Muskoka District

Recreational Water Quality Monitoring

Muskoka has monitored recreational water quality in lakes and bays throughout Muskoka for over 25 years.

The recreational water quality monitoring program is a field based program that monitors approximately 192 sample locations across Muskoka on a rotating basis depending upon development pressures and the specific characteristics of the lake.

The purpose of the recreational water quality monitoring program is to establish a long-term record of key water quality parameters so that trends in water quality can be identified.

The sampling program measures

Secchi depth (a measure of water clarity)
Phosphorus concentrations (a measure of nutrient enrichment)
Dissolved oxygen and temperature.
A number of chemical parameters are also tested for, including pH, conductivity, dissolved organic carbon, alkalinity, nitrates, sulphuric acid, iron, and chlorine.

Download a copy of Water Quality Monitoring Program Year End and Data Reports:

Previous year end and data reports are stored in a file hosting system (Filepro), accessible through this link: Planning Publications.

Review of Long Term Water Quality Data

The Lake System Health Program uses science-based guidelines for the regulation of shoreline development. These guidelines are, in part, based on total phosphorus monitoring data the quality of which is therefore critical. For many sites, however, there are only a few measurements and thus the average total phosphorus data measurements are very sensitive to extreme values or outliers. Gartner Lee Limited was retained to develop a statistically sound procedure for identifying outliers and then to apply this procedure to the Muskoka long-term water quality data set and to provide recommendations as to whether or not the threshold status of a lake or site should change. Download a copy of the full report by clicking here.

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