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Jordan Lake Water Monitoring Page
Scroll down for Narratives and Reports, including annual water monitoring summaries.

Historical Water Readings   Water levels show current difference from baseline.

Date
Level
Clarity
Temp 0'
Temp 20'
Temp 30'
Temp 40'
Temp 50'
Temp 60'
1994
-
94 Avg 10'
-
-
-
-
-
-
1997
-
97 Avg 18.3'
-
-
-
-
-
-
05-05-07
07 Baseline
07 Avg 11.1'
-
-
-
-
-
-
Jul 07
-10"
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
Aug 07
-6"
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
Sep 07
-14"
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
Oct 07
-6.5"
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
05-10-08
08 Baseline
-
73
72.6
52.8
47.1
43.3
43.1
06-02-08
-2"
26.5'
-
-
-
-
-
-
06-12-08
+10"
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
07-14-08
+8"
17'
73
72.6
52.8
47.1
43.3
43.1
07-31-08
-
-
78.2
-
-
-
-
-
08-15-08
+5"
13'
75
-
50
-
-
42
09-06-08
+2"
10'
70.8
-
-
-
-
-
09-24-08
-
12'
68
-
-
-
-
-
05-29-09
09 Baseline
16'
62
-
-
-
-
42
06-26-09
-
-
81
-
-
-
-
42
06-29-09
-
16'
-
-
-
-
-
-
07-06-09
+3"
10'
-
-
-
-
-
42
08-06-09
-
-
75.2
-
-
-
-
-
09-29-09
-
10.5'
62.9
-
-
-
-
-
04-18-10
10 Baseline
-
51.6
-
-
-
-
-
05-24-10
-
31.5'
-
-
-
-
-
-
08-12-10
-
-
81.6
-
-
-
-
40
09-15-10
-
11'
-
-
-
-
-
40
10-03-10
+2.5"
-
61.1
-
-
-
-
-
04-13-11
11 Baseline
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
05-17-11
-
28'
-
-
-
-
-
-
05-27-11
-
30'
59
-
-
-
-
-
06-04-11
+3"
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
Date
Level
Clarity
Temp 0'
Temp 20'
Temp 30'
Temp 40'
Temp 50'
Temp 60'


Narratives and Reports

July 2012
LAKE WATER QUALITY
We have lost 12" on our lake level since May 7th after we got the 7.5" inches of rain. Water temps the July 4th week end were 85.6 degrees which is VERY warm even for our small lake. The high last year was 81.4 degrees around the middle of Aug. The clarity has suffered a little because of all the plant growth and warm weather. I can still see the monitoring device at 13 feet. That is down from 19 feet before the warm weather started.
Submitted by Mike Backus

CLEAN BOATS-CLEAN WATER
Mark and Laura Shaw report that the volunteer monitoring of the boat landing is off to a good start. This task is critical to the well-being of our lake for all the problems the lake may have comes from the landing area and the boats that enter and leave. The volunteer work is also one of the key factors in showing the DNR that we care about this lake and has helped us win Grants in the past years. We are also finding that the information the volunteers are providing boaters is saving them money paying big fines for violations of the Aquatic Plant rules for boaters.
We thank those folks and encourage the rest of you to contact Mark/Laura Shaw to help out once during the rest of the summer.
Submitted by Mike Backus

GOOD LAKE SAMARITAN
On the busy 4th of July, I noted a pontoon boat going VERY slow on the North side of the lake and VERY close to the piers. As the boat approached my place I noted that he had positioned his boat behind the family of geese (8) that were out for a swim. Many of us have seen this family all Spring. In doing so he protected them from the fast boaters heading in the same direction. Once this family reached the shore the pontoon boater took off having done a good job protecting this special family. WELL DONE MR GOOD SAMARITAN!
Submitted by Mike Backus

October 2010
Read the 2010 Water Monitoring Summary (Word document).
Read the 2010 Clean Boats Clean Waters Summary (Page 1) (JPG Image).
Read the 2010 Clean Boats Clean Waters Summary (Page 2) (JPG Image).

October 2009
Read the 2009 Water Monitoring Summary (Word document).
July 12, 2009
The water monitoring on the lake started May 29th which is a little later than normal for I was delayed getting my boat in the water this year. The Secchi disc reading measures the water clarity. The best so far this year is 16' and the worst is 10'. The best reading was early this Spring and the worst was July 6th after the 4th of July long boating weekend. The difference shows how the traffic on the lake stirs up the water and impacts the clarity. In general the clarity is still very good (some of the best in Adams County). Expect to see it continue to decrease some as it gets warmer and we get some Chlorophyll pigment in the water. Although I have been unable to measure it from the end of one season to the start of the next the lake level started out very good this year.. The snow fall from the last winter had us starting off very good. To date the lake level has however decreased 3" since May 29th (base level). At this time last year we were 6.5" above the 2008 base level but remember that was due to the 11" we gained during the June flood! This year for the first time I am monitoring both the East and the West basins of our lake. So far none of the monitoring has pointed out any major differences. Since May 29th the temperature at the surface has gone from a low of 62 degrees to to a high thus far of 81 degrees on June 26th. Temps at the 55' level remain at about 42 degrees.
April 12, 2009
After 120 days of total ice-over on our lake, the ice went out completely on April 5th late in the day. For the prior week larger and larger amounts of open water was visible. The first fishing boat was sighted on the lake April 4th navigating around the remaining ice flows. Last year the ice went out on 4/13 and in previous years it has been closer to the end of March. The lake level appears to be up over last year at this time.
December 10, 2008
I observed a complete ice-over of Jordan Lake at 8:00am on December 7th. The middle section had to be very thin but ice covered all parts of the lake. This date was therefore considered the official ice-over date because the thin ice held all day. This information has been entered into the DNR site which contains all of my monitoring data. Hundreds of geese have been using the open water on our lake up until that point.
September 6, 2008
On 9/6 the clarity reading was down to 10' from a high of 26.5 feet in early Spring. Some green algae can be seen in the water which reduces the visibility. The 10' reading is exactly the same as it was at this time last year. The water depth is 2" ABOVE what it was on 5/12 when the first measurement was taken. At this time last year the lake was DOWN 14" from the start of that year's measurement.

The surface water temp is down to 70.8 degrees from a high of 78.2 degrees on July 31st.

As best as I can determine I conducted the first ever Boat Census on August 21, 2008. On that day I took my boat on a slow ride around the lake and recorded every water craft I could see from the lake (all the water craft in the water as well as all those I could see on land form my position on the water). I counted 284 water craft on that day made up of: 120 Pontoons; 52 motor boats;12 sailboats; 23 Personal Water Craft; 25 Canoes/Kayaks; 16 rowboats and 36 Paddle boats.

I will continue to measure water depth and clarity during Sept and then get ready to work with the DNR on doing some measurement of ice conditions.
August 15, 2008
Did some water testing today and offer these facts: Surface water temp was 75 degrees at 8:30am today. 50 Degrees at 30 foot and 42 degrees at 60 foot. The water clarity it is holding at 13' feet which is better than last August at about this time. The lake is 5" ABOVE baseline and last year at this time we were DOWN 6" below that baseline.
July 14, 2008
On Monday July 14th I did a full water test for our lake. We continue to have a good year as far as water clarity and water depth. I was able to see the measuring device (Secchi disc) at a depth of 17 feet. This is down from the high of 23.5 feet in early Spring but much better than the 9 foot reading I got last July. This is outstanding when you consider the added run-off water that has entered our lake through our yards in June and July thus far.

Speaking about our water level it stands at 8" above the level I recorded on May 12th of this year. We got 3" of new rain during the week of July 6th but the farmers have started to use the large irrigation booms in their fields. Last year at this time in July we were down 10" from May 5, 2007.

On July 14th at 8:15am with an air temp of 69 degrees the surface water temp was 73. At 20 feet it was 72.6 degrees; 52.8 degrees at 30 foot; 47.1 degrees at 40 feet ; 43.3 degrees at 50 feet and 43.1 degrees at 60 feet.

March 2008
Also read the Jordan Lake Water Quality Article posted in March 2008.