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Volunteer Lake Monitoring Program (VLMP)
(Réseau de surveillance volontaire des lacs - RSVL)
Objectives
Together with its partners, the Volunteer Lake Monitoring Program pursues
the following objectives:
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Acquire data to determine the trophic level of a large number lakes
and monitor their evolution over time;
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Identify lakes showing signs of eutrophication and degradation;
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Educate, increase
awareness, support and inform lake associations and other participants;
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Provide an overview of the state of Québec’s recreational lakes.
Sharing of responsibilities
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Ministère’s VLMP team |
Lake association or participating organization |
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Coordinates and supervises the Program
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Supports lake association members
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Analyzes the data and communicates the results
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Develops supporting tools and documents
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Teams with local
partners to support lake association members
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- Collects water samples
- Makes measurements and observations in the field using the
provided protocols
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For optimal results, participants who register a lake should
commit to a long-term monitoring effort.
Monitoring activities
- Water quality is monitored by:
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measuring water transparency (Secchi disk depth);
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collecting water samples for laboratory measurements of
phosphorus, dissolved organic carbon and chlorophyll a. All water
analyses are performed by the Ministère’s laboratory, the Centre
d’expertise en analyse environnementale du Québec (CEAEQ).
Transparency measurements and water samples are taken at a
station generally located in the deepest part of the lake. For a very
large lake, more than one station may be needed.
- In addition to water quality measurements procedures, participants
are also provided with protocols to assess state of the riparian strip
and littoral zone.
Water quality monitoring: What is involved?
Water transparency
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Using a Secchi disk, water transparency should be measured every two
weeks, from the beginning of June to the beginning of October, on an
annual basis.
Water transparency is an easy and inexpensive measure that can reveal
long-term changes in water quality and the general state of the lake.
Water sampling
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The basic water monitoring program was modified in 2010. The program
now involves sampling for two or three consecutive years, in
June, July and August. A pause of four years is taken before
sampling resumes.
For example, if the last sampling took place in 2010, sampling would
resume in 2015 after a four-year break.
This monitoring plan is designed to achieve greater precision in
estimating average concentrations of the water quality variables used to
evaluate the lake’s trophic level.
The approach taken by the VLMP is to evaluate the precision obtained for
each lake after a two-year monitoring period. Depending on the results, an
optional third year of sampling may be suggested to the participants to
improve precision. However, a participant may choose right from the start to
sample for two or three consecutive years. After each additional year of
sampling, precision of the mean concentration estimates will be
recalculated. For lakes displaying a high variability, VLMP specialists
could recommend that the number of samples taken annually be increased to
improve precision.
Costs
For water quality monitoring, a registration fee of $340
is charged to participants. This fee covers the cost of the Secchi disk,
supporting documents, shipping charges, laboratory analyses and taxes. A
cost of $288 is charged for each additional station, if needed.
The following years of the monitoring plan, participants only pay for
shipping charges and laboratory analyses ($288 per station).
There is no charge for years when participants only monitor water
transparency. Transparency data are compiled and recorded annually by the
VLMP team.
Protocols for evaluating the riparian strip and littoral zone
are offered to participants free of charge.
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The VLMP program is getting better with time
Analyses of the data collected since 2004 have revealed that
in order to account for normal variations in water quality over the
course of a summer and from year to year, the best monitoring
strategy for the VLMP is to sample over several consecutive years.
This allows obtaining enough data for average concentrations to be
calculated with acceptable precision, while holding down the expense
of laboratory analyses.
How many years of monitoring are required to obtain
sufficient precision? This varies from lake to lake and from one
water quality variable to another. The reference for total
phosphorus, though not a strict objective, is a level of precision
in the order of 20%. This level is achieved in most lakes after two
or three years of monitoring.
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Protocols and support documents
- Visual
monitoring protocol for blue-green algae blooms (French,
 PDF
file, 2 MB
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Protocol for sampling water quality
(French, PDF
file, 1 MB)
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Planning inventories (riparian strips and littoral zones)
(French, PDF
file, 539 kb)
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Riparian strip characterization protocol
(French, PDF
file, 2.2 MB)
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Support document for the riparian strip characterization protocol
(French, PDF
file, 3.9 MB)
- Tool for compiling data and presenting results from the riparian strip
characterization protocol:
- Water
transparency measurement protocol (French, PDF
file, 456 kb)
- Protocol for making
a homemade aquascope (French, PDF
file, 1.1 MB)
- Protocol
for making a double-headed rake to sample submersed aquatic plants
(French, PDF
file, 738 kb)
Report
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Excel
file, 3 MB) 
