Adirondack Watershed Institute

Daniel Kelting & Corey Laxson

The Adirondack Lake Assessment Program (ALAP) is a cooperative citizen science lake monitoring program between Protect the Adirondacks (PROTECT), the Adirondack Watershed Institute of Paul Smith’s College (AWI), and numerous dedicated volunteers from across the Adirondack Park and beyond. The objectives of ALAP are to (1) develop a reliable water quality database for Adirondack lakes, (2) document historical trends in their limnological condition, and (3) engender lake stewardship by providing opportunities for citizens to participate in scientific monitoring. To accomplish these objectives participating lakes are sampled throughout the summer by trained volunteers and analyzed by the AWI for indicators of trophic productivity (total phosphorus, chlorophyll, transparency) and water quality (nutrients, pH, alkalinity, color, chloride, and metals). ALAP continues to be a highly successful program. Established in 1998 with 9 participating lakes, the program has grown to 63 lakes in 2013 (Figure 1 and Table 1). For many lakes the ALAP dataset represents the only available source of current water quality information.