Water Testing

Current Thurston County water quality testing activities:

Ambient Lake Monitoring (see 2016-2018 reports below)

Monthly for 6 months from May – October
Routine pro-active monitoring – purpose is to monitor long-term water quality trends
Done from a boat in the deepest part of the lake
Currently conducted at nine lakes: Summit, Ward, Black, Deep, St. Clair, Long, Hicks, Pattison, Lawrence
Funded through stormwater fees and lake management district assessments

Parameters:

Temperature, pH, dissolved oxygen, specific conductivity are collected at 1 or 2 meter increments through the entire water column
Water clarity and color
Nutrient samples (total phosphorus, total nitrogen) are collected at the surface and bottom.
Composite samples from the upper/warmer part of the lake (epilimnion) are collected for Chlorophyll-a and algae identification

Toxic Algae Monitoring

As alerted to algae blooms
Complaint/response monitoring – purpose is to test water and algae scum for presence of toxins and determine when to post an advisory
Done from shore or dock

Report an algae bloom and lots more info on the topic:
Thurston County Environmental Health

Thurston County Summit Lake Water Quality Reports: 2016, 2017, 2018