September, 2010 Update on Water Quality from Elden Lingwood:

Water clarity was great in August and early Sept. but has dropped to 4.8 meters, the same as it did last year in late September.  There is a bluish gray tint to the water.  Oxygen levels are very good to excellent, with fish supporting O2 down to 9 meters at the south end of the lake.  Here are the details.

 

CRESCENT LAKE          
Water Conditions Summary 2010        
             
MONTH WATER CLARITY  (Average both stations, meters of visibility)   DISOLVED OXYGEN (Average both stations)   SURFACE TEMPERATURE
April  5.3          
May 6.1   Good to 10 meters   Deg. C Deg. F
June 6.0   Good to 6.5meters   24.1 75.4
July 6.5   Good to 6.2 meters   26.2 79.1
August 6.8   Good to 7.3 meters   24.3 75.7
Sept. 6.1   Good to 8.0 meters   21.1 69.9

 

July 29th, 2010 Update on Water Quality from Elden Lingwood:

 
Good news! Water clarity is better, oxygen is holding, and the surface temperature is dropping.  We had a surface temp of 82 degrees July 3 but recent rains have lowered it to 78 degrees, and the forecasted cool weather should help even more.  This is important to ward of algae blooms. 
 
 

Let's go swimming!

 

The Crescent Lake Watershed Association actively monitors water clarity and phosphorous levels.  Excessive runoff from local streams, state roads, camp roads, and lake properties can have a significant negative impact on the quality of our water.  After 25 years of steady water quality, our lake has declined in clarity significantly over the past few years.  Our best efforts are needed to reduce runoff into Crescent Lake in every location possible.

2009 was a difficult year for our lake. Average water clarity of 5.9 meters, based upon Secchi disk readings, was the lowest it has been since 1993. Dissolved Oxygen averaged 5.3 ppm, well below average from the prior 3 years. Crescent Lake has recently experienced dangerously low oxygen readings during August, but this average for 2009 was dangerously low for the full summer. Total phosphorous should also be a concern for us. We took multiple phosphorous readings throughout the summer, and our average for the year was 9 ppm vs. a historical average of 6 ppm. Phosphorous is a leading contributor to algae blooms that we don’t want.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

May 19th report from Elden Lingwood, Crescent Lake Environmental Coordinator:

"For some reason our clarity has diminished to 5.8 meters at the north end and to 5.3 meters at the south end of the lake.  I was surprised because it usually takes a heavy rain within the previous 2 weeks of a readint to stir up the lake.  I'm sure my readings are accurate because Charlie Turner also took a Secchi reading yesterday and got a similar result.  Let's hope that whatever is impacting our clarity settles out.  For comparison, Panther Pond's clarity is normal for this time of year.  I will continue sending you updates when I take clarity readings."

 

Private Road Runoff into Crescent Lake

How LakeSmart can help you help us!

Click here for more of the details on Crescent Lake water quality (wait for pdf to load)

 

 

For questions, or to provide assistance, contact Elden Lingwood at elldsl@fairpoint.net.