Delavan Lake Water Quality Monitoring Resumes


     The water quality monitoring program instituted in1983 by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) has been reinstated by the Town of Delavan.  In February, the Town approved a proposal from the USGS to restart the program after a two year hiatus.   On  Thursday, March 15, USGS employee, Ben Siebers, undertook the initial sampling called for in the new agreement.

     The monitoring program calls for testing for some 25 physical, chemical, and biological parameters.  Samples will be taken from three Lake locations.  These locations will be identified by GIS technology and use advanced sampling and testing equipment.  The samples will be collected from three different depths at each site using rigorous USGS testing protocols.
     The overall in-lake water quality monitoring program was designed by USGS Chief Hydrologist Dale Robertson with input from Mr. Peter Berrini of HDR Inc.  HDR is the firm retained by the Town of Delavan to provide advice and guidance on Lake questions and was also instrumental in the recent Inlet dredging project.  Both Mr. Berrini and Mr. Robertson worked in conjuction with the Town's Lake Committee to create a cost effective and reliable program.
     The testing will be conducted monthly from March to November.  Samples will analyzed by the Wisconsin State Laboratory of Hygiene. The results will be analyzed in such a way so that they will mirror those which the USGS has collected over the last 20 years and will provide "diagnostic"  information on long-term changes to the Lake's ecology.   

     Accurate diagnostic information is predicated on the thoughtful, systematic, long-term data which, the Town of Delavan Lake Committee is convinced the USGS's monitoring  program will produce. Detailing and understanding these changes will guide the Lake Committee and the Town's future efforts to take actions which promise to keep Delavan Lake clean and healthy.

     The effort will cost a total of $20,000 annually.  The Town will provide $15,000 and the USGS will contribute to that investment with an additional $5,000.  The results will be posted, as the information becomes available, at the USGS site  http://wi.water.usgs.gov/lakes/9kb22/index.html

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