions are rapidly changing.
  Field personnel from the MPRB's Environmental Operations section conduct water quality monitoring at the
  deepest point of each lake. These points are determined using bathymetric maps and located using shore-
  line landmarks and depth sounding equipment.
  At each monitoring location, field personnel use a Hydrolab© sensor to conduct field measurements of dis-
  solved oxygen, pH, conductivity, and temperature at 1 -meter intervals through a vertical column of water.
  Field crews also collect  manual samples for total phosphorus, total  dissolved phosphorus, and soluble
  reactive phosphorus at predetermined intervals in the water column.  Personnel collect zooplankton sam-
  ples by hauling a net vertically through the water column at a rate of 1 meter per second and washing the
  net with distilled water to remove the contents for preservation and analysis.  Surface composite samples
  for all  other parameters are collected in  a column of water from the upper two meters of the  lake.
  Personnel also determine Secchi disk depth and perform a survey of vascular  plants during sampling.

                                                                          (continued on next page)
WATER  QUALITY  MONITORING                                                     39

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  Storm Water Runoff and Best Management Efficiencies Monitoring
  The MPRB conducts monitoring of stormwater runoff and best management efficiencies to determine the
  actual pollutant removal  achieved through the use of structural BMPs (e.g., wetlands, street cleaning, and
  grit chambers) and to study long-term pollutant  loading trends  in Minneapolis lakes. These monitoring
  data are used to determine if changes in BMPs are required. Monitoring locations are selected based on
  the following requirements:
  •  The location should be influenced by only one BMP
  •  No area of the watershed should drain to a sanitary treatment system
  •  The location should not be affected by a major sewer or street construction project
  •  The entire watershed should fall within Minneapolis city limits
  This type of monitoring includes analyses for the following parameters:
  •  Total suspended solids
  •  Total phosphorus
  •  Dissolved phosphorus
  •  Total nitrogen
  Field personnel use automated flow meters and samplers to conduct stormwater runoff and best manage-
  ment efficiencies monitoring. Automatic flow meters allow personnel to record  continuous flow measure-
  ments at each monitoring location. Automatic samplers  provide the following three sampling options:
  •  Time-weighted composite sampling, where composite samples are made up of individual volumes col-
     lected over a predetermined interval of time.
  •  Flow-weighted composite sampling,  where the automatic sampler  is electronically  linked to a flow
     meter. At a predetermined flow interval, the flow meter sends a signal to the sampler to collect each vol-
     ume of the composite sample.
  •  Time- or flow-weighted discrete sampling, where the automatic sampler is  retrofitted to collect  1 2 sam-
     ples in individual  bottles at a predetermined time or flow interval.
  Because the monitoring equipment cannot be operated in below-freezing conditions, the MPRB installs the
  equipment as early as possible in the spring and  removes the equipment as late as possible in the fall to
  prolong monitoring time  and avoid freezing conditions.
40                                                                               CHAPTERS

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4.   COLLECTING,  TRANSFERRING,

       AND  MANAGING  TIME-RELEVANT

       WATER  QUALITY  DATA

    To effectively assess the water quality of a lake or river, it is necessary to collect
    representative field samples over a time span that takes into account as many
    influences on the water body as possible. However, conducting a compre-
hensive manual sampling program that covers different times of the day, as well
as different seasons and seasonal events, presents distinct challenges. As a result,
many water quality monitoring programs, such as the Lake Access Project, rely on
automated systems in which remote water sampling units collect data at pro-
grammed intervals and then transmit the data to a land-based station for storage,
retrieval, and analysis.

Using the Lake Access  Project as a model, this chapter provides you and your
community with  "how-to" instructions on how to  operate and maintain such
data collection systems.  If you are responsible for or interested in implementing
this system, you should carefully read the technical information presented in the
sections on setting up  and using RUSS-Base software for data collection and
transfer, and managing  the data at the base station  (Sections 4.2  through 4.5).
Readers interested in an overview of the system should focus primarily on the
introductory information in Section 4.1 below.

4.1   System Overview
A data collection,  transfer, and management system can benefit your community
in two ways: It enables you to automate the collection of water quality samples,
and it enables you to control the resulting data  flexibly and easily.  By using the
system's software,  you can program your remote in-water sampling units (in this
case, RUSS units)  to collect water quality data at specified intervals. Then you can
call the sampling units as needed for data transmission or program your system to
call for transmissions of data at specified times.  Once the data arrive, the infor-
mation can be formatted and stored or otherwise prepared for export to another
database, or  it can be analyzed using geographical information system (GIS) or
data visualization software.

The data collection, transfer, and management  system used in the Lake Access
project consists of two main parts (see the figure on the following page):

•  Remote Underwater Sampling Station (RUSS) units, which are deployed
   in the water and programmed to collect water quality data in the water
   column at specified depths and intervals.

•  A land-based station,  which is basically a computer equipped with two
   main parts:

   •  RUSS-Base software. You use this software to  create profile schedules
      of sampling parameters and to communicate with the RUSS units to
      transmit schedules and receive sampling data.
TIME - RE LEVANT  WATER  QUALITY  DATA                                           41

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                                    A database management system. You use this system to format, quality
                                    check, and store collected data.
                                                 Land-Base Station
                  Remote
                  sampling
                  stations
                                      Level One
                                  Base Station
                                  RUSS-Base System
                                  Software
Schedule profiles for
data collection
Transfer data
                              Level Two
                        Base Station
                        Data Management
                        System
Perform QA/QC
Convert data
Manage data
Archive data
                           End User
                           for Data
                          Visualization
Model data
Analyze data
Display data
                              The RUSS units and the base station computer are equipped with communica-
                              tions hardware featuring either a modem/cell phone or modem/radio transceiver.
                              This equipment allows the RUSS units and computer to "talk" to each other over
                              long distances. Because of this communication ability, each RUSS unit becomes
                              part of a remote data acquisition system controlled from the land-base station. At
                              the base station, an operator runs the RUSS-Base software to connect to the
                              RUSS  units for data collection and transfer.

                              The system's flexibility enables you to establish sampling and data transfer proto-
                              cols based on your specific monitoring needs. For example, you might program
                              your RUSS units to sample every 4  hours, 7 days a week, to  monitor general
                              trends. You might also want to conduct sampling specific to certain events, such
                              as storms or heavy rainfalls, during which you might monitor water quality at a
                              single depth on an hourly basis.

                              The system can collect and store data for future use, or it can retrieve and trans-
                              mit collected data in near-real time. Each RUSS unit stores collected data in its
                              on-board computer (RePDAR),  making the  data available for download  on
                              demand by the base station. The RUSS unit can hold up to 3 weeks of collected
                              data (assuming average sampling  intervals) in its on-board computer. The unit
                              also can serve as  a temporary archive by retaining a copy of all  transmitted data
                              files. Once the unit runs out of space, it  will  overwrite data as necessary, begin-
                              ning with the oldest files.

                              A single base station can control an array of RUSS units, and an individual RUSS
                              unit can transmit data to more than one base station.

                              The remainder of this chapter provides information on how to program a data
                              collection and transfer system and how to manage  the collected data, using the
                              system used by the Lake Access  project as an example.
42
                                                     CHAPTER   4

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  How often should data be collected?
  The Lake Access team generally collects samples every 4 to 6 hours to
  observe daily changes in water quality parameters (see Chapter 3, section
  1). The  RUSS units collect samples  at 6:00 a.m., 12:00 noon, 6:00 p.m.
  and 12:00  midnight, and the data  are transmitted to the  land-based sta-
  tion at 7:30 a.m. the following morning. The team also collects intermittent
  samples to  determine the effect of  storm events on lake stratification and
  nutrient mixing.
4.2   Getting Your Equipment and Software in Place
In addition to deploying your RUSS units for data collection and transfer, you
will need to assess whether your base station computer equipment meets mini-
mum technical requirements. Once you have determined that it does, you will be
ready to obtain and install the software needed to communicate with your RUSS
units. Before you receive the software from Apprise Technologies, you will need
to determine which type of telemetry equipment should be used on the RUSS
units.

Minimum Requirements

To use a land-based computer as a base station, you will need:

•  An IBM-compatible PC with a Pentium II processor (300 megahertz
   [MHZ])

•  Windows 95, 98, or 2000 or Windows NT

•  16 megabytes of RAM

•  10 megabytes of free disk space

•  An industry standard internal or external dial-up modem

Telemetry Equipment

As a next step, you will need to determine what kind of data communication or
telemetry equipment to install on your RUSS units. Telemetry equipment enables
data to be transferred from a remote sampling station (i.e., the RUSS unit) to a
receiving station (i.e., the base station). You can choose between a cellular tele-
phone  modem (CTM) and a 900-MHZ transceiver. To make this choice, you
should consider the following factors:

•  The initial expense associated with CTM units is relatively low. (They
   generally cost about $1,000 each.) However, CTM unit connection
   costs can be somewhat higher than transceiver unit connection costs.
   In contrast, the up-front costs for transceiver units is relatively high
   (generally about $3,000 each), but connection costs are likely to be
   much lower. In addition, maintenance costs tend to be lower for
   transceivers.


TIME - RE LEVANT  WATER  QUALITY  DATA                                          43

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                             •  Establishing a connection between a CTM unit and RUSS units can be
                                problematic at times if local circuits are overloaded or if tower-switch-
                                ing issues arise.

                             Even when a connection is established, the  signal strength might not be strong
                             enough to allow data transmission. A signal strength of less than 50 MHZ is usu-
                             ally too weak, while a signal strength between 50 and 60 MHZ is marginal.

                              CjPTip.   To test  the connection  between a CTM unit and a RUSS  unit, you
                                         can call the test line maintained by Apprise Technologies, which is
                                         usually pre-programmed into the CTM. (Before you dial, be sure to
                                         switch the unit to the proper pre-programmed number by using the
                                         key pad.) On  certain CTMs, you can call the test line by pressing
                                         "C" on  the key pad. The status  of the  call  will  be  displayed in the
                                         phone's message window, as follows:
                                         •  "No service" indicates insufficient signal  strength

                                         •  "System busy" indicates overloaded local  cell  capacity

                                         •  "No carrier" or "busy" or "dropped call" indicates call
                                            interruption

                                         •  "Connect" indicates successful connection

                                            (Note: Apprise Technologies does not guarantee the
                                            accessibility of its test line.)

                             •  Transceiver unit communications can be  affected by radio interference
                                on the transmission channel. The channel's path also can be inadequate
                                to maintain the  connection. In such cases, it might be possible to
                                switch to a different channel. Using a dedicated or leased line can  help
                                ensure the reliability of data transmission.

                             •  Depending on the distance between the land-based station and a RUSS
                                unit, you may need to deploy a sequence of transceivers. Transceivers can
                                transmit and receive over a distance of no  more than 5 miles. The figure
                                below shows different transceiver deployment configurations based on the
                                distance between the land-based station and the RUSS unit.
                                       Base Station   \                     Transceiver
                               Smiles     ^^J           10 miles    Smiles     m
                                       RUSS Unit                          RUSS Unit
                                   k with Transceiver /                N with Transceiver /
                                    X          /         \         \          S
44                                                                                    CHAPTER4

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Installing Level 1 Base Station Software

Once you have determined that your computer meets minimum technical require-
ments and you have selected and set up your telemetry system, you are ready to
obtain and install RUSS-Base, the level 1 base station software. RUSS-Base enables
you to create profile schedules with sampling parameters, transmit the schedules to
your RUSS units, and receive transmissions of sampling data. Additional software
(discussed below) allows you to run RUSS-Base automatically.

RUSS-Base Software

RUSS-Base, a DOS-based software program available from Apprise Technologies,
is provided as part of a RUSS unit's data collection and transfer system.

To install RUSS-Base:

1. Copy R-Base.exe from the disk or CD-ROM to a directory on your
   computer.

2. Double click on the executable file. This will load the program onto
   your computer  and create an icon to access RUSS-Base from your desk-
   top. It will also create two directories on your hard drive. One directo-
   ry, C:\RUSS, contains the RUSS-Base program. The other directory,
   C:\RUSSdata, is the default directory in which downloaded data from
   the RUSS unit will be automatically placed.

3. Verify that the RUSS-Base program is working by double clicking on
   the desktop icon or navigating to the C:\RUSS directory and double
   clicking on R-Base.exe.

Note that Apprise Technology provides customers  with update notifications by
telephone or e-mail and delivers the actual updates via e-mail, disk, or CD-ROM.
We suggest that you implement these updates as you receive them.

Additional Software

ClockerPro and Clocker are personal/network program schedulers for use on the
Windows platform.  They are  designed  to schedule programs (or  reminders)—
such as the upload and download of data from RUSS units—to run at specified
times. Registration for a single copy of these schedules costs $24.95-

To obtain and install ClockerPro or Clocker:

1. Download ClockerPro and Clocker from
   http://www.winnovation.com/clocker.htm.

2. Click on the file clkpr311.zip  (for ClockerPro) or clk2403.zip (for
   Clocker) and save it to a temporary directory on your computer (such
   as C:\tmp).

3. Navigate to the location of clkpr311.zip or clk2403.zip.

4. Run setup.exe and follow the instructions provided. For instructions on
   using ClockerPro or Clocker, select Help from the software's main screen.

TIME - RE LEVANT  WATER  QUALITY  DATA                                            45

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                              Anticipating Support Needs

                              As with any computer system, you will need to ensure the availability of techni-
                              cal support to attend to software, hardware, and security needs. A staff person
                              who is familiar with providing general computer support should be able to main-
                              tain your system. You should enlist the services  of a technical support person
                              before you deploy the system so that guidance is available when you need it.

                              4.3    Programming Your System for Scheduled
                                      Transfers of Data
                              Now that the components of your system are in place, you are ready to program
                              the system components for data collection and transfer using RUSS-Base software
                              and Clocker/ClockerPro. The RUSS-Base software application is relatively easy to
                              use, particularly if you have some experience with DOS programs and telemetry
                              equipment. This section focuses primarily on:

                              •  Using RUSS-Base to program your RUSS units for sample collection.

                              •  Programming your land-base station to automatically call the RUSS
                                 units for scheduled data feeds.

                              The first time you perform these functions, you will need to be attentive to a vari-
                              ety of details. Once you have established  the appropriate protocol, however,
                              implementing these functions should be quick and easy.

                              The figure below provides an overview of the data collection and transfer process.
                                           RUSS Unit
                                         Collect Data at
                                         Specified Times
                                         and Depths
                                          Store Data for
                                          Download
Send Collection Profile
Base Station Initiated
                                                             Transfer Data
                                                           Base Station Initiated
                                           End User
                    Base Station
R-Base Data
Collection
and Transfer
                   Incoming Data
                                                                               Data Conversion
                                                                                    I
                                                                                  QA/QC
                                                                                 Database
                                                                                (archived)
                   Outgoing Data
46
                             CHAPTER  4

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The following instructions provide an orientation to the system using a combi-
nation of screen shots and descriptive information.

Getting Familiar with the RUSS-Base Startup Screen

With RUSS-Base installed on your land-based computer, you can launch the pro-
gram by double clicking on either the desktop icon or the R-base.exe file in the
C:/RUSS directory. This will open the program to the startup screen, which serves
as the gateway to program functions.

The startup screen orients you to the overall format of screens  throughout the
program. The screen content is organized into four main areas, as shown in the
screen below and described in the legend that follows.
          Re-note Lncte,-wat*r samp ing Station
unit call  Si-ii : Dip>T2 *:cnt into* -acnoose  another*  ease station: BASE  «sc-tup*
Locati-on:  Halsted Bay                       Last poll  on:  05-07-200018:14:53
•dial*, site at #1-612 749  1006          Poll for data since  Q5-07-200C 18:14:53
Programming password:
Profil-e froif.  1     bt.-'p 1     to 6     every 06:00:00 since  11-01-1999 00:00:00
Set  minirauif  0.5        maxi-ium 8     and parking 4     depth
collect R*al  time data *very 10   seecmds  far 1     •inutss  and hang up  -«exi»
                                                                              sect;n 1
                                                                              s^rf-n :•


                                                                              *-.:! ::n *
                                                                              >..':-i'.t :n 4
                            ]-ai  (O  1998
                                                      Techno! i
Legend

Section 1:

Section 2:

Section 3:

Section 4:
               Displays the header, date, time, and error messages

               Presents information on navigating the program (highlighted in green)

               Presents the main menu of functions

               Displays component-specific information (e.g., water quality sample values)
Using the main menu on the startup screen (Section 3 in the screen shown above),
you will select and use a variety of RUSS-Base program functions. For reference,
these include:
TIME - RE LEVANT  WATER  QUALITY  DATA
                                                                                                      47

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Function Short Cut Key Screen Name Description
Setup
Real-time data
Poll for data since
Call sign
Edit info
Choose another
Dial
Exit
Alt-S
Alt-R
Alt-P
Alt-C
Alt-E
Alt-C
Alt-D
Alt-X
RUSS-Base Setup
RUSS-Base Setup
RUSS-Base Setup
RUSS Unit Setup
RUSS Unit Setup
RUSS Unit List
Dialing Status

Enter base station call sign, time zone, parameters of your modem, and data
collection information
Enter "real-time data" parameters
Enter "poll for data since" parameters
Enter the call sign
Enter information for each RUSS unit including call sign, location, modem
connection, password, and data folder
Select one or more RUSS units from a list of RUSS units
Dial the RUSS unit for profile upload and data download
Display dialing status
Exit RUSS-Base
                              Before you proceed, we suggest that you view the startup screen and locate these
                              functions so you will be ready to select them as directed in the section below.

                              Setting  Up Your Base Station

                              You are now ready to use RUSS-Base to configure your base station to commu-
                              nicate with your RUSS  units. In doing so,  you will initialize your modem and
                              dial-up specifications and create profile schedules for water quality sampling per-
                              formed by individual RUSS units. (You will create a configuration file for each
                              RUSS unit in your system.)

                              To start, select Setup from the main menu or press Alt-S on your keyboard. The
                              Setup screen (reproduced below) will appear on your computer screen.
                                                                     *  anoTrcr*  sn« station:  3A£C  *«tu
                              L«4tion:  Ha'jTed Say                        L4S? f^' I  •••n:  fif,-ri7-2fTi0 18lM:5v
                              •eialr iiie at (ri-ftl*'?4if-LCi06          full for diti since  OS"0?-2000 18:14:U
                              PrcorjBtrinq pass'nord:
                              Profll* frc* 1     step 1     t& B     «v«ry Q5:QO:QC' sine*  11-01-1W9 COiOOiOO
                              Set  niniBje O.i         lavinjn B     and pirking 4     depth
                              riiii>,-r F.^I rid* data *^r i     *inut*s  *nd  *)Vig up  *x1i»
                                                      ~ 11 Sign:  BASf
                                                      line Jore:  L; IL LDI
                                                      6Aud »i«t  1200
                                                    In it string:  ATS ?
                              P-BASE v.1.2 Sue  EtdElEn
                                                             iniih  Editing
i« Techno!coles
48
       CHAPTER  4

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On the Setup screen, enter the  information requested for various parameters,
explained in the table below:
Parameter Description
Base station call sign
Time zone
Modem CDM#
Baud rate
Init string
Dial prefix
Dial suffix
Last poll on
Profile from...
Collect real time data...
Poll for data since
Set minimum...
maximum...
and parking depth
Enter name of the base station computer. This function will track which computer is calling a RUSS unit.
Enter in Standard UNIX format: EST5EDT for Eastern time, CST6CDT for Central time, MST7MDT for Mountain time, and
PST8PDT for Pacific time.
Enter modem CDM#. The default value will work with most modems.
Enter the proper baud rate for your modem: 1200, 2400, 4800, 9600, 19200, or 38400. The default value will work with
most modems.
Enter the initialization string for your modem. The default value will work with most modems.
If necessary, enter a dial prefix. For example, your organization might require you to dial "9" to reach an outside line.
If necessary, enter a dial suffix. For example, your organization might require you to enter a project charge code.
This date and time tells you the last time your base station called data from a particular RUSS unit. It also keeps track of the
last data point downloaded from the RUSS unit, so only new data will be downloaded.
This sets the depth and time at which the RUSS unit will collect data. The screen shot on page 48 shows the following profile:
Profile from 1 Step 1 to 8 every 05:00:00 since 1 1-01-99 00:00:00
This means that data will be collected from 1 to 8 meters at 1 -meter intervals. The RUSS unit will collect data every
5 minutes from November 1, 1999, starting at midnight.
Note: The more frequently the data are collected, the more battery power is used by the RUSS unit. To conserve battery
voltage, you might want to limit sampling frequency.
This sets the time when real-time data will be downloaded from the RUSS unit to the base station. The screen shot on
page 48 shows the following parameters:
Collect Real Time data every 10 seconds for 1 minute and hang up,
In this example, real-time data will be sent by the RUSS unit every 10 seconds for 1 minute. This process provides the base
station operator with a sample of real-time data measurements and the ability to QA/QC the data.
This sets the time when both stored and real-time data will be downloaded from the RUSS unit to the base station.
The screen shot on page 48 shows the following parameters:
Poll for data since 05-07-2000 18:14:58
Data will be downloaded from May 7, 2000 at 6:14 p.m. (and 58 seconds) to the present time.
This sets the minimum and maximum depths of the profiler in the lake or river. It also sets the parking depth at which
the profiler will remain when inactive. The screen shot on page 48 shows the following parameters:
5e/ minimum 0.5 maximum 8 and parking 4 depth
In this case, the profiler will not ascend above 0.5 meters and will not descend below 8 meters. When inactive, it will hold at
4 meters. The minimum and maximum depths are a fail safe method for preventing potential accidents. For example,
suppose you accidentally programmed the profiler to collect data from 1 to 1000 meters. If you had entered 10 meters as
the maximum depth that the profiler can descend to, the system will catch this error and the profiler will remain inactive.
           Before sending the profile information to a RUSS unit, you must first
           enter an  authorized programming password  in RUSS-Base.  The
           RUSS unit operator will have previously programmed this password
           into the RUSS unit, and you will enter this same programming pass-
           word into RUSS-Base. The RUSS unit will reject the profile unless this
           programming password has been entered in RUSS-Base.
TIME - RE LEVANT  WATER  QUALITY  DATA
49

-------
                              Setting Up Your RUSS Unit
                              Now that you have set up a configuration file, you need to provide additional

                              information for each deployed RUSS unit. To enter this information, access the

                              RUSS unit setup screen shown below, by selecting Edit Info, or by hitting Alt-E.
                                                          (IT'*
                              Locailwi;  misted Hay
                              •eial*- site  at «.-6l2-74&-10Q6
                              Programming  password:
                              Profll* froi 1     '-.rff, 1     -
                              S*t  nWfufliO.5         «ajr**ui 8
            >«r*  ease CTKICB!
            _ :. '  • • :l  •.   05   "I-"" r: :.--:r
      Poll for data since 05-07-2030 !8:l4;iS

     fvfry 06:00:00 sine* n-'31-1999 CO:CO:00
     and part;!ng 4     depth
s<:ords for  1     ninute^ ind  hang up  4E-it»
                                          :  1  I Sign: B»»T2
                                            Locaticn: Hoisted Bay
                                        Phone  -wmber: 1-6L2-749-10C4
                                           Pas si«rd:
                                          ir , -   .•-;
                  Cellular Mode* Sehedul'
                              Cr it: b
                             off at: 20
                              P-E*SE v.l  2 EdLi
                                                           *"inis*i editi
     IMS. 1999
"rise "echnolraiei Inc.
                              Using this RUSS unit Setup screen, enter information about the various RUSS

                              unit parameters:
Parameter Description
Call sign
Location
Phone number
Redial attempts
Reconnect attempts
Password
Data folder
Cellular modem schedule
Name of the RUSS unit.
Location of the RUSS unit.
The phone number previously programmed in the RUSS unit cellular phone or transceiver. The base station phone
number is not required if your system is not configured for calls initiated by remote stations.
The maximum number of "Redial attempts." This value specifies how many times the base station will try to redial the
programmed phone number until a connection is established.
The maximum number of "Reconnect attempts." If the RUSS unit answers but connection is broken before all stored data
are downloaded, the base station will hang up and call the unit again.
This password allows a caller to establish a remote connection with the RUSS unit and download real-time and
stored data. (Level 1 access priority.)
The name of the folder that the RUSS data will be downloaded to on the base station computer. You can also use the
default directory C:\RUSSdata originally created when you installed RUSS-Base.
The time when the cellular telemetry is turned on and off. This is to promote power conservation.
                              You have now set up your system with profile schedules and RUSS unit informa-

                              tion—so that you can control your RUSS unit data collection activities. You are

                              now ready to direct your  RUSS  units to collect data according to the profile

                              schedules and to transfer back the collected data.
50
                          CHAPTER  4

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Uploading the Profile Schedule and Downloading Data

To direct your RUSS units to collect data, you must upload your sampling pro-
file schedules to your RUSS units. To do this, use the unit list screen (shown
below) to select a unit for profile upload. Access the unit list screen by selecting
Choose another or Alt-C on your keyboard. After selecting a unit from the list, call
the unit for profile upload.
                                                           06-19-2000  1!
             IP:  Btf /
             sccd Bay
       bkt dL tl-Kl- -749- 1006
                                       s* another*. LMi* :;taficn: BASE  *etu
                                              List pc" 1 on:  OS 0?<2QGO lB:14:j
                                        f.'l r.,  listd iir.L*  Qi-fflT-ZMQ IB J 14. SB
	j fr-cfl 1     Step 1     ttf 6     «v«Py 06:00:00 Sine* 11-01-1999 CO;DQ:QO
Set  irininun 0.5         naxiouB fi     and parking 4     Oepth
C*H«ct R«a'' tic* iSica ew?ry 10   se-:er;fc           r'liutes afn hang up  *e>.n>

  Call Sign: M/4     Location: Unknown
  Call Sl^jn; N/*     Locitlwii unkflow
  Call sign: EHP~i   Location: Half ted Cay
  Cal 1 S'fln: N/»     Location: Unkntnn
  Call Sign; N/A     Location: Unknown
  Call 5lfln! N/*     Locaclon; unkno«n
  Call Sign: N/»     Location: 'Jnknomn
  Call Sign: N/A     Location: Unknown
  Call Sign: N/*     Loc-atlcm; unkno**i
  Tall 'ign: N/A     I rir,il-iitn: Unknown
  Lall Sign: N/4     L....ation: Unknomi
  Call Sign: M/A     Location: Unknown
   ... |- .„  1       . ., •   .  ,,   ., ^_  ,',-•, 1 I'M 11*9 i»~..-l" T^h.^l*-^, T»,
To call the unit, select dial (Alt-D), which initiates the call and accesses the screen
shown below.
Locatiwi: msp*r S* LMndro                   Last poll on: &?-2?-l?3» 1
-dm!*- silir H.( »i 510 /W 616*          foil for data since &t ?l WM l
Proynminip pdHsnord:
Profile frufi 1     step 1     lo 27    every &(:efl:fle since I)* 63 IW^1 Q
Set  nmipim 1           IMHIIII« 29    arid parkinu 10    depth
Collect ftcttl line dalH nvnrv 10   sei:onds fur 1     ninutc!i cmd lidng up
Ini1i«Li>riiw HU'^H un CW?: flTS7-9flflK4£C14ft?  OK  (loric.
OidHng : ftflWiit 5l6 7?» 6H&6  COHtfCT *6W/rtfhO/V34/I flfTN/V4?BTS  Ban*.
R BIISL v.1.1 Ba=« Station Pr&graa  (Cj
                                                   prisc I echnn logics Inc.
TIME - RE LEVANT  WATER  QUALITY  DATA

-------
                             If the connection established is too weak for transmission, RUSS-Base will dis-
                             connect and redial. If the modem initialization fails, terminate the connection
                             attempt by pressing the ESC key and check to see if another program is using the
                             modem.

                             CjPTip.   Using  ClockerPro  or Clocker  software, you  can  automatically
                                         schedule  RUSS-Base to call RUSS units in a predetermined order at
                                         different  times. These  software programs are  personal/network
                                         program  schedulers for Windows designed to schedule programs
                                         (or reminders)—such as the upload and download of data from the
                                         RUSS unit(s)—to run at specified times. Use the instructions provid-
                                         ed with these programs to run the desired schedules.
                             Once a connection is established, the RUSS  unit will first  validate the program-
                             ming password if you are loading a new profile schedule. If the programming
                             password is valid, the RUSS unit will report  back the time of the next scheduled
                             sample collection and data transmission, as well as profile parameters.

                             After the unit receives the new profile, its on-board computer will run a valida-
                             tion routine on the profile, checking for logic errors or any  conflicts with  existing
                             programs. If any questionable data elements are found,  the system will  prompt
                             you to review and resolve the issue. Once any issues concerning the profile are
                             addressed,  the unit will  store the profile  parameters and implement sampling
                             based on the profile's schedule information. You can then proceed in a similar
                             fashion through the unit list screen to upload profiles  to other units in your sys-
                             tem.

                             When collecting a water  quality sample, the  RUSS  unit deploys a device  called a
                             Profiler to a specified depth in the water column below the unit.  Before  data are
                             collected, the sensors will stabilize at the correct depth, which can take 3 to 5 min-
                             utes. Collected information is then transmitted  to the unit's on-board computer
                             via an underwater cable. The computer has the capacity to  store up to 3 weeks of
                             collected data (assuming  average sampling intervals).

                             The collected monitoring information is then automatically transmitted from the
                             RUSS units to the base station at intervals specified in unit-specific profile sched-
                             ules. After this transmission, you can access the data as needed for analysis.

                             Even when the system is  set up to automatically transmit collected data, you can
                             implement manual downloads using the unit list screen to connect with specific
                             RUSS units (as discussed above). To avoid downloading duplicate data, RUSS-
                             Base tracks the last data point for data transmitted from each unit. In addition,
                             you can download near real-time data from a unit at the  same time  the unit is
                             transmitting data from a scheduled sampling. As information  is transmitted, it
                             will display on screen (as  shown in the screen shot on page  53). An "End  of data"
                             message will be displayed when the transmission is complete.
52                                                                                    CHAPTER4

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 I1H HAM !• » ' * m
                           SHBIM irrg Station
                                                       fl7 ?5 1999  13:16:59
 Itonn loud inn ddld.
RUSS CdIL sign: FHPTl  -fdit  LuTo*
Inotlion: Ursl llpm-r
-Dirtl"  sils d1 NI 61?  749  IH87
                                  haasm anolhcr*  Busc slaliwi:  HTPRS -Seli*i-
                                            Usl pall an: B7 ?0  HOT flO:W flD
                                      Poll far 
-------
Date Time Depth Temp°C
7/25/00
7/25/00
7/25/00
7/25/00
7/25/00
7/25/00
7/25/00
7/25/00
7/25/00
7/25/00
7/25/00
7/25/00
7/25/00
7/25/00
7/25/00
7/25/00
7/25/00
7/25/00
7/25/00
7/25/00
7/25/00
7/25/00
7/25/00
7/25/00
7/25/00
7/25/00
7/25/00
7/25/00
7/25/00
7/25/00
7/25/00
7/25/00
0:02:13
0:03:40
0:05:07
0:06:22
0:08:13
0:09:40
0:11:31
0:13:34
6:02:16
6:03:55
6:05:07
6:06:34
6:08:37
6:09:52
6:11:55
6:13:46
12:02:40
12:08:15
12:10:51
12:12:18
12:13:57
12:15:36
12:17:51
12:19:18
18:06:42
18:08:33
18:10:12
18:11:51
18:13:30
18:14:57
18:17:00
18:18:51
1.17
1.89
2.83
3.86
4.97
5.89
6.81
7.85
1.16
1.92
2.88
3.9
4.88
5.84
6.86
7.84
1.14
2.18
2.85
3.91
4.82
5.89
6.9
7.83
0.99
1.96
2.86
3.81
4.8
5.81
6.83
7.95
24
24
23.9
23.8
23.5
22.6
22.1
20.5
23.8
23.8
23.8
23.7
23.5
22.9
22.1
21
23.9
23.8
23.7
23.5
23.3
22.8
21.8
20.8
24.5
24.5
24.4
23.7
23.3
22.8
21.7
20.8
pH
8.4
8.4
8.4
8.4
8.2
7.6
7.4
7.2
8.4
8.4
8.4
8.3
8.1
7.7
7.4
7.3
8.4
8.4
8.4
8.3
8.1
7.7
7.3
7.2
8.6
8.6
8.5
8.3
8
7.5
7.3
7.2
Cond
382
382
383
384
388
396
409
457
383
382
382
384
387
393
409
444
382
382
383
384
386
394
423
450
380
380
381
386
388
395
423
449
DOppm
8.23
8.49
8.37
7.92
6.17
0.83
0.11
0.11
7.6
8.29
8.19
7.4
6.45
2.36
0.13
0.11
8.01
7.96
7.76
7.06
6.13
2.52
0.12
0.12
9.71
9.85
9.58
7.15
5.79
2.81
0.15
0.12
DOsat
97.8
100.9
99.4
93.8
72.7
9.6
1.2
1.2
90
98.2
97
87.4
75.9
27.5
1.5
1.2
95
94.2
91.8
83.1
71.9
29.3
1.4
1.3
116.4
118.1
114.7
84.5
68
32.7
1.7
1.4
Turb
31.2
38.2
32.8
50.8
20.8
27.8
23.3
57.1
41.4
113.3
96.1
56.5
55.5
38.2
47.2
64.4
233.5
108.3
108.3
97
103.9
93.5
120.4
111
92.4
112.4
109.3
90.9
113.9
96.8
123.7
113.3
ORP
11.9
9.7
11.9
13.8
20
36.8
48.2
57
13.5
8.8
13
14.7
19.6
30
43.6
52.6
11.3
11.2
8.5
16.1
21.8
36.3
46
54.1
2.6
3.8
6.2
13.7
24.4
40.9
49.6
52.3
                             Checking for Data Quality

                             After your data have been delivered, you will want to make sure that they meet
                             acceptable quality criteria. The Lake Access team uses both automated and man-
                             ual data quality checks to ensure accurate and representative measurements of
                             water quality parameters.  At all stages of data management, the information is
                             subjected to previously established and documented quality assurance protocols.

                             Performing quality checks on Lake Access data can take from a few days to weeks
                             or months, depending on the amount of data streaming into the project's base
54
CHAPTER  4

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station. The Lake Access team's data quality checks focus on subtle trend differ-
ences, data that are out of range, data with unusual rates of change, outliers, data
gaps, and the data's consistency with weather patterns and season. An overview of
these checks is provided below. For more detailed information, refer to the Lake
Access Quality Assurance Protocols document, which is available on  the Lake
Access Web site at http://www.lakeaccess.org/QAQC.html.

The Lake Access team performs QA/QC on the data using the methods outlined
below:

•  The team compares manually collected samples with RUSS unit data
   prior to recalibrating the RUSS unit. This check provides assurance that
   the previous period's data are accurate. If the data pass for the previous
   period, they are considered acceptable. If the data do not pass, team
   members examine the results in the context of their understanding of
   the individual lake's limnology and other data (e.g., nutrients, chloro-
   phyll, trends). They then decide to either delete the data from the data-
   base and/or save the information in a different place. The team is espe-
   cially careful not to delete anomalous data that might reveal actual
   dynamic changes  in lake water quality.

•  The team generally performs routine, biweekly maintenance and
   calibration of the sensors. At the same time, the team also conducts
   manual sampling with an independent instrument. The following table
   provides information on quality assurance criteria for the RUSS unit
   sensors.
Sensor Relative Percent Difference (RPD) Delta
Temperature
Dissolved Oxygen
EC (25° C)
pH
Turbidity
< 5 percent
< 1 0 percent
< 1 0 percent
< 1 0 percent
< 1 0 percent
< 0.2°C
< 0.5 mg02/L
< 5 uS/cm
< 0.2 units
< 5 NTUs
   See Chapter 3, Section 3.9 for detailed information on calibration and
   quality assurance of the RUSS sensors.

   The team has developed sophisticated data visualization programs that
   allow quick review of the data as they are transmitted from RUSS units.
   These programs  enable the team to identify problems almost immedi-
   ately.  Using the data visualization tools described in Chapter 5, the
   team can visually inspect the graphical displays to ensure that the data
   flow in categorical increments and accurately reflect changes in water
   quality. The team also can visually check for data gaps and outliers. An
   example of questionable data might be a reading that is inconsistent
   with the lake's depth. Additionally, the Profile Plotter and Color
   Mapper tools described in Chapter 5 contain calibration flags that
   allow the user to keep track of calibration dates as the data stream is
   being viewed.
TIME - RE LEVANT  WATER  QUALITY  DATA
55

-------
                              • Once the data are transferred to the base station, they are run through
                                an importer program. This program converts the data to a standard for-
                                mat and also checks for errors.  (The importer program is described in
                                more detail in the following subsection on converting and managing
                                data.)

                              The Lake Access team  uses data from manual sampling to fill in data gaps and
                              address anomalous data. If the team determines  that the anomalies are large and
                              cannot be resolved, or if large amounts of data are missing, the data will not be
                              used or released to  the public. If the team determines that the data meet QA/QC
                              requirements, the data are considered valid and reportable.

                              Converting and Managing the Data

                              After you collect data from the RUSS units, you must convert it to the correct
                              format for  input into your data management system and visualization  tools
                              (described in Chapter 5)- The Lake Access team uses an importer program to con-
                              vert the RUSS unit data to a standard format. This program reads data files that
                              have been created or changed since the last time the program was run. It then con-
                              verts the data to the format required by the visualization tools and checks the data
                              for integrity.

                              The importer first  tests the RUSS unit's name,  site name, and column descrip-
                              tions to ensure they correspond to  the anticipated parameters for that unit. If they
                              do not correspond, the importer generates an error and no further action is  taken
                              with the data file.  For example,  an error will be generated if a data file  from
                              Halsteds Bay was accidentally placed in the Lake Independence directory.

                              The importer then  reads each individual data line and converts it to a reading that
                              presents measurements taken at the same depth at the same time. A set of read-
                              ings is combined to form a "profile" in the database. The importer also flags and
                              rejects data that fall outside a specified range. The following table shows the cor-
                              relation between water  quality parameters and unacceptable data ranges.
Parameter Unacceptable data range
Temperature
pH
EC at 25° C
Dissolved Oxygen (DO)
DO percent Saturation
Turbidity*
< -1 or > 35° Celsius
<5or> 10
< 1 or > 600 uS/cm
< -1 or > 20 mg02/L
< -5 or > 200 percent
<-5or>1000NTU
                              "Turbidity values between -5 and 0 are set to equal 0.

                              After the importer has read the data, it stores the information in an object-ori-
                              ented storage format.  In this format, each line of text represents an object. The
                              conversion method you  employ will depend on the type of system you use  for
                              data storage or visualization.  However, the Lake Access importer program is rec-
                              ommended for ease of use, compatibility with RUSS unit data, and for its ability
56
CHAPTER  4

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to conduct quality checks. For additional information on the importer program,
please read the Lake Access Quality Assurance Protocols document on the Lake
Access Web site at http://www.lakeaccess.org/QAQC.html.

Retrieving the Data

As you  set up your system, you can develop your own protocols  for retrieving
data. To retrieve its data, the Lake Access team directly links its data visualization
tools (DVTs) described in the next chapter to its object-oriented database. If you
decide to store your data instead in MS Access or another database management
system,  you can develop simple queries to access data. If you decide to store the
data in an Oracle  database, you might want to develop a user-friendly interface to
retrieve  the data.  For example, you could make use of drop-down lists to select
time periods, check boxes to choose parameters, radio buttons to select output file
format,  or graphical versus text displays.

Storing  and Archiving the Data

It is recommended that you store and archive all sample records, raw data, quali-
ty control data, and results. A variety  of media are available for archiving data
(e.g., CD-ROMs, Zip disks, floppy diskettes, and hard copy). The  server storing
the data should also be backed up daily to prevent data loss.

4.5    Troubleshooting Q&A
This section contains information about common troubleshooting  issues.

Q: Is technical support available for hardware and software installation?
A: Apprise Technologies will work with each client to ensure that the RUSS units
   and associated software are properly installed. Also, the  company can tailor
   system setup  to  individual  customers.  Additionally,  Apprise technologies
   offers telephone and onsite support. Apprise also offers onsite training on top-
   ics such as assembling and disassembling RUSS  units, deploying the units,
   installing and operating RUSS-Base software, and system troubleshooting.

Q: Is technical support available for operating the data collection, transfer,
   and management systems?
A: Apprise Technologies  offers  telephone and on-site support for its systems.
   Many communities take advantage of on-site training,  which includes ses-
   sions focused  on data collection, transfer, and management.

Q:  What should I do when the data will not download?
A: If you are unable to  download data, your communications protocol or RUSS
   unit battery power might have failed. As a first step, make sure that your
   RUSS unit has enough battery power to transfer the data. Review the data file
   you downloaded previously, because this file will contain information about
   the  battery voltage.

   Voltage should be in the range of 12.5 to 14.5 Volts during daytime hours.
   Lower voltages indicate that the RUSS unit solar panel is not recharging the


TIME  - RE  LEVANT  WATER  QUALITY  DATA                                            57

-------
                                 battery due to excessive power drain, loose cables, or a shadowed or damaged
                                 panel. A RUSS unit will be fully functional with battery power as low as 11.5
                                 Volts. The more frequently the data are collected, the more battery power is
                                 used by the RUSS unit. To conserve battery voltage, you might want to con-
                                 sider limiting sampling frequency.

                              Q: What should I do when I cannot log in or connect to the RUSS unit from
                                 the base station?
                              A:  If you are unable to connect to the RUSS unit, first check that your password
                                 entry is correct. For example, be sure not to include leading or trailing spaces.
                                 If you cannot determine the cause of the failure, place a test  call to Apprise
                                 Technology's computer (see Section 4.3) to test the communications system
                                 and ensure that it is working properly.

                              Q: Can I automatically collect data without being present at the base station?
                              A:  Using  ClockerPro  or Clocker software, you can  automatically schedule
                                 RUSS-Base to  call RUSS units in a predetermined order at  different times
                                 without anyone being present. (See Section 4.3 for additional information
                                 about Clocker and ClockerPro software.)

                              Q: How can I adjust the time interval that the profiler maintains at each
                                 sampling depth?
                              A:  If you would like  to  adjust the time interval, contact Apprise Technologies
                                 and they will program a new time interval for you. Apprise Technologies orig-
                                 inally programs the RUSS-Base software to allow for between  3 to 5 minutes
                                 at each sampling depth. For example, if your profiler is programmed to col-
                                 lect measurements every meter for  20 meters, it will remain at each meter
                                 depth for between 3 and 5 minutes. This interval allows sufficient time for the
                                 profiler to stabilize at the given depth. Intervals greater than  6  minutes can
                                 drain the RUSS unit battery power  too quickly.
58                                                                                    CHAPTER4

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5.   DEPICTING  TIME-RELEVANT
       WATER  QUALITY  DATA
     ow that your water quality monitoring network is in place and you have col-
     lected the resulting data, you can turn to the next step in providing your
     community with time-relevant water quality information: using data visual-
ization tools to graphically depict this information. By using the types of data
visualization tools described in this chapter, you can create graphic representations
of water quality data that can be used on Web sites, in reports and educational
materials, and in  other outreach and communication initiatives.

Section  5-1 provides an overview of data visualization. Section 5-2 contains an
introduction to selected data visualization tools used by the Lake Access Team. If
you are  interested in  a basic introduction to data visualization, you might only
want to read the initial section. If you are responsible for choosing and using data
visualization software to model and analyze data, you should also consult Section
5.2.

5.1   What is  Data Visualization?
Data visualization is the process of graphically depicting data in ways that  are
meaningful to  you. When data are visualized effectively, the resulting graphical
depictions can  reveal patterns, trends, and distributions that might otherwise not
be apparent from raw data alone. This enables you to "see" and "understand" the
data much more easily and meaningfully. The results of your efforts can then be
communicated to a broader audience, such as residents in your community.

Data visualization can be  accomplished with a variety of software tools, ranging
from standard  spreadsheet and statistical software to more advanced analytical
tools such as:

•  Two- and three-dimensional graphic plotters

•  Animation techniques

•  Geographic Information Systems

•  Simulation modeling

•  Geostatistical techniques

By applying these tools to water quality data, you can help your community's res-
idents gain a better understanding of factors affecting water quality in area lakes
and streams. Once you begin  using data visualization tools, you will immediately
be impressed with their ability to model and analyze your data for a variety of pur-
poses, from making resource management decisions to supporting public out-
reach and education efforts. For example, you can use data visualization tools to:

•  Explore links between land use patterns within watersheds and the type
   and magnitude of nonpoint pollutant sources affecting local streams
   and lakes.
DEPICTING  TIME - RE LEVANT  WATER  QUALITY  DATA                         59

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                                   Calculate acreage of the various land uses within your watershed, and
                                   use this information, in conjunction with models, to predict sediment
                                   and phosphorous loadings to lakes from inflow streams and nonpoint
                                   sources.
                                •  Create daily, monthly, and annual lake water quality profiles.

                                As explained in Chapter 3  of this handbook,  the Lake Access team is using data
                                collected by Remote  Underwater Sampling Station (RUSS) units and manual
                                sampling to determine the impact of pollutant loadings on Lake Minnetonka and
                                Lake Independence. The raw data collected from the RUSS units provide infor-
                                mation about current water quality conditions and short-  and long-term water
                                quality trends. The Lake Access team  then uses a number of data visualization
                                tools to analyze and  convey information about  water  quality data. The Lake
                                Access team is using data visualization and interpretation techniques to analyze
                                water quality data and provide information to support resource management and
                                land use planning decisions within the watershed.

                                A variety of commercially available data visualization tools exist that allow you to
                                graphically  represent  real-time data, manipulate  variables, compare  temporal
                                trends, and even depict changes over time. Section 5-2 focuses on the following
                                data visualization tools listed in the  table below.
                                  Tool Group
                                  DVT Data Visualization
                                  Tools
Lake Access Live: Near Real-Time
Display of Numeric Data; Profile Plotter;
Color Mapper; Depth versus Time (DxT)
Profiler
                                     Primary Uses
• Explore lake data as it varies with
  depth and overtime
• Create animated water quality
  profiles
• Feed real-time data to Internet site
• Investigate correlations between
  water quality variables and trends
                                  Spreadsheet Programs
Microsoft Excel; Lotus 123
 1 Display raw data
 1 Investigate correlations between
  water quality variables and trends
 1 Create summary graphs of data
                                  Geographic Information
                                  Systems
Several, including Arclnfo; ArcView;
GeoMedia; and Maplnfo Professional
  Integrate and model spatial data
  (e.g., water quality and land use)
  Develop Internet mapping
  applications
60
                                          CHAPTER  5

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5.2   Data Visualization Software
This section  provides information about the three  data visualization  software
groups described in Section 5-1:

•  DVT  data visualization tools

•  Spreadsheet programs

•  Geographic Information Systems

After reviewing this section, you should have a good idea when and why you
might want to use these tools and what you need to do to obtain, install, and use
them.

DVT Data Visualization Tools

DVT data visualization tools are user-friendly interactive programs that  the Lake
Access  team uses to depict and manipulate water quality profiles collected by
RUSS units and from manual sampling. The four tools listed below were devel-
oped originally for the team's Water on the Web project and are designed to work
with data sets generated by RUSS technology, but they could also be adapted to
work with other data sets from other water quality monitoring systems your com-
munity chooses to put in place. These tools are:

•  Lake Access Live: Near Real-Time Display of Numeric Data

•  Profile plotter

•  Color mapper

•  Depth versus Time (DxT) Profiler

These tools provide the ability to:

•  Feed real-time data to the Web for data sharing.

•  Compare water quality profiles over time and depth.

•  Create animations of profiles to illustrate how water quality parameters
   change daily, monthly, and annually.

You can obtain the DVT tools by contacting Apprise Technologies at 218-720-
4341. They are available individually, or as a package called the DVToolkit.  The
tools are easy to install and are appropriate for a wide variety of platforms, includ-
ing Windows 95/98/NT, Unix/Linux, and Macintosh. You can run these appli-
cations directly from your computer or over the Web.

For additional information on these tools, consult the Lake Access Web  site at
http://www.lakeaccess.org and the article Interactive Technologies for Collecting
and Visualizing Water Quality Data, co-authored by the Water on the Web team
and Apprise Technology. This article is published in the journal of the Urban and
Regional Information Systems Association (URISA) and is available on  the Web
at http://www.urisa.org/Joumal/accepted/host/interactive_technologies_
for_collecting_and_visualizing_water_quality_data.htm (Host  et al., 2000).
DEPICTING  TIME - RE LEVANT WATER  QUALITY  DATA                         61

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                              The subsections below present brief overviews of each DVT tool, focusing main-
                              ly on what each is used for (i.e., when/how you might use each tool). This will
                              help you decide if you want to obtain and employ these tools.
                              Lake Access Live: Near Real-Time Display of Numeric Data

                              This is a simple program that can be used to provide near real-time data feeds,
                              such as oxygen level and temperature, to Web sites for public access and data shar-
                              ing. The program automatically retrieves water quality data from your database,
                              embeds the data in a GIF (Graphics Interchange Format) image, and posts the
                              image to a Web  site. The screen  below, taken from the  Lake Access Web site,
                              shows how this program is used to display near real-time data.
  Lake Minnelc ih*. - ali:?tK E a\'  tt?d  3S'11'UQ 05:00
        monj    Temppiatur?:  E3'F     0*vnen  S.OITJIL
  Mmnetonka. West Upper LaKe  Man OSfl 1 (OB 06 00
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                              Profile Plotter

                              The Profile Plotter program enables users to create static and animated line plots
                              of the profiles of lakes and other water bodies revealing how water quality vari-
                              ables change over time and depth. Animated profiles help users observe how lake
                              profiles change daily, monthly, and annually. Users can choose from a number of
                              different variables to plot. For example, the screen at the top of page 63 shows
                              how users can select from a variety of water quality parameters (i.e., temperature,
                              pH, specific conductance, dissolved oxygen, and turbidity) to plot and animate.
                              This particular graph displays temperature, pH, and dissolved oxygen concentra-
                              tions at various depths in Lake Independence at 6:00 a.m. on June 12, 2000, in
                              the form of a lake profile line plot. By plotting temperature as a function of depth,
                              you can show how the thermocline location varies with time, and you can illus-
                              trate events such as spring and winter turnover.

                              Color Mapper

                              The Color Mapper is similar to the Profile Plotter, except that it enables you to
                              map two water quality variables simultaneously. A user interested in understand-
                              ing the correlation between two variables might want to use this tool.

                              Using Color  Mapper, you can map one parameter as color contours and then
                              overlay another variable over the color contours in the form of a line plot. For
                              example, in  the graph shown below, the background depicts temperature using
                              color contour, and a superimposed line  plot shows oxygen concentrations. This
                              display shows that oxygen is  depleted below the thermocline.
62
                                      CHAPTER  5

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      independent on Men.«-12-2000 Q*:DO CDT  |L;^e lr,dep£.,-,l]ei|i;e
     Pumler          mitoc         -j j«     Li
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                   West Upper LkMdia
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Color Mapper

The temperature data shown in the screen above was originally collected by the
RUSS units as point data. To display the data as color contours, the Color Mapper
estimates temperatures in areas where there are no measurements (i.e., in the areas
between point samples). This process of estimating measurements—in this case,
temperature—is called interpolation.
DEPICTING  TIME - RE LEVANT  WATER  QUALITY  DATA
                                                                        63

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                             Once the data have been interpolated, the Color Mapper automatically draws
                             color contours representing a range of temperatures. These ranges and colors are
                             chosen based on predetermined break points keyed to changes in temperature. In
                             this case, the red colors represent warmer temperatures and the blue colors repre-
                             sent cooler temperatures.
                             Depth Versus Time (DxT) Profiler

                             This program graphically depicts how the lake data collected by RUSS units
                             change over time. The DxT Profiler allows users to display and analyze data in
                             two or three dimensions. As shown in the display below, this program allows you
                             to select the time period for which you want to display data; select the parameter
                             you wish to analyze or illustrate; add grid lines; show the actual data points; and
                             interpolate data  by depth and time. You can also output the graphs in GIF for-
                             mat to post to Web sites or incorporate into reports.
                                                                                                 -
                                                                                     tm       .....
                                                                                   Mm  •»   -  ufr- -
                             The screen  above shows  the  changes in oxygen concentrations over time in
                             Halsteds Bay, which is highly eutrophic. The color contours used to display oxy-
                             gen are based on biological breakpoints that are important to fisheries manage-
                             ment. The green colors represent acceptable oxygen levels for fish populations.
                             The change from dark green to brown (at approximately 5 mg/L oxygen) shows
                             the point at which oxygen levels are too low to support cold-water fish popula-
                             tions. The map's colors change from blue to black (at approximately 1 mg/L oxy-
                             gen) to indicate the break point at which oxygen concentrations are too low to
                             support any fish populations.
64
CHAPTER  5

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Spreadsheet Programs

Simple spreadsheet programs such as Microsoft Excel and Lotus 123 can also be
used to visually characterize lake data. These  programs can be used to create
graphs and  tabular summaries of various water quality parameters plotted over
time or versus depth. The resulting graphs and tables can be used to help analyze
surface trends, heat  and  oxygen budgets, water chemistry, and morphometry
Because these software programs are readily available and easy to use, they can be
used effectively in the classroom to introduce students to the basics of modeling
and interpreting data. Both Microsoft Excel and Lotus 123 can be purchased at
most stores that  sell computer  equipment and software,  and  they are  easy to
install. Both run  on a variety of operating systems, including Windows 3.1, 95,
98, 2000, and NT.

For example, the screen below shows how the Lake Access Team uses Microsoft
Excel to illustrate the surface trends of lake parameters using RUSS unit data. The
screen  presents a  time course plot that shows  the  average pH values  in Lake
Independence's surface layer (the upper 3 meters of the water  column), for the
period beginning  April 6, 1998,  and  ending April 6, 2000. The vertical bars
straddling each data point represent the range of values measured for that partic-
ular day.

                          Lake Independence Top Layer - pH
        Dailv max.Vnin/avg readings in the 0 - 3 n layer  Red lines indicate calib'sfon dates.
10.0

 9.5

 9.0

 8.5

 8.0




 7.0

 6.5
                                      .
                                                                    .—
Note: The pH data shown in the graph above are still undergoing several rounds of quality
assessment by the Lake Access team. As a result, some of these data might be subsequently
modified.

You can also create other types of graphics using spreadsheet programs. For exam-
ple in the screen shown below, the Lake Access team has used Microsoft Excel to
show the Secchi depth data for Lake Independence over a 7-month period. (See
page 34 for a detailed explanation of Secchi depth data.)
DEPICTING  TIME - RE LEVANT  WATER  QUALITY  DATA
                                                                                                  65

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Like independence Mean Monthly Seeehi (3E)
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TT"

                             Geographic Information Systems (CIS)

                             GIS is a software and hardware system that helps scientists and other technicians
                             capture, store,  model,  display, and analyze  spatial  or geographic information.
                             This technology offers powerful tools for analyzing and visualizing spatial pat-
                             terns  and  trends   in  environmental   data.   (The   U.S.   Geological
                             Society's (USGS's) Web site  contains a user-friendly introduction  to  GIS at
                             http://info.er.usgs.gov/research/gis/title.html.

                             GIS includes a varied range of technologies. To choose, obtain, and use them, you
                             will need to  understand  the various technologies available and which might be
                             appropriate for your needs and situation.  By  using GIS technology, you can pro-
                             duce a wide  range of graphical outputs, including maps, drawings, animations,
                             and other cartographic products. To create these outputs, you can use GIS to per-
                             form a range of powerful functions, including:

                             •  Interactive visualization and manipulation of spatial data

                             •  Integration of spatial analysis and environmental modeling

                             •  Integration of GIS and remote sensing

                             •  Simulations modeling

                             •  Creation of two and three-dimensional models

                             •  Internet mapping

                             To choose,  obtain, and use GIS software, you will need to understand the various
                             technologies  available and which might be appropriate for your needs and situa-
                             tion. For more information on specific GIS  software packages, you can  consult
                             manufacturers' Web sites, including:

                             •  ESRI (http://www.esri.com), whose suite of tools includes Arclnfo,
                                ArcView, and ArcIMS internet mapping software
66
CHAPTER  5

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•  Intergraph (http://www.intergraph.com/gis/), whose software includes
   GeoMedia and GeoMedia Web Map

•  Maplnfo (http://www.mapinfo.com/), whose products include
   Maplnfo and Maplnfo Xtreme (an Internet mapping software)

Although GIS is more complex and expensive than other data visualization tools
described in  this chapter, it also provides more power and flexibility—both in
terms of the data you can use and what you can do with the data. You can use GIS
technologies  from data originating from  a variety of sources, including satellite
imagery, surveys, hardcopy maps, and environmental readings on variables such
as water depth  or chemistry. Key data layers in the Lake  Access project include
RUSS data, manual sampling data, land use data, transportation data, watershed
boundaries, elevation, and hydrography. Having these data, you can use GIS to
illustrate how land use changes affect water quality. You might also want to use
GIS to model the relationships between watershed characteristics and lake water
quality.  By using GIS, you  can combine different types of data layers to predict
how quickly sediments or contaminants might move through a stream system.

The following graphic was  created by the Lake Access team using Arclnfo soft-
ware to display land use in the Lake Independence and Lake Minnetonka water-
sheds. The map is color coded to distinguish the land uses surrounding the lake
(e.g., agricultural, residential, commercial, industrial, forest, and wetland).
                                            ^
                                         '
Maps of this type can help inform the public and local officials about connections
between local water conditions and current land uses in their communities.

GIS Features on the Lake Access Web site. The Lake Access team has developed a
user-friendly and engaging map-based product for the land use page  of its Web
site at http://www.lakeaccess.org/landuse.html. This Web-based capability is a
DEPICTING  TIME-RELEVANT  WATER  QUALITY  DATA
67

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                             powerful way to distribute GIS data, allowing thousands of interested parties to
                             simultaneously  display  and access  data.  Maps  are  displayed  on  the
                             Web  site using  the ARCVIEW  Internet  Map  Server  (IMS)   developed
                             by ESRI. Users can zoom in and out of maps  and perform queries to gather
                             information about different map elements. Site visitors can generate maps, query
                             data,  and retrieve  information  by  simply clicking  on  the map  feature.
                             IMS allows the user to turn different kinds of map layers  (e.g.,  roads, land use,
                             water bodies)  on or off to create  their own customized maps.  For more
                             information   on    using   IMS,   visit   the   ESRI   Web   site   at
                             http://www.esri.com/software/arcview/mapcafe/index.html.

                             The screen below shows the IMS display for land use in the Lake Independence
                             watershed. The screen has three primary sections:

                             •  A toolbar for performing various map operations

                             •  An interactive legend that allows different layers to be turned on or off

                             •  A map viewing frame that shows the map itself

                             The status bar  at the bottom of the screen provides information about map coor-
                             dinates, a map  scale,  a link to a help site, and information on the status of current
                             operations.
                                      Pai k DbLitcl
                             BU»UD Descriptions
68
CHAPTER  5

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                                        LAKE INDEPENDENCE
                                            BATHYMETRY
                                                     BATHYMETRY (FEET)
                                                            8T010
                                                            11 TO 20
                                                            21 TO 30
                                                            31 TO 40
                                                            41 TO 50
                                                              5H
                                                      /   u   200
                                                           METERS
The Lake Access Project also creates other GIS products, including two-dimen-
sional  representations  of  various lake parameters.  For example,  depth (i.e.
bathymetry) is shown in the graphic above.

GIS and other data visualization tools offer the ability to better support and com-
municate observations, conclusions, and recommendations to resource managers,
the public,  students, and regulators. These audiences can then use displays and
analyses to help make day-to-day decisions that can affect the quality of their lakes
and streams.
DEPICTING  TIME - RE LEVANT  WATER  QUALITY  DATA
69

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6.   COMMUNICATING

       TIME-RELEVANT  WATER

       QUALITY  INFORMATION

    As your community develops its time-relevant water quality monitoring and
    reporting systems, you will want to think about the best ways to communi-
    cate the information these systems will yield. This chapter of the handbook
is designed to help you do so:

•  It outlines the steps involved in developing an outreach plan.

•  It profiles the outreach initiatives implemented by the Lake Access
   Team.

•  It also provides guidelines for effectively communicating information
   and includes resources for water quality monitoring and promoting
   awareness, which you can incorporate into your own communication
   and outreach materials.

6.1   Creating an Outreach Plan for Time-Relevant
Water Quality Reporting
Outreach will be most effective if you plan it carefully, considering such issues as:
Who do you want to reach? What information do you want to disseminate? What
are the most effective mechanisms to reach people? Developing a plan ensures that
you have considered  all important elements  of an outreach project before you
begin. The plan itself provides a blueprint for action.

An outreach plan does not have to be lengthy or complicated. You can develop a
plan simply by documenting your  answers  to each of the questions discussed
below. This will provide you with a solid foundation for launching an outreach
effort.

Your outreach plan will be most effective if you involve a variety of people in its
development. Where possible, consider involving:

•  A communications specialist or someone who has experience develop-
   ing and implementing an outreach plan.

•  Technical experts in the subject matter (both scientific and policy).

•  Someone who represents the target audience (i.e., the people or groups
   you want to reach).

•  Key individuals who will be involved in implementing the outreach
   plan.

As you develop your outreach plan, consider whether you would like to invite any
organizations to partner with you in planning  or implementing the  outreach
effort. Potential partners might include shoreline and lakeshore property owner
associations, local businesses, environmental organizations,  schools, boating asso-
ciations, local health departments, local planning and zoning authorities, and

COMMUNICATING  T I M E - R E L  E V A N T WATER  QUALITY  DATA               71

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                              other local or state agencies. Partners can participate in planning, product devel-
                              opment and review, and distribution. Partnerships can be valuable mechanisms
                              for leveraging resources while enhancing the quality, credibility, and success of
                              outreach efforts.

                              Developing an outreach plan is a creative and iterative process involving a num-
                              ber of interrelated steps, as described below. As you move through each of these
                              steps, you might want to revisit and refine the decisions you made in earlier steps
                              until you have an integrated, comprehensive, and achievable plan.

                              Whom Are You Trying To Reach?


                              Identifying Your Audience(s)

                              The  first step in developing an  outreach plan  is to clearly identify the target
                              audience or audiences for your outreach effort. As illustrated in the sample goals
                              above, outreach goals often define their target audiences. You might want to refine
                              and add to your goals after you have specifically  considered which audiences you
                              want to reach.

                              Target audiences for a water quality outreach program might include, for exam-
                              ple, the general public, local decision makers and land management agencies,
                              educators and students (high school  and college), special interest  groups (e.g.,
                              homeowner associations, fishing and boating organizations, gardening clubs, and
                              lawn maintenance/landscape professionals). Some audiences, such as educators
                              and special interest groups, might serve as conduits to help disseminate informa-
                              tion to other  audiences you have identified, such as the general public.

                              Consider whether you should divide the public into two or more audience cate-
                              gories.  For example:  Will you  be providing different information  to certain
                              groups, such  as citizens and businesses?  Does a significant portion of the public
                              you are trying to reach have a different cultural or linguistic background from
                              other members? If so, it likely will be most effective to consider these groups as
                              separate audience categories.

                              Profiling Your Audience(s)

                              Outreach will be most effective if the type, content, and distribution of outreach
                              products are specifically tailored to the characteristics of target audiences. Once
                              you have identified your audiences, the next step is to develop  a profile of their
                              situations, interests, and concerns. This profile  will help  you identify the most
                              effective ways of reaching the audience. For each target audience, consider:

                              • What is their current level of knowledge about water quality?

                              • What do you want them to know about water quality? What actions
                                would you like them to take regarding water  quality?

                              • What information is likely to be of greatest interest to the audience?
                                What information will they likely want to know once they develop
                                some  awareness of water quality issues?

72                                                                                     CHAPTER6

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•  How much time are they likely to give to receiving and assimilating the
   information?

•  How does this group generally receive information?

•  What professional, recreational, and domestic activities does this group
   typically engage in that might provide avenues for distributing outreach
   products? Are there any organizations or centers that represent or serve
   the audience and might be avenues for disseminating your outreach
   products?

Profiling an audience essentially  involves  putting  yourself "in  your audience's
shoes."  Ways to do  this include consulting with individuals or organizations who
represent or are members of the audience, consulting with colleagues who have
successfully developed other outreach products for  the audience, and using your
imagination.

What Are Your Outreach Goals?

Defining your  outreach goals  is the next  step in developing an outreach plan.
Outreach goals should be clear, simple, action-oriented statements about what
you  hope to accomplish through outreach (For example, a goal  might be to
encourage the public to improve its shoreline management practices.) Once you
have established your goals, every other element of the plan should relate to those
goals.

What Do You Want To Communicate?

The  next step in planning is to think about what you want to communicate. In
particular at this stage, think about the key points, or "messages," you want to
communicate. Messages are the "bottom line" information you  want your audi-
ence to walk away with, even if they forget the details.

A message is  usually phrased  as a brief (often one-sentence) statement. For
example:

•  The Lake Access Web site allows you to track daily changes on Lake
   Minnetonka and Lake Independence.

•  You can improve water quality in area lakes by reducing the amount of
   fertilizer you apply to your lawn.

Outreach products will often have multiple related messages. Consider what mes-
sages you want to send to each target audience group. You might have different
messages for different audiences.

What Outreach Products Will You Develop?

The  next step in developing an outreach plan is to consider what types of outreach
products will be most effective for reaching each target audience. There are many
different types of outreach: print,  audiovisual,  electronic, events and  novelty
items. The table below provides some examples.

COMMUNICATING  T I M E - R E L E V A N T  WATER  QUALITY  DATA                73

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Outreach Products
Print
Audiovisual
Electronic
Events
Novelty Items
Brochures
Educational curricula
Newsletters
Posters
Question-and-answer sheets
Cable television programs
Exhibits and kiosks
E-mail messages
Web pages
Briefings
Fairs and festivals
One-on-one meetings
Public meetings
Banners
Buttons
Floating key chains for boaters
Magnets
Editorials
Fact sheets
Newspaper and magazine articles
Press releases
Utility bill inserts or stuffers
Public service announcements (radio)
Videos
Subscriber list servers
Community days
Media interviews
Press conferences
Speeches
Bumper stickers
Coloring books
Frisbee discs
Mouse pads
                              The audience profile information you assembled earlier will be helpful in select-
                              ing appropriate products. A communications professional can provide valuable
                              guidance in choosing the most appropriate products to meet your goals within
                              your resource and time constraints. Questions to consider when selecting prod-
                              ucts include:

                              • How much information does your audience really need to have? How
                                much does your audience need to know now? The simplest, most effec-
                                tive, most straightforward product generally is most effective.

                              • Is the product likely to appeal to the target audience? How much time
                                will it take to interact with the product? Is the audience likely to make
                                that time?

                              • How easy and cost-effective will the product be to distribute or, in the
                                case of an event, organize?

                              • How many people is this product likely to reach? For an event,  how
                                many people are likely to attend?

                              • What time frame is needed to develop and distribute the product?

                              • How much will it cost to develop the product? Do you have access to
                                the talent and resources needed for development?

                              • What other related products are already available? Can you build on
                                existing products?

                              • When will the material be out of date? (You probably will want to
                                spend fewer resources on products with shorter lifetimes.)

                              • Would it be effective to have distinct phases of products over time? For
                                example, a first phase of products designed to raise awareness, followed
74
CHAPTER  6

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   at a later date by a second phase of products to encourage changes in
   behavior.

   How newsworthy is the information? Information with inherent news
   value is more likely to be rapidly and widely disseminated by the
   media.
How Will Your Products Reach Your Audience?

Effective distribution is essential to the success of an outreach strategy. There are
many avenues for distribution. The table below lists some examples.
  Examples of Distribution Avenues
  Your mailing list
  Partners' mailing list
  Phone/Fax
  E-mail
  Internet
  Journals or newsletters of partner organizations
  TV
  Radio
  Print media
  Hotline that distributes products upon request
  Meetings, events, or locations (e.g., libraries, schools, marinas, public beaches, tackle shops, and sailing clubs)
  where products are made available
You need to consider how each product will be distributed and determine who will
be responsible for distribution. For some products, your organization might man-
age distribution. For others, you might rely on intermediaries (such as the media or
educators) or organizational partners who are willing to participate in the outreach
effort. Consult with an experienced communications professional  to  obtain
information about the resources and  time required for the various distribution
options. Some points to consider in selecting distribution channels include:

•  How does the  audience typically receive information?

•  What  distribution mechanisms has your organization used in the past
   for this audience? Were these mechanisms effective?

•  Can you identify any partner organizations that might be willing to
   assist in the distribution?

•  Can the media play a role in distribution?

•  Will the mechanism you are  considering  really reach the intended audi-
   ence? For example, the Internet can be an effective distribution  mecha-
   nism,  but certain groups might have limited access to it.
COMMUNICATING   T I  M E - R E L E V A N T  WATER  QUALITY  DATA
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                             •  How many people is the product likely to reach through the distribu-
                                tion mechanism you are considering?

                             •  Are sufficient resources available to fund and implement distribution
                                via the mechanisms of interest?

                             What Follow-up Mechanisms Will You Establish?

                             Successful outreach might generate requests for further information or concern
                             about issues you have made the audience aware of. Consider whether and how
                             you will handle this interest. The following questions can help you develop this
                             part of your strategy:

                             •  What types of reactions or concerns are audience members likely to
                                have in response to the outreach information?

                             •  Who will handle requests for additional information?

                             •  Do you want to indicate on the outreach product where people can go
                                for further information (e.g., provide a contact name, number, or
                                address,  or establish a hotline) ?

                             What Is the Schedule for Implementation?

                             Once  you have decided on your goals, audiences, messages, products, and distri-
                             bution channels, you will need to develop an implementation schedule. For each
                             product, consider how much time will be needed  for development and distribu-
                             tion. Be sure to factor in sufficient time for product review. Wherever possible,
                             build in time for testing and evaluation by members or representatives of the tar-
                             get audience in focus groups or individual sessions so that you can get feedback
                             on whether you have effectively targeted your material for your audience. Section
                             6.3 contains suggestions for presenting technical information to the public. It also
                             provides information about online resources that can provide easy to understand
                             background information that you can use in developing your own outreach
                             projects.

                             6.2   Elements of the Lake Access Project's
                                    Outreach Program
                             The Lake Access team uses a variety of mechanisms to communicate time-rele-
                             vant water quality information—as well as information about the project itself—
                             to the affected public in Hennepin County and the nearby area. The team uses
                             the project Web site as the primary vehicle for  communicating time-relevant
                             information to the public.  Their outreach strategy includes a variety of mecha-
                             nisms—among them, a brochure, kiosks, and teacher training—to  provide the
                             public with information about the Lake Access project. Elements of the project's
                             communication program are highlighted below.

                             Bringing together experts. As a  first step,  project coordinators  brought
                             together a group of naturalists, museum officials,  teachers,  and other experts to
                             discuss ways to implement  the Lake Access Project's outreach efforts. The group
                             identified target audiences, discussed the key points and messages that they felt

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needed to be communicated, the types of outreach products they thought should
be developed, and what mechanisms should be used to distribute the information.

Designing attractive, user-friendly brochures.  The team developed an
attractive 2-page, 4-color brochure, entitled Seeing Below the Surface, which fea-
tures basic, easy-to-follow information about the Lake Access project. The target
audience is the general public. A reproduction of the brochure is contained in
Appendix B.

Survey.  Before moving  further ahead with project  outreach, the Lake Access
team needed to know how much general knowledge the public had about water
quality and land use issues in the  Hennepin  County area. To do so, they con-
ducted a survey intended to help the team target its outreach efforts and tailor
products to be most useful to lake users and community residents. The survey
included a cover page that provided easy-to-understand information about the
Lake Access project, and it contained questions about lake use, level of concern
about lake water quality, interest in learning more about local lakes, and preferred
mechanisms for receiving Lake Access project information. Appendix C contains
the entire survey text.

Hennepin  County Taxpayer  Services provided  the  team with  450 randomly
selected addresses throughout the county. The team sent surveys to these address-
es, along with a cover letter, the project brochure, and a postcard that residents
returned if they wanted to participate in a focus group. They sent  the surveys out
again to those who did not initially respond,  and in  the end, approximately 40
percent of recipients completed the surveys. The survey results revealed a general
concern and curiosity about the lake, as well as interest in many aspects of water
quality.

Web  site. The Lake  Access  Web site, http://www.lakeaccess.org, is the
Project's centerpiece for conveying  time-relevant water quality data to the public.
The site is organized to present information to four target audiences: swimmers,
boaters, anglers,  and land owners. Users can retrieve water quality data in various
forms, as  well as background information on water  quality. The site's design
includes a rolling banner that presents time-relevant information  from the  three
RUSS  unit sites in Lake Minnetonka and Lake Independence.  The  Web site
includes an interactive GIS mapping capability (described in Chapter 5, Section
5.2) as well  as  other  user-friendly features,  such  as  a "Frequently Asked
Questions" page and a "What's New" page.

In  addition,  one of the  project's partners,  Water  on  the Web  (WOW),
http://wow.nrri.umn.edu, has created an  interactive educational Web site with
National Science Foundation funding.  The site provides  teachers with online
lessons on water quality issues and provides high school and college students with
study guides on various water quality subjects.

Kiosks.  The  Lake Minnetonka Regional Parks Visitor's Center, the Eastman
Nature Center,  the   Science Museum of Minnesota, and the Great  Lakes
Aquarium in Duluth have installed touch-screen computer kiosks  that feature the
same information  as the Lake Access project Web site. Kiosk users can access
time-relevant water quality data from the three Lake Access Project RUSS units.
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                            Kiosks provide a mechanism for people without ready access to the Internet to
                            view the time-relevant data generated by the project.

                            Training teachers. The project team trained a group of local school teachers on
                            the RUSS unit and the project through a number of workshops, including a two-
                            week summer workshop held at the lake.

                            Piggybacking  on existing events. The team found it simple and efficient to
                            promote the project in conjunction with pre-existing events. The team has found
                            that one of the most effective ways to reach a large number of people is to pro-
                            mote the project at local summer festivals, which attract large crowds.
  Developing the Lake Access Web Site

  Experience Gained and Lessons Learned
  The Lake Access Web site, http://www.lakeaccess.org, is the principal vehicle the Lake Access team uses
  to disseminate the time-relevant water quality data gathered by the RUSS units. The site's development was
  initiated through  a  partnership with  Water on the Web, and for the most part, the same  people  were
  involved in developing both sites. So by the time the Lake Access Project Web site was designed, many team
  members  had  learned  valuable  lessons  from  their  work  on the  Water  on  the  Web   site
  (http://wow.nrri.umn.edu).
  Team members started  from scratch when they developed the Water on the Web site.  Using Microsoft
  FrontPage (a website development and  management software tool), they designed and built  the site's first
  release and maintained it for 1 8 months. Eventually, the team decided to hire a  graphic designer to help
  "spruce up" some of the site's design  features. Nine months later, they launched  a completely redesigned
  and rebuilt Water on the Web site. With many individuals working simultaneously to rebuild  the structure
  and content of the site, the team learned that they needed to frequently back up the site to another com-
  puter to avoid accidentally overwriting one another's content.
  The team followed a very similar process to create the Lake Access Web site. They started with an initial
  "shell" that has emerged into the full  structure and content of the current site. The project team feels that
  the best features  of the  site are the time-relevant data it conveys, the solid  information base it provides,
  including the limnological primer, and the data visualization tools it features. (These are described in detail
  in Chapter 4.) Now that the Web site is fully up and running, the Lake Access Project team  plans to add
  "focused" studies to the site. In other words, the team plans to take portions of time-relevant and manual-
  ly collected water quality data and, using data visualization tools, explain what lake activity  the data are
  illustrating and what they mean  in the  context of lake management. The team hopes  that these focused
  studies  will help community members become more aware of the factors that affect lake water quality.
  The Lake Access Project  team recommends having a graphic designer on hand, if your project's resources
  allow, from the onset of your Web site design and construction process. Using any number of Web-based
  applications, an experienced Web designer can help you design, develop, and maintain a Web site that
  most effectively communicates your time-relevant data and the associated messages you want to convey.
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6.3    Resources for Presenting Water Quality
        Information to the Public
As you begin to implement your outreach plan and develop the products select-
ed in the plan, you will want to make sure that these products present your mes-
sages and information as clearly and accurately as possible. You also might want
to review the available resources on the Internet to help you develop your out-
reach products, or serve  as additional resource materials (e.g., fact sheets).

How Do You Present Technical Information to the Public?

Environmental topics are often technical in nature, and water quality is no excep-
tion. Nevertheless, this  information can be conveyed in simple, clear  terms  to
nonspecialists, such as the public.  Principles of effective writing for the public
include avoiding jargon, translating technical terms into everyday language the
public can easily understand, using the active voice, keeping sentences short, and
using headings and other format devices to provide a very clear, well-organized
structure. You can refer  to the  following Web sites for more ideas about how  to
write clearly and effectively for a general audience:

•  The National Partnership for Reinventing Government has developed a
   guidance document,  Writing User-Friendly Documents, that can be
   found on the Web  at http://www.plainlanguage.gov/.

•  The Web site of the American Bar Association
   (http://www.abanet.org/lpm/writing/styl.html) has links to important
   online style manuals, dictionaries, and grammar primers.

As you  develop communication materials for a specific audience,  remember  to
consider what the audience members are already likely to know, what you want
them to know, and what they are likely to understand. Then tailor your  informa-
tion accordingly. Provide only information that will be valuable and interesting  to
the target audience. For example, environmentalists in your community  might be
interested in why dissolved oxygen levels are important to aquatic life. However,
it's not likely that school children will be engaged by this level of detail.

When developing outreach products, be sure to consider any special needs of the
target audience. For example, if your community has a substantial number of peo-
ple who speak little or  no English, you will need to prepare communication mate-
rials in their native language.

The rest of this section contains information about online resources that can pro-
vide easy to understand  background information that you can use in developing
your own outreach projects. Some of the Web sites listed contain products, such
as downloadable fact sheets, that you can use to support your education  and out-
reach efforts.
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                             Federal Resources


                             EPA's Surf Your Watershed
                             http://www.epa.gov/surf3/

                             EPA provides this service to locate, use, and share environmental information on
                             watersheds. One section of this site, "Locate Your Watershed," allows the user to
                             enter the names of rivers, schools, or their zip code to learn more about the water
                             resources in their local watershed. Users can also access the Index of Watershed
                             Indicators (IWI) from this site. The IWI is a compilation of information on the
                             "health" of aquatic resources in the U.S. The index uses a variety of indicators that
                             point  to whether rivers, lakes, streams, wetlands and coastal areas are "well" or
                             "ailing."

                             EPA's Office of Water Volunteer Lake Monitoring: A Methods Manual
                             http://www.epa.gov/owow/monitoring/volunteer/lake/

                             EPA developed this manual to present specific information on volunteer lake
                             water  quality monitoring  methods. It is intended both for the  organizers of the
                             volunteer lake monitoring program and for the volunteer who will actually be
                             sampling lake conditions. Its emphasis is on identifying appropriate parameters to
                             monitor and setting forth specific steps for each selected monitoring method. The
                             manual includes quality assurance/quality control procedures to help ensure that
                             the data collected by volunteers are useful to States and other agencies.

                             EPA's Non Point Source Pointers
                             http://www.epa.gov/owow/nps/facts/

                             This Web site features a series of fact sheets on nonpoint source pollution. The
                             series covers topics including: programs and opportunities for public involvement
                             in nonpoint source control, managing urban runoff, and managing nonpoint pol-
                             lution from various sources (e.g., agriculture, boating, households).

                             EPA's Great Lakes National Program Office
                             http://www.epa.gov/glnpo/about.html

                             EPA's Great Lakes National Program Office Web site includes information about
                             topics   such   as   human  health,  monitoring,  pollution  prevention,
                             and    visualizing     the    lakes.    One    section    of    this    site
                             (http://www.epa.gov/glnpo/gl2000/lamps/index.html)    includes    the
                             Lakewide Management  Plans (LaMPs) for each of the Great Lakes. A LaMP is an
                             action plan to assess, restore, protect and monitor the ecosystem health of a Great
                             Lake. It is used to coordinate the work of all the government, tribal, and non-gov-
                             ernment partners working to improve the Lake ecosystem. The program uses a
                             public consultation process to ensure that the LaMP is  addressing the  public's
                             concerns. LaMPs could be used as models to assist interested parties in develop-
                             ing similar plans for their  lakes
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U.S. Department of Agriculture Natural Resource Conservation Service
http://www.wcc.nrcs.usda.gov/water/quailty/frame/wqam/

Go to this site and click on "Guidance Documents." The resources there include
a simple tool to estimate water body sensitivity to nutrients, a procedure to eval-
uate the conditions of a stream based on visual characteristics, plus information
on how to design a monitoring system to observe changes in water quality asso-
ciated with agricultural nonpoint source controls.

Education Resources


Project WET (Water Education for Teachers)
http ://www. monta na. ed u/wwwwet/

The goal of Project WET is to facilitate and promote awareness, appreciation,
knowledge, and stewardship of water resources by developing and disseminating
classroom-ready teaching aids and establishing state and internationally sponsored
Project WET programs. This site  includes a list of all the State Project WET
Program Coordinators to help you locate a contact in your area.

Water Science for Schools
http://wwwga.usgs.gov/edu/index.html

The U.S. Geological Survey's (USGS's) Water Science for School Web site offers
information on many aspects of water quality, along with pictures, data, maps,
and an interactive forum where students can give opinions and test their water
knowledge.

Global Rivers Environmental Education Network (GREEN)
http://www.earthforce.org/green/

The Global Pvivers Environmental Education Network (GPvEEN) helps young
people protect the rivers, streams, and other vital water resources in their com-
munities. This program  merges hands-on,  scientific learning with civic action.
GPvEEN is  working with EcoNet to compile pointers on water-related resources
on  the Internet. This  site  (http://www.igc.apc.org/green/resources.html)
includes a comprehensive list of water  quality  projects across the country and
around the world.
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                            Adopt-A- Watershed
                             http://www.adopt-a-watershed.org/about.htm

                            Adopt-A-Watershed is a K-12 school-community learning experience. Adopt-A-
                            Watershed uses a local watershed as a living laboratory in which students engage
                            in hands-on activities. The goal is to make science applicable and relevant to stu-
                            dents' lives.

                            National Institutes for Water Resources
                             http://wrri.nmsu.edu/niwr/niwr.html

                            The National Institutes for Water Resources (NIWR) is a network of 54 research
                            institutes throughout  the U.S. They conduct basic and applied research to solve
                            water problems unique to their area and establish cooperative programs with local
                            governments, state agencies,  and industry.

                            Other Organizations


                            North American Lake Management Society (NALMS) Guide to
                            Local Resources
                             http://www.nalms.org/resources

                            This is a one-stop resource for local lake-related resources. NALMS's  mission is
                            to forge partnerships  among citizens, scientists, and professionals to  foster the
                            management and protection of lakes and reservoirs. NALMS's Guide to  Local
                            Resources contains links to state and provincial agencies, local offices of federal
                            agencies, extension programs, water resources research centers, NALMS chapters,
                            regional directors, and a membership directory.

                             The Watershed Management Council
                             http://watershed.org/wmc/aboutwmc.html

                            The Watershed Management Council is a nonprofit organization whose members
                            represent a broad  range of watershed management interests and disciplines.
                            Membership includes professionals,  students,  teachers, and individuals whose
                            interest is in  promoting  proper watershed management.

                             Great Lakes Information Network (GLIN)
                             http://www.great-lakes.net

                            The Great Lakes Information Network (GLIN) is a partnership that provides on-
                            line information about the bi-national Great Lakes-St. Lawrence region of North
                            America. GLIN provides data about the region's environment, including  issues
                            related to water quality,  diversion of water out of the Great Lakes basin, and the
                            introduction of nonindigenous species and airborne toxins into the basin.
82                                                                                  CHAPTER6

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APPENDIX  A
GLOSSARY  OF  TERMS
Algae: Simple single-celled, colonial, or multi-celled aquatic plants. Aquatic
algae are (mostly) microscopic plants that contain chlorophyll and grow by pho-
tosynthesis. They absorb nutrients from the water or sediments, add oxygen to the
water, and are usually the major source of organic matter at the base of the food
web   in   lakes.    (Adapted   from   Water    on   the    Web   at
http://wow.nrri.umn.edu/wow.)

Algal  blooms: Referring to excessive  growths  of algae  caused by excessive
nutrient    loading.    (Adapted   from   Water   on   the    Web   at
http://wow.nrri.umn.edu/wow.)

Aluminum  sulfate: A compound, A12(SO4)3, used in water  purification and
sanitation that adsorbs phosphate and small silt and algal particles that settle to
the lake bottom.

Anoxia:  Condition of being without dissolved oxygen (O2).  (Adapted from
Water on the Web at  http://wow.nrri.umn.edu/wow.)

Anoxic: Completely lacking in oxygen.  (Adapted from Water on the Web at
http://wow.nrri.umn.edu/wow.)
B
Baud: A unit of speed in data transmission equal to one bit per second.

Best Management  Practices (BMPs):  Methods that have been determined
to be the most effective, practical means of preventing or reducing pollution from
non-point sources.

Biofouling: The deterioration of instrumentation when it becomes covered with
organisms. For example, biofouling of the RUSS unit sensors occurs when algae,
bacteria, and/or fungi grow on the sensor while it is submerged in water beneath
the RUSS unit.
Chlorophyll: Green pigment in plants that transforms light energy into chemi-
cal  energy  in  photosynthesis.  (Adapted  from  Water  on  the Web  at
http://wow.nrri.umn.edu/wow.)

Clarity: Transparency or light penetration. Clarity is routinely estimated by the
depth at which you can no longer see a Secchi disk. The Secchi disk is a weight-
ed metal plate 8 inches in diameter with alternating quadrants painted black and
white. The disc is lowered into water until it disappears from view. It is then raised

GLOSSARY  OF  TERMS                                                               A-l

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                             until just visible. An average of the two depths, taken from the shaded side of the
                             boat,  is recorded as the  Secchi depth. (Adapted from Water  on the Web at
                             http://wow.nrri.umn.edu/wow.)

                             Clocker/ClockerPro: Software designed to schedule programs (or reminders)
                             to run at specified times (e.g., the upload and download of data from the RUSS
                             units).

                             Color Mapper: A data visualization tool that enables the user to map  one
                             parameter as color contours and then overlay another variable over the color con-
                             tours in the form of a line plot.

                             CONSOLE: Software that enables operation of a RUSS unit using a portable
                             computer in the field.

                             CTM:  Cellular  telephone modem. Can be used to transfer data from the RUSS
                             unit to the land-base station.
                             Depth versus Time (DxT) Profiler: A data visualization program that allows
                             users to display and analyze data in two or three dimensions.

                             Dimictic: A type of lake that has two mixing periods, typically in spring and fall.
                             (Adapted from Water on the Web at http://wow.nrri.umn.edu/wow.)

                             Dissolved oxygen (DO): The concentration of oxygen dissolved in water, usu-
                             ally expressed in milligrams per liter, parts per million, or percent of saturation (at
                             the field temperature). Adequate concentrations of dissolved oxygen are necessary
                             to sustain the life offish and other aquatic organisms and prevent offensive odors.
                             DO levels are considered the most important and commonly employed measure-
                             ment of water quality and indicator of a water body's ability to support desirable
                             aquatic life. Levels above 5 milligrams per liter (mg O2/L) are considered optimal
                             and most fish cannot survive for prolonged periods at levels below 3 mg O2/L.
                             Levels below  1 mg O2/L are often referred to as hypoxic and when O2 is totally
                             absent  anoxic (often called anaerobic which technically means  without air).
                             (Adapted from Water on the Web at http://wow.nrri.umn.edu/wow.)

                             Dissolved oxygen profile: A graph of the amount of dissolved oxygen per unit
                             depth,  where the depth is on the z (vertical) axis and dissolved oxygen is  on
                             the  x   (horizontal)  axis.  (Adapted   from  Water   on   the   Web   at
                             http://wow.nrri.umn.edu/wow.)

                             DVT data visualization  tools: A suite  of four interactive data visualization
                             programs used by the Lake Access team to depict and manipulate water quality
                             profiles collected by RUSS  units and from manual sampling, specifically, Lake
                             Access  Live: Near Real-Time Display  of Numeric Data; Profile Plotter; Color
                             Mapper; and  Depth versus Time (DxT) Profiler.
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E
E. CO//: A bacteria (Escherichia coli) normally found in the gastrointestinal tract
and existing as hundreds of strains, some of which can cause diarrheal disease. E.
coli can be a water-borne pathogen.

Electrical conductivity: A measure of the water's ability to conduct an electri-
cal current based on its ion content. It is a good estimator of the amount of total
dissolved salts or total dissolved ions in water. The electrical conductivity in a lake
is influenced by many factors, including the watershed's geology, the watershed's
size in relation to lake's size, wastewater from point sources, runoff from nonpoint
sources, minor atmospheric inputs, evaporation rates, and some types of bacteri-
al metabolism. Lake Access  Project values are standardized to values that would
be measured at 25° C to correct for the  effect of temperature. (Adapted from
Water on the Web at  http://wow.nrri.umn.edu/wow.)

Epilimnion: The upper, wind-mixed layer of a thermally stratified lake. This
water is turbulently mixed throughout at least some portion of the day, and
because of its exposure, can freely exchange dissolved gases (such as O2 and CO2)
with   the  atmosphere.   (Adapted   from   Water    on   the   Web   at
http://wow.nrri.umn.edu/wow.)

Eutrophic  lake: A very biologically productive type of lake due to relatively
high rates of nutrient input  that cause high  rates of algal and plant growth.
(Adapted from Water on the Web at http://wow.nrri.umn.edu/wow.)

Eutrophication: The process by which lakes and streams are enriched by nutri-
ents  (usually phosphorus and nitrogen) which leads to  excessive plant growth.
(Adapted from Water on the Web at http://wow.nrri.umn.edu/wow.)
G
Geographic Information System (GIS): A computer software and hardware
system that helps scientists and other technicians capture, store, model, display,
and analyze spatial  or geographic information.

GIF  (Graphics Interchange Format): A common format for image files,
especially suitable for images containing large areas of the same color.

Guano: A substance composed mostly of the dung of sea birds.
Hypolimnion: The bottom, and most dense layer of a stratified lake. It is typi-
cally the coldest layer in the summer and warmest in the winter. It is isolated from
wind mixing and typically too dark for much  plant photosynthesis to  occur.
(Adapted from Water on the Web at http://wow.nrri.umn.edu/wow.)

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                             I
                             Inflow: Water  flowing  into  a  lake. (Adapted  from Water  on the Web  at
                             http://wow.nrri.umn.edu/wow.)
                            J


                            K
                             L
                             Lake Access Live: Near  Real-Time Display of  Numeric  Data: A data
                             visualization program used to provide near real-time data feeds, such as oxygen
                             level and temperature, to Web sites.

                             Lake profile: A graph of a lake variable per depth, where the depth is on the z-
                             axis (vertical axis) and the variable is on the x-axis (horizontal axis). Depth is the
                             independent variable and  the x-axis is  the dependent variable. (Adapted from
                             Water on the Web at http://wow.nrri.umn.edu/wow.)
                             Limnology: The study of the life and phenomena of fresh water systems, espe-
                             cially lakes and ponds; freshwater ecology; a limnologist is to lakes as an oceanog-
                             rapher is to oceans.
                            M
                            Metdlimnion: The middle or transitional zone between the well mixed epil-
                            imnion and the colder hypolimnion layers in a stratified lake. This layer contains
                            the thermocline, but is loosely defined depending on the shape of the tempera-
                            ture    profile.    (Adapted    from    Water    on   the    Web     at
                            http://wow.nrri.umn.edu/wow.)

                            Modem: A device that converts data from one form into another (e.g., to a form
                            useable in telephonic transmission).

                            Morphometry: Relating to the shape of a lake basin; includes parameters need-
                            ed to describe the shape of the lake such as volume, surface area, mean depth,
                            maximum depth, maximum length and width, shoreline length, shoreline devel-
                            opment, depth versus volume, and surface area curves. (Adapted from Water on
                            the Web at  http://wow.nrri.umn.edu/wow.)
A-4                                                                             APPENDIXA

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N
Nonpoint source: Diffuse source of pollutant(s); not discharged from a pipe;
associated with agricultural or  urban runoff, contaminated groundwater flow,
atmospheric deposition, or on-site septic systems.  (Adapted from Water on the
Web at http://wow.nrri.umn.edu/wow.)

Nutrient loading: The discharge of nutrients from the watershed into a receiv-
ing water body (lake, stream, wetland). Expressed usually as mass per unit area per
unit  time (kg/ha/yr or Ibs/acre/year).  (Adapted from Water on the Web  at
http://wow.nrri.umn.edu/wow.)
Organic: Substances that contain carbon  atoms and carbon-carbon bonds.
(Adapted from Water on the Web at http://wow.nrri.umn.edu/wow.)

Outflow: Water flowing out of a lake. (Adapted from Water on the Web  at
http://wow.nrri.umn.edu/wow.)

Outliers: Data points that lie outside of the normal range of data. (Adapted from
Water on the Web at http://wow.nrri.umn.edu/wow.)
Parameter: Whatever it is you measure—a particular physical, chemical, or bio-
logical property that  is being measured. (Adapted from Water  on the Web  at
http://wow.nrri.umn.edu/wow.)

pH scale: A scale used to determine the alkaline or acidic nature of a substance.
The scale ranges from 1 to 14 with 1 being the most acidic and 14 the most basic.
Pure water  is neutral with  a pH  of 7. (Adapted from Water  on the Web  at
http://wow.nrri.umn.edu/wow.)

Phosphorus:  Key nutrient influencing plant growth in lakes.  Soluble reactive
phosphorus (PO^) is the amount of phosphorus in solution that is  available  to
plants. Total phosphorus includes the amount of phosphorus in solution (reac-
tive)  and  in  particulate  form.   (Adapted from  Water  on the  Web  at
http://wow.nrri.umn.edu/wow.)

Photosynthesis: The process by which green plants convert  carbon dioxide
(CO2) dissolved in  water  to  sugars  and oxygen  using  sunlight  for energy.
Photosynthesis is essential in producing a lake's food base and  is an important
source of oxygen  for many lakes. (Adapted  from Water on  the  Web  at
http://wow.nrri.umn.edu/wow.)

ppb: Parts-per-billion; equivalent to a microgram per liter (ug/1). (Adapted from
Water on the Web at  http://wow.nrri.umn.edu/wow.)

ppm: Parts-per-million; equivalent to a  milligram per liter (mg/1). (Adapted from
Water on the Web at  http://wow.nrri.umn.edu/wow.)


COMMUNICATING  T I M E - R E L E V A N T  WATER  QUALITY  DATA             A-5

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                             Profile: A vertical, depth by depth characterization of a water column, usually at
                             the  deepest  part  of  a  lake.   (Adapted  from Water  on  the  Web  at
                             http://wow.nrri.umn.edu/wow.)

                             Profile  Plotter: A data visualization tool that enables users to create static and
                             animated line plots of the profiles of lakes and other water bodies.

                             Profiler: A component of the RUSS unit that carries the water quality monitor-
                             ing sensor to multiple depths within the water column beneath the RUSS Unit
                             flotation module. The profiler is controlled by the RePDAR unit.
                             Q
                             Quality Assurance/Quality Control (QA/QC). QA/QC procedures are
                             used to  ensure that data are accurate, precise,  and consistent. QA/QC involves
                             following established rules in the field and in the laboratory to ensure that sam-
                             ples are representative of the water you are monitoring, free from contamination,
                             and analyzed following standard procedures.
                             RUSS-Base: Software that enables the user to remotely operate the RUSS unit
                             using a computer at the land-base station. RUSS-Base creates profile schedules of
                             sampling parameters and communicates with the RUSS unit via telemetry equip-
                             ment to transmit schedules and receive sampling data.

                             Remote Underwater Sampling Station (RUSS™):  Monitoring equipment
                             used to remotely collect time-relevant water quality data.  The RUSS unit, manu-
                             factured by Apprise Technologies, Inc., consists of a mobile underwater monitor-
                             ing sensor tethered to a  a buoy and featuring an onboard computer, batteries,
                             solar panels, telemetry equipment, and other optional monitoring equipment.

                             RePDAR (Remote Programming, Data Acquisition, and Retrieval) unit.
                             A component of the RUSS unit that allows for remote water  quality monitoring
                             sensor operation, data storage, and data transmission.  Each RePDAR unit con-
                             tains a central  processing unit (CPU),  power supply  charging controls, and
                             telemetry modules.
                             s
                             Secchi disk: A disk, typically 8 inches in diameter, divided into 4 equal quad-
                             rants of alternating black and white colors. (Some states use totally white Secchis.)
                             It is lowered into a section of shaded water until it can no longer be seen and then
                             lifted back up until it can be seen once again. Averaging the two depths gives a
                             measure  of the  water's  clarity.  (Adapted  from Water on the  Web  at
                             http://wow.nrri.umn.edu/wow.)

A- 6                                                                              APPENDIXA

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Sedimentation: The process of settling inorganic and organic matter on the
lake bottom. This matter may have been produced within the lake or washed in
from   the   watershed.    (Adapted   from   Water    on  the   Web   at
http://wow.nrri.umn.edu/wow.)

Solubility: The ability of a substance to dissolve into another. (Adapted from
Water on the Web at http://wow.nrri.umn.edu/wow.)

Spring turnover: Period of complete or nearly complete vertical mixing in the
spring after ice-out and prior to thermal stratification. (Adapted from Water on
the Web at http://wow.nrri.umn.edu/wow.)

Stormwater discharge: Precipitation and snowmelt runoff from roadways,
parking lots, and roof drains that collects in  gutters and drains; a major source of
nonpoint source pollution to water bodies.  (Adapted from Water on the Web at
http://wow.nrri.umn.edu/wow.)

Stratification: An effect where a substance or material is broken  into distinct
horizontal layers due to different characteristics such  as density or temperature.
(Adapted from Water on the Web at http://wow.nrri.umn.edu/wow.)

Stratified: Separated into distinct layers. (Adapted from Water on the Web at
http://wow.nrri.umn.edu/wow.)

Swimmer's itch: An itching inflammation of the skin caused by parasitic larval
forms of certain schistosomes that penetrate into the skin, occurring after swim-
ming in infested water.

Substrate: Attachment surface or bottom material in  which organisms can
attach or live within; such as rock substrate or sand or muck substrate, or woody
debris. (Adapted from Water on the Web at  http://wow.nrri.umn.edu/wow.)

Suspended solids: (SS or Total SS [TSS]). Very small particles that remain dis-
tributed throughout the water column due to turbulent mixing exceeding gravi-
tational    sinking.   (Adapted    from    Water   on   the    Web    at
http://wow.nrri.umn.edu/wow.)
Telemetry: The science of automatic measurement and transmission of data by
wire, radio, or other methods from remote sources.

Temperature profile: A graph of the temperature per depth; where the depth
is on the z-axis (vertical axis) and temperature is on the x-axis (horizontal axis).
(Adapted from Water on the Web at http://wow.nrri.umn.edu/wow.)

Thermal stratification: Existence of a turbulently mixed layer of warm water
(epilimnion) overlying a colder mass of relatively stagnant water (hypolimnion) in
a water body  due to cold water being denser than warm water coupled with the
damping effect of water depth on the intensity of wind mixing.  (Adapted from
Water on the  Web at http://wow.nrri.umn.edu/wow.)
COMMUNICATING  T I M E - R E L E V A N T WATER  QUALITY  DATA             A-7

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                            Thermocline: The depth at which the temperature gradient is steepest during
                            the summer; usually this gradient must be at least  1°C per meter of depth.
                            (Adapted from Water on the Web at http://wow.nrri.umn.edu/wow.)

                            Topography: Configuration of physical surface of land; includes relief imprints
                            and locations of all man-made and natural features. (Adapted from Water on the
                            Web at http://wow.nrri.umn.edu/wow.)

                            Total dissolved  solids (TDS):  The amount of dissolved substances, such as
                            salts or minerals, in water remaining after evaporating the water and weighing the
                            residue. (Adapted from Water on the Web at http://wow.nrri.umn.edu/wow.)

                            Turbidity: The degree  to which light is blocked because water is muddy or
                            cloudy. (Adapted from Water on the Web at http://wow.nrri.umn.edu/wow.)

                            Turnover: Fall cooling  and spring warming of surface water act to make density
                            uniform throughout the water column. This allows wind and wave action to mix
                            the entire  lake. Mixing  allows bottom waters to contact the atmosphere, raising
                            the water's oxygen content. However,  warming may occur  too  rapidly in  the
                            spring for mixing to be effective, especially in  small  sheltered kettle lakes.
                            (Adapted from Water on the Web at http://wow.nrri.umn.edu/wow.)
                            u
                            w
                            Water column: A conceptual column of water from lake surface to bottom sed-
                            iments. (Adapted from Water on the Web at http://wow.nrri.umn.edu/wow.)
                            Watershed: All land and water areas that drain toward a river or lake. (Adapted
                            from Water on the Web at http://wow.nrri.umn.edu/wow.)
                            YSI multiprobe water quality sensor: The component of the RUSS unit,
                            manufactured by Yellow Springs Instruments (YSI), that is raised and lowered to
                            collect a water quality profile in specified intervals from the lake surface to the
                            lake bottom.
A- 8                                                                            APPENDIXA

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APPENDIX B
LAKE ACCESS BROCHURE
LAKE ACCESS BROCHURE                     B-l

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          Seeing
          Below the
        ^Surface
         Lake Data Comes Alive in Minnesota!
         Thanks to technological advances, all of us, not
         just scientists, can see below the surface!

         Lake Access allows you to:
         • Track daily changes on Lake Minnetonka and
          Lake Independence.
         • Study how choices we make on the shoreline
          and in the water affect the health of our
          lakes.
         • Witness the way storms and seasonal changes
          mix lake water and impact fish and fishing.
         • Gauge how our lakes have changed over time.

         Lake Access was made possible by a two-year grant from
         the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's EMPACT
         (Environmental Monitoring for Public Access and
         Community Tracking) initiative. Lake Access partners
         include: Hennepin Parks, the Natural Resources Research
         Institute, UM-Duluth Department of Education, University
         of Minnesota Sea Grant, the Minnehaha Creek Watershed
         District, Minnesota Science Museum, and Apprise
         Technologies, Inc.
         Lake Access cooperators welcome your comments and suggestions.
         For more information contact: George Host, (218) 72O-4264,
         Natural Resources Research Institute, ghost®sage.nrri.umn.edu.
         www.nrri.umn.edu/empact
LAKE  ACCESS  BROCHURE
B-3

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                                                         Seeing  Below the Surface
                                                         Remote Underwater Sampling System (RUSS)
                                                         units are the yellow platforms anchored in Lakes
                                                         Minnetonka and Independence. Beneath the
                                                         platform, an underwater sensor package cycles
                                                         between the surface and the lake bottom to
                                                         gather data on turbidity, acidity, conductivity,
                                                         dissolved oxygen, and temperature.

                                                         Transmitting Daily Data
                                                         Every six hours, RUSS units transmit the data
                                                         they have gathered to an on-shore base station
                                                         over a cellular phone.

                                                         Accessing Information
                                                         You can access the continual stream of data from
                                                         the RUSS units over the World Wide Web site:
                                                         www.nrri.umn.edu/empact Soon, Lake Access
                                                         kiosks linked to the RUSS units will be con-
                                                         structed at Lake Minnetonka Regional Parks
                                                         Visitor's Center, Richardson Nature Center, and
                                                         other locations around Minneapolis.


                                                         Understanding the Data
                                                         The Lake Access Web site and kiosks will contain
                                                         interactive tools and informational links that
                                                         allow you to interpret easily data through maps,
                                                         graphics, and text.

                                                         Making a Difference
                                                         What you and resource professionals  learn from
                                                         the RUSS units  could change the way we man-
                                                         age our shorelines. Lake Access information may
                                                         encourage lakeshore owners to landscape with
                                                         more native plants and fewer chemicals. City
                                                         planners may use RUSS information to develop
                                                         lake-friendly practices. You may decide how deep
                                                         to fish  or when to swim based on the day's data.
B -4
APPENDIX  B

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APPENDIX C
LAKE ACCESS SURVEY
LAKE ACCESS SURVEY                       C-l

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                                   west  metro  lake  survey
                                                 ccciMr: Rnn\A/Tuc CIIDCATC nc mrAi i AI^CC^
                        .
SEEING BELOW THE SURFACE OF LOCAL LAKES'
                    WEST METRO RESIDENT:
                     WHAT IS LAKE ACCESS?
                               WHO ARE WE?
                                   WHY YOU?
                           WHY FILL IT OUT?
                   FOR MORE INFORMATION
                                                 This is a survey to find out your perceptions,
                                                 uses and ways you get information about your
                                                 local lakes. Please help us find the best way to
                                                 reach you with the facts you need to enjoy your
                                                 favorite West Metro lakes.
 Do you know what is happening in your favorite lake?
 We would like to tell you, but we don't know the best
 way to reach you and your neighbors. Please help us
 by filling out the enclosed, 7-minute survey about your
 use of West Metro lakes, your perceptions about their
 "health," and the best ways to reach you with new
 information.
 The goal of Lake Access is to provide you with timely,
 accurate and understandable information about your
 local lakes. We want to supply you with the facts you
 need to make informed, day-to-day decisions  about
 your West Metro lakes.


 Partners in this project include Minnesota Sea Grant,
 Hennepin Parks, Natural Resources Research Institute,
 University  of Minnesota  Duluth Department of
 Education, Apprise Technologies Inc., and the Minnehaha
 Creek Watershed  District.  The U.S. Environmental
 Protection Agency funds Lake Access through their
 Environmental  Monitoring for Public Access and
 Community Tracking Initiative.

 We randomly selected your name as part of a small
 group of people to complete this confidential survey.
 We value your answers, time and privacy.
 This  is your chance to make Lake Access  easily
 available, understandable  and useful  to you and
 your neighbors in the West Metro.

 See the enclosed brochure and browse our Web site
 at: http://www.nrri.umn.edu/empact.

 Thank you in advance for your time and effort  in
 completing this survey.

 return survey by november 22
LAKE  ACCESS  SURVEY
                                           C-3

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 survey
P       Approximately how many days per year do you use lakes in
       the Woct Motrn area? (zee mart\
       the West Metro area? (see map)
         1 0
         ] 1-5
           6-10
           11-20
         J >21
      IF YOU DO NOT VISIT WEST METRO LAKES,
               PLEASE GO TO QUESTION 6.
       Please check the ONE West Metro lake you currently use most.
        pAuburn               _ Langdon             _ Sarah
          Bryant                  Libbs                _ Schutz
          Christmas             _ Little Long            _ Spurzem
          Cleary                  Long                _ Steiger
          Eagle                _ Medicine             _ Stone
          Fish                   Minnetonka             Virginia
          Forest                _ Minnewashta         _ Waconia
          Independence           Parley                 Weaver
          Hyland              [j Rebecca                Zumbra

          OTHER SPECIFY	
       In your opinion, which THREE items have the greatest impact on water quality in the lake you currently use most?
          Failing septic systems
          Aquatic plant removal
          Shoreland plant removal
          Lawn fertilizers and chemicals
          Urban, road or parking lot runoff
          Livestock manure

          OTHER SPECIFY	
  Damage to aquatic plants and lake bottom by watercraft
  Introduction of exotic species invasions (Eurasian water milfoil)
  Agricultural fertilizers and chemicals
  Municipal waste water discharges
  Fuel leakage from motorized watercraft
  Soil erosion from building or road construction sites
       Please check your impression below for the West Metro lake you currently use most.
OVERALL BEAUTY/AESTHETIC VALUE
OVERALL HEALTH OF LAKE
QUALITY OF FISHING
EXCELLENT



GOOD



FAIR



POOR



DON'T KNOW



       Please mark your opinion below for the West Metro lake you currently use most.
NUMBER OF LAKE USERS
NUMBER OF CABINS/ HOMES
TOO FEW


JUST ABOUT RIGHT


TOO MANY


DON'T KNOW


       How concerned are you about the quality of lakes and shoreland areas in the West Metro area?
          Very concerned
        H Somewhat concerned
          Not concerned

       Please estimate your level of general knowledge about the following subjects.
          J Lake water quality
             iHigh
               Medium
               Low
[j Proper care of shoreline property
     High
     Medium
     Low
C-4
                                                         APPENDIX  C

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                  r
Are you interested in learning more about lakes in the West Metro area?
   Yes

   No
Please check the item(s) you would like to learn more about West Metro lakes.
    Effects of weather on lakes                  Nutrient levels (nitrogen/phosphorus^
    Fisheries
    Control of algae
    Control of aquatic plants
    User conflict resolutions
                                                                                                            Hshoreland restoration with native plants
                                                                     Change in water quality over time
                                                                     Actions that improve lake water quality
                                                                     Factors that influence lake water quality
                                                                     Water conditions for swimming

                                                                                       Basic understanding of how lakes work
                                                                                       Non-native plant control efforts
                                                                                    ^ Real time lake measurements (oxygen
                                                                                        profiles, mixing depths, lake temperature)
                           OTHER SPECIFY.
                        THE INTERNET IS AN ELECTRONIC COMMUNICATIONS NETWORK THAT CONNECTS COMPUTER NETWORKS AND FACILITIES AROUND THE WORLD.
P                        Would you use the Internet to learn more about West Metro lakes?
                        DYes
vvu
0
                           No
                   r
                  P
Please check the item(s) below that would make it worth your time to visit our Web site, http://www.nrri.umn.edu/empact.
   Live camera coverage of lakeshore conditions
   Information about the bacterial contamination of swimming beaches
   Current water temperature
   Current dissolved oxygen levels
   Water clarity measurements
   Regional weather
   Weekly fishing reports
   OTHER SPECIFY _
   I do not have computer access

                       AN INTERACTIVE KIOSK IS AN  INFORMATION BOOTH WITH A COMPUTER TOUCH SCREEN.

Would you use an interactive kiosk to learn more about lakes in the West Metro area?
   Yes
H
                           No
                        Pjease check the THREE most convenient locations for you to use a kiosk?
                           Beach
                           Grocery store
                           Library
                           Mall
                           Museum
                           School
                           Visitor center
                           Boat launch
                           OTHER SPECIFY	

                        As new facts become available about West Metro lakes, which TWO ways would be most convenient for you to access in-depth news
                        and information about your lakes?
                           Classes/workshops
                           Interactive  kiosk
                           Organizations
                           Internet
                           OTHER SPECIFY	

                        Please check TWO ways you would most likely notice a brief announcement about West Metro lakes.
                           Signs
                           Public radio
                           Commercial radio
                           Network television
                           Cable  television
                           Direct mail
                             St. Paul Pioneer Press
                             Minneapolis Star-Tribune
                             Other newspapers SPECIFY_
                             Newsletters SPECIFY	
                             Magazines SPECIFY	
                                                                                                                      PLEASE
                                                                                                      CONTINUE
                LAKE   ACCESS   SURVEY
                                                                                                                     C-5

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                     THE NEXT SECTION OF THIS SURVEY WILL HELP US FIND GENERAL PATTERNS.
                          REMEMBER THAT YOUR ANSWERS ARE STRICTLY CONFIDENTIAL.
      Do you care for a lawn?
      LI No
               Have you ever had your soil tested?
               ~Yes
                 No
               How many times per year do you add fertilizer?
               " 0
                 1-2
                 3-4
                 >5
                                            What do you do with your grass clippings and leaves?
                                              Burn
                                              Compost
                                              Leave on lawn
                                              Place in trash bin
                                              Put in gutter
                                              OTHER SPECIFY	
      Do you own/lease shoreland property?
        lYes
        INo
             J What is the name of the lake where
               you own or lease shoreland property?
;
            r
       Which best describes your property at the
          Concrete, steel or wood retaining wall
          Mowed lawn
          Natural landscape
          Rock/rip-rap added for stabilization
          Sand beach
          OTHER SPECIFY	
of the water?
If you have a private septic system, how
frequently do you inspect and maintain it?
  Once a year
  1-3 years
  >3 years
  Do not know
   Jl What is your zip code?
   £J What is your gender?   Female

   ^ What is your age group?
         <25
         25-45
         45-65
       1 >65
                           Male
                                                                            SEQUENCE NUMBER
                  THANK YOU FOR TAKING THE TIME AND EFFORT TO COMPLETE THIS SURVEY.
                      PLEASE TAPE THE SURVEY CLOSED AND DROP IN THE MAIL.
                                 BUSINESS REPLY MAIL
                                   FIRST-CLASS MAIL PERMIT NO. 692 DULUTH, MN
                                     POSTAGE WILL BE PAID BY ADDRESSEE

                                MINNESOTA SEA GRANT PROGRAM
                                UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA
                                2305 E 5 ST RM 208
                                DULUTH MN 55812-9953
C-6
                                                                                APPENDIX  C

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