|
Site Links
Major Lakes Monitoring Home
Monitoring Program History
Lake Washington
Lake Union
Lake Sammamish
Graphs and Data
Trophic State Index
Algae Bloom
Reports
Swimming Beach
Monitoring
Lake Washington
elevation
Lake
Sammamish elevation
Related Links
Other Lakes Web Sites
Lake Washington
Hydrograph
RUSS Buoy Page
Streams Monitoring
Lakes
Stewardship Program
Aquatic Plants
|
The foam that has recently accumulated along the shore of Lake Washington is a by-product of the decomposition of
organic material that is naturally produced in the lake. When the organic materials decompose, they release organic
compounds into the water, reducing the surface tension. Agitated by the wind, this creates foam and it accumulates on
the down wind shore.
The Lakes Monitoring Program is part of the King County Department of Natural
Resources, Water and Land Resources Division. We are committed to monitoring
the water quality of the County's lakes to ensure their continued health, as
well as the health of the public who utilize the lake's many resources. We
invite you to learn more about our program by looking through the pages listed
below. This site contains detailed graphs of water quality data, photographs of
water sampling, and general information about the water quality of King
County's lakes.
Lakes Presentations
View presenations on lake topics by King County staff on the Science Seminar Web
site.
|
 Graphs
and Data
King County conducts routine monitoring on the three major lakes in the county.
Browse a map of the sites that are currently monitored in the program, view
information about the lakes and watersheds, view data graphs, and download
data.
|
 Lakes
Monitoring Program History
The Major Lakes Monitoring Program is designed to protect the significant
investment in water quality improvement and protection made by the people of
King County. Learn more about the purpose and history of the Lakes Monitoring
program, what parameters are analyzed and how samples are collected.
|
 Lake Washington
Lake Washington is the largest lake in King County and the second largest
natural lake in Washington State. It is also one of the best examples of lake
clean up by the diversion of sewage. Learn more about the history, hydrology,
bathymetry, and physical characteristics of Lake Washington and its watershed.
|
 Lake Union
Lake Union is the most urbanized of the three major lakes in King County. It is
also unique in that is has direct access to Puget Sound via the Hiram
Chittenden locks. Learn more about the hydrology, bathymetry, and physical
characteristics of Lake Union and its watershed.
|
 Lake Sammamish
Lake Sammamish is the sixth largest lake in Washington and the second largest
in King County and is one of the major recreational lakes with high use by
fishermen, boaters, water skiers, swimmers, and picnickers. Learn more about
the hydrology, bathymetry, water quality goals, and physical characteristics of
Lake Sammamish and its watershed.
|
 Algae
Blooms
Green algae and cyanobacteria (blue-green algae) blooms periodically occur in
King County lakes. Learn more about this phenomenon and the organisms and
factors that cause it. Read about the current
cyanobacteria bloom in Lake Washington (11/21/2007).
|
 Trophic State Index
One way to characterize the health of lakes is by the numerical Trophic State
Index (TSI). Learn about theTSI and what roles chlorophyll-a, Secchi depth, and
phosphorus play in determining lake health.
|
|
