Lake Stewardship Program

Lake monitors

Volunteer lake monitors are an invaluable asset to the Lake Stewardship Program. Their efforts result in vast amounts of data for King County Lakes that otherwise wouldn’t be collected.   

Lake Stewardship Volunteer Guide

The Lake Stewardship Volunteer Guide describes the program and monitoring procedures in detail.  If you are a volunteer monitor, please review this guide carefully before you begin monitoring and refer back to it as often as necessary.

• Lake Stewardship Volunteer Guide
• Equipment Installation, Maintenance, and Repair
• Glossary of Terms

More volunteer resources

Presentation from the 2021 Lake Stewardship training workshop

Presentations from the 2018 Lake Stewardship training workshop:

• Introduction to the Lake Stewardship Program
• 2017 Data Review
• Harmful Algal Blooms (HABs) 

Video: How to use a Secchi Disk (Vimeo)

Video: How to collect water samples with a Van Dorn water sampler (Vimeo)

Lake data and resources

• Small lake data and info
  Search, view, and download water quality data resulting from volunteer monitoring efforts at more than 50 lakes in King County.
• Hydrologic Information Center
  The hydrologic Information Center provides public access to rainfall, streamflow and other hydrologic data collected at King County gage sites. For lakes with continuous data loggers installed, you can access lake level and water temperature data on the HIC.
• Northwest Toxic Algae Monitoring Program
  View current and past toxin data, report a bloom, and learn about toxic algae.
• Lake Swimming Beach data
  View current lake swimming beach closures due to high bacteria.
• WDFW Fish Stocking
  Where and how many trout WDFW plans to stock in lakes and streams around the state.
• Lake Weed Watchers
  King County volunteer monitoring program. Volunteer to monitor for aquatic weeds in your lake.