In 2005, the LRA rejoined the Lay Monitoring Program (LMP) sponsored by the VT Department of Water Quality. Monitoring had been conducted earlier but stopped in 1980. Under this program volunteers from LRA are trained in testing and sampling protocols.
Throughout the summer volunteers test the clarity of the water utilizing a Secchi disk and report this data back to the state. This testing began in 2005. Starting in 2006, the volunteers also began to collect water samples which are returned to the state for phosphorous and chlorophyll-a testing. As development increases in our watershed, this data will be important in determining any changes in our water quality. The monitoring data indicates that Lake Rescue has water clarity and primary productivity indicative of a mesotrophic state - a term applied to clear water lakes and ponds with beds of submerged aquatic plants and medium levels of nutrients. Mesotrophic lakes are also of intermediate clarity, depth and temperature and regarded as suitable for recreational activity.
Yearly results of this testing are provided in Annual Reports on the Lay Monitoring Program webpage. Find a trend analysis for Lake Rescue here and the Lake Scorecard Trends & Status here.
