CLA Looking for Volunteer Amateur Lake Scientists

The Candlewood Lake Authority (CLA) is looking for about 10 volunteers willing to regularly measure water transparency from their dock or boat during the months of August, September and October.

In April of 1865, Fr. Pietro Angelo Secchi measured the transparency of the water in the Mediterranean Sea with a device now named after him, the Secchi disk. Since then, the Secchi disk has become a essential water quality measuring tool used by all those who study lakes.

Although a fundamental lake water quality measurement, actually measuring Secchi transparency is not really rocket science. You lower a 20 cm diameter black and white disk in the water from a boat or dock and determine the exact depth where you lose visual contact with it.

So you lower it down until it disappears, raise it back up until you just see it, and lower it down a little at a time until it disappears again. Once you have determined that the exact depth were visual contact is lost, you measure that distance with a meter stick and record it.

Requirements to participate include a willingness to take the Secchi transparency measurement at least two to three times each week, have access to a wireless communications device (e.g. iPhone or iPad with iOS 7 or later operating system, or an Android device), and have a willingness to download a free app called Collector, which will be used to record the data.

CLA will provide volunteers with a Secchi disk for August, September and October and show them how to use it and how to download and use Collector.

Become part of this important study and learn a little something about the lake. Your participation in the program will help the CLA gather valuable data from around the lake, which will help create a better understanding of the seasonal water quality trends on Candlewood.

To volunteer, call the CLA office at 860-354-6928 and ask for Larry.

Based off a press release from the Candlewood Lake Authority.