State programs are built to be episodic. Lakes also need a continuous record. Six ways we can work together.
State lake programs built the foundation that everyone in lake management stands on. Programs like New York's CSLAP and Wisconsin's Citizen Lake Monitoring Network have trained volunteers, standardized methods, and kept long-term records on thousands of lakes for decades. Lake Pulse didn't invent lake monitoring, and we have no interest in replacing the programs that did.
We want to work with them. This post explains why, what we think we can offer, and the specific forms a partnership could take.
The short version
- State programs are designed to be episodic. Lakes rotate in and out, sampling follows program cycles, and budgets set the pace. That's the right design for statewide assessment.
- Lakes also need a continuous record that carries on between program visits, holds everything in one place, and stays with the lake as volunteers, boards and owners change.
- Lake Pulse is built to be that record. It complements state monitoring rather than competing with it.
- Your agency remains the authority. Advisories, assessments and regulatory determinations are yours. We never override them.
- We're asking for a conversation, and ideally a pilot in one state.
The gap between the program and the lake
A state program answers statewide questions: how lakes are doing across the state, which are impaired, where resources should go. To answer them, it samples many lakes on a schedule, and any single lake appears in the record episodically.
The people responsible for an individual lake face different questions, continuously. Is this summer's bloom unusual? Did last year's treatment work? What do we tell members who ask about swimming? They need state data, volunteer readings, consultant reports and new measurements in one place, year after year.
Today, that record usually lives in binders, inboxes and the memory of one long-serving volunteer. That's the gap Lake Pulse fills: not the monitoring itself, but the lake's operating record, the layer between monitoring and management.
What we will and won't do
- We republish public data accurately, with its date and source, and link back to the agency that produced it.
- We never rank, grade or compare lakes.
- We never contradict or replace agency advisories. When your agency issues one, we point people to it.
- We don't sell treatments, and have no financial stake in what the data shows.
- Lake associations own their data. It's never published without their permission.
- We're clear about data quality. Our monitoring tools are survey and screening tools, labelled as such, not a substitute for regulatory methods.
The full set of commitments is in our Partner Principles.
Six ways we could work together
1. Your data, credited and closer to the public
Lake Atlas publishes public records for each of 484,442 lakes, every measurement dated and attributed to its source agency, and every page acknowledges that state agencies gather and share this data. Partnering on how your data is presented and how often we refresh it ensures residents find your work and are pointed to you for authoritative information.
2. Data that flows back to you
Associations using Lake Pulse generate monitoring data between program visits. We're building toward exporting that data, with its methods and metadata, in formats agencies already use, including the Water Quality Exchange (WQX) format behind the national Water Quality Portal. Your program decides what, if anything, it accepts.
3. Keeping monitoring going between rotations
When a lake rotates out of a state program, monitoring often stops. Lake Pulse can help associations continue in the off years using your program's methods, sites and timing, so the record stays comparable when the lake rotates back in.
4. Advisories that reach the people on the lake
When your agency issues a bloom or beach advisory, the residents and businesses on that lake need to know quickly. Lake Pulse can carry your advisories, word for word and linked to your agency, to the subscribers on the affected lake.
5. Strengthening your volunteer network
Volunteer programs run on a small number of committed people. Lake Pulse gives volunteers a place to keep records, share them with their association, and hand them on intact. We'd like to support existing volunteer programs rather than compete with them for participants.
6. Evaluating new monitoring technology
Sensors, satellite products, eDNA and eRNA are advancing quickly, and agencies are rarely resourced to evaluate them all. We'd welcome agency participation in designing real-world pilots and reviewing the results.
Better cases for the money you already award
An association with a documented, consistent monitoring history writes a better grant application, scopes projects more accurately, and can show whether the work succeeded. That makes your program's investments easier to justify.
What we're asking for
A conversation, and a pilot in one state on a small number of lakes, with the terms agreed together. Agencies with a mandate across many lakes can also work directly in Lake Pulse through Lake Pulse PRO. Contact us to start.
