SMLA Water Quality Monitoring Program Kicks Off 39th Year
SMITH MOUNTAIN LAKE, VA – Smith Mountain Lake Association (SMLA) is kicking off its 39th consecutive year of monitoring the water quality of Smith Mountain Lake. The monitoring effort is conducted in conjunction with Ferrum College.
The data collected is a critical component of monitoring to ensure that SML is clean and safe for residents and visitors to enjoy. The water quality monitoring program provides important insight about the overall quality of the water and facilitates analysis of long-term trends and the rate of aging of the lake.
Over 50 SMLA volunteers team up with seven environmental scientists and three student interns from Ferrum College to collect water samples and take water quality measurements at 84 locations on the lake throughout the summer. This generates well over 1,000 data points every year which are shared with the public, the Virginia Department of Health, and the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality.
This year, the monitoring season begins on May 5 with a kick-off meeting of all participants where monitoring supplies will be distributed and training will be provided to new and returning citizen volunteers.
Water sampling begins on May 18. Volunteers will go out in their own boats to sample at their assigned locations and the Ferrum College team will go out in a boat owned by the college to perform a variety of monitoring tasks.
Citizen volunteers measure water clarity and draw water samples to be tested for phosphorus and chlorophyll-a concentrations. Water clarity is an indicator of silt, algae, and other microscopic organisms suspended in the water. Phosphorus is a polluting nutrient, which in high concentrations can spur unwanted excess growth of algae. Chlorophyll-a is a component of algae and serves as a measure of the quantity of algae growing in the water.
The results of these measurements are posted on the SMLA website. Again this year, updates will be added every two weeks throughout the summer. Visitors to the website can view results for the lake as a whole and for any of eight segments of the lake.
The Ferrum College team performs laboratory analysis of the water samples as well as their own sampling of several lake parameters. This sampling includes an analysis of bacterial concentrations at 14 locations on the lake, depth profiles of dissolved oxygen, pH, water temperature, and conductivity at five locations, and counts of algae species collected via a plankton net at 19 locations.
The Water Quality Monitoring program is made possible by funding provided by the Appalachian Power Company, the Bedford Regional Water Authority, and the Western Virginia Water Authority, and a grant from the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality.
About SMLA
The Smith Mountain Lake Association (SMLA) mission is to keep Smith Mountain Lake clean and safe. Established in 1969, SMLA is the longest serving advocate for the SML community. Activities help to retain the pristine beauty of Smith Mountain Lake and the vibrant local economy. SMLA is a nonprofit 501(c)(3), volunteer-led organization that relies on memberships, donations and grants to support programs that protect SML.
