Vermont Agency of Natural Resources issued the following announcement on March 22.
Did you know that Vermont Department of Environmental Conservation scientists have been collecting spring water quality information on VT's large lakes and ponds since 1977?! That's the year Rumours by Fleetwood Mac was released!
While these days we may be listening to Rumors on a streaming service instead of a record, our scientists are still working hard to collect this annual data soon after ice out.
When lakes are covered in ice, the water underneath is layered or “stratified” into sections based on water temperature and density. Soon after the ice cover is gone in the spring, the water layers weaken and mix together. Water samples collected at this time of mixing show the total amount of phosphorus a lake will have available to fuel algae and aquatic plant growth throughout the year, which helps us better understand water quality!
Photo: VTDEC Watershed Management Division staff scientist collecting water samples on Mollys Falls Reservoir (Marshfield) shortly after lake ice-out in early spring. brr!
Original source can be found here.
Alerts Sign-up