Unpublished data, Massachusetts Department of Environment Protection, lake water chemistry data, 1995-2004

This database contains anion, nutrient, and secchi data collected by MA DEP for assessment of water quality in MA lakes. Data spans 1995-2004. The ultimate goal of the MassDEP is to implement a comprehensive monitoring program (status/assessment, trends and flows, and targeted) that serves all water quality management needs, and addresses streams, rivers, lakes, reservoirs, estuaries, coastal areas, wetlands, and groundwater. The five-year rotating watershed assessment program is currently the primary means of meeting the CWA objective related to assessing the status of designated uses. Requirements for the monitoring program designed to support watershed assessments, reflecting CWA mandates, are that it be statewide in scale, comprehensive (all water bodies in the Commonwealth are assessed), and repeated at regular intervals. Water quality surveys generally consist of five sampling events interspersed throughout the water recreation season for conventional water quality analyses such as pH, dissolved oxygen, suspended and total dissolved solids, nutrients, and fecal coliform bacteria.