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April 2010 Library of Congress 2011 505862 This report was prepared by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Office of Water and Office of Research and Development. It has been subjected to the Agency’s peer review and administrative review processes. This document contains information relating to water quality assessment. It does not substitute for the Clean Water Act or EPA regulations, nor is it a regulation itself. Thus, it cannot impose legally binding requirements on EPA, States, authorized Tribes or the regulated community, and it may not apply to a particular situation or circumstance. Cover photo of Emerald Bay on Lake Tahoe courtesy of ©Ted C. McRae http://beetlesinthebush.wordDress.com Acknowledgements The EPA Office of Water (OW) and Office of Research and Development (ORD) would like to thank the many people who contributed to this project. Without the collaborative efforts and support by state and tribal environmental agencies, federal agencies, universities and other organizations, this groundbreaking assessment of lakes would not have been possible. In addition, the survey could not have been done without the dedicated help and support of enumerable field biologists, taxonomists, statisticians and data analysts, as well as program administrators, regional coordinators, project managers, quality control officers, and reviewers. To the many participants, EPA expresses its gratitude. Collaborators Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe, Division of Alabama Department of Environmental Resource Management Management Maine Department of Environmental Arizona Department of Environmental Quality Protection Blackfeet Tribe, Environmental Program Maryland Department of Natural Resources California Department of Fish and Game Massachusetts Department of Environmental California State Water Resources Control Protection Board Michigan Department of Environmental Pueblo de Cochiti Department of Natural Quality Resources and Conservation Minnesota Pollution Control Agency Colorado Department of Public Health Mississippi Department of Environmental and the Environment Quality Connecticut Department of Environmental Montana Department of Environmental Protection Quality Delaware Department of Natural Resources Nevada Division of Environmental Protection Eastern Shoshone Tribe and Northern Arapaho New Hampshire Department of Environmental Tribe, Environmental Program Services New Jersey Department of Environmental Florida Department of Environmental Protection Protection New York State Department of Environmental Georgia Department of Natural Resources Conservation Idaho Department of Environmental Quality North Dakota Department of Health Illinois Environmental Protection Agency Ohio Environmental Protection Agency Indiana Department of Environmental Oklahoma Water Resources Board Management Oregon Department of Environmental Quality Iowa Department of Natural Resources Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Lac Courte Oreilles Band of Lake Superior Protection Chippewa, Conservation Department Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribe Lac du Flambeau Band of Lake Superior Rhode Island Department of Environmental Chippewa, Tribal Natural Resources Management Department National Lakes Assessment: A Collaborative Survey of the Nation’s Lakes Sisseton-Wahpeton Sioux Tribe, Virginia Department of Environmental Quality Environmental Program Washington Department of Ecology South Dakota Department of West Virginia Department of Environmental Environment and Natural Resources Protection Spirit Lake Nation, Tribal Environmental White Earth Band of Chippewa, Natural Administration Resources Department Tennessee Department of Environment and Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources Conservation Texas Commission of Environmental Quality Turtle Mountain Band of the Chippewa Indians Environmental Program Utah Division of Environmental Quality Vermont Department of Environmental Conservation The following people played a pivotal role and lent their expertise to the data analysis of this project. These individuals painstakingly reviewed the dataset to ensure quality and consistency. These NLA analysts included Neil Kamman (lead, on detail from VT Department of Environmental Conservation), Richard Mitchell, and Ellen Tarquinio from EPA Office of Water; Phil Kaufmann, Tony Olsen, Dave Peck, Spence Peterson, Steve Paulsen, Amina Pollard, John Stoddard, John Van Sickle and Henry Walker from EPA Office of Research and Development; Donald Charles and Mihaele Enache from the Academy of Natural Sciences, Philadelphia PA; Charles Hawkins from Utah State University; Alan Herlihy from Oregon State University; Paul Garrison from WI Department of Natural Resources; Jennifer Graham and Keith Loftin from U.S. Geological Survey, Lawrence, KS; Jan Stevenson from Michigan State University, and Julie Wolin from Cleveland State University, OH. Contributors EPA would also like to thank those people who lent their scientific knowledge and/or writing talent to this report. Steve Heiskary, Minnesota Pollution Control Agency, MN; Neil Kamman, Department of Environmental Conservation, VT; Terri Lomax, Department of Environmental Conservation, AK; Alice Mayio, EPA Office of Wetlands, Oceans and Watersheds, Washington, DC: Amy Smagula, Department of Environmental Services, NH; Kellie Merrell, Department of Environmental Conservation, VT; Leanne Stahl, EPA Office of Science and Technology, Washington, DC. The National Lakes Assessment survey project was led by Susan Holdsworth (OW) and Steve Paulsen (ORD) with significant programmatic help from Sarah Lehmann, Alice Mayio, Richard Mitchell, Dan Olsen, Carol Peterson, Ellen Tarquinio, Anne Weinberg, and EPA Regional Monitoring Coordinators. Contractor support was provided by Computer Sciences Corp., Dynamac Corp., EcoAnalysts, Inc., Great Lakes Environmental Center, Inc., Raytheon Information Services, TechLaw, Inc. and Tetra Tech, Inc. National Lakes Assessment: A Collaborative Survey of the Nation’s Lakes Additional Reports and Information To augment the findings of this report, EPA is providing several additional reports. The first is the National Lakes Assessment: Technical Appendix. This appendix describes in detail the data analyses and scientific underpinnings of the results. It is intended to aid States and other institutions who would like a more in-depth explanation of the data analysis phase with the possible intention of replicating the survey at a smaller scale. Additional results are also forthcoming. Due to a number of reasons, EPA is not able to report at this time the results from several indicators (e.g., sediment mercury, enterococci, and benthic macroinvertebrates). Work is on-going for each of these indicators and results will be published when complete. The Technical Appendix, Field Methods and Laboratory Protocols are currently available on EPA's web site at http://www.epa.gov/ lakessurvev/. For those wishing to access data from the survey to perform their own analyses, EPA has made flat files of the data available via the internet at http://www.epa.gov/owow/lakes/lakessurvev/ web data.html. Additionally, raw data and information on the sampled lakes will be uploaded to EPA's STOrage and RETrieval (STORET) warehouse at http://www.epa.QQv/STORET. National Lakes Assessment: A Collaborative Survey of the Nation’s Lakes Table of Contents Acknowledgements.• Collaborators.i Contributors.ii Additional Reports and Information.iii Tables and Figures.vi Executive Summary.viii Chapter 1. Introduction.2 A Highly Valued and Valuable Resource.2 Why a National Survey?.2 The National Aquatic Resource Surveys.3 Chapter 2. Design of the Lakes Survey.8 Areas Covered by the Survey.8 Selecting Lakes.8 Lake Extent - Natural and Man-made Lakes. 11 Choosing Indicators. 12 Field Sampling. 14 Setting Expectations. 15 Chapter 3. The Biological Condition of the Nation's Lakes.20 Lake Health - The Biological Condition of Lakes.20 Stressors to Lake Biota. 25 Ranking of Stressors.31 Chapter 4. Suitability for Recreation.36 Algal Toxins.36 Contaminants in Lake Fish Tissue.39 Pathogen Indicators.40 Chapter 5. Trophic State of Lakes.44 Findings for Trophic State.45 National Lakes Assessment: A Collaborative Survey of the Nation's Lakes