September 14, 2021
Average Water Temperature: 12.7 °C
Average Water Depth: 2.7 m
Average Turbidity: 1.50 NTU
Average Dissolved Oxygen: 6.3 mg/L.
Average pH: 6.26
Citizen Scientist of the Week:
Jeanette Hendricks
Thank you to our citizen scientist volunteer, Jeanette Hendricks. Jeanette is a long time resident who enjoys paddling from spring until fall, even using her kayak as an ice breaker from time to time. She joined us today to gain a better understanding of water monitoring for her own data collection on Lake Lillian. Today marked the last day of lake sampling for this year. We still have some fall sampling to wrap up our season but will be retreating into our office for the fall and winter to analyze the data. Save the date, October 22nd, for our Learn About Your Lake event where we will share the preliminary findings and answer questions about Lake Windermere and water monitoring.
August 10, 2021
Average Water Temperature: 19.8 °C
Average Water Depth: 3.8 m
Average Turbidity: 0.98 NTU.
Average Dissolved Oxygen: 7.3 mg/L.
Average pH: 8.18
Citizen Scientists of the Week:
Allie Hinrich & Richard Spenrath
After weeks of breathing smoke, the fresh air on the lake has never tasted as good as it did this morning. The birds seem to agree: red-necked grebes abounded, contentedly bobbing around and diving for minnows all morning, and the bald eagles were soaring, happy to have their vision restored.
Both of our citizen scientists this week were new residents to the Valley, who jumped in right away to get involved with the Ambassadors. Big thanks to Allie, who moved from Boston, MA only a few weeks ago, to work at the Old Blue Truck Farm, and to Richard, who came a few months ago from Peace River and got right to work by joining the LWA board!
July 20, 2021
Average Water Temperature: 23.0 °C
Average Water Depth: 4.1 m
Average Turbidity: 1.97 NTU
Average Dissolved Oxygen: 7.1 mg/L
Average pH: 8.15
Citizen Scientists of the Week:
Annie Pankovitch and Catriona Leven
After a hazy but calm start to the morning, the wind picked up and had the boat rocking by the time we reached our North site. We are grateful to Annie Pankovitch and Catriona Leven, from the Columbia Wetlands Stewardship Partnership, who ventured upstream from their usual sites around Brisco to help us out and provide valuable insights into water monitoring and bird study.
Speaking of birds, we stopped by the colony of at-risk bank swallows we have been monitoring all summer in Lake Windermere Provincial Park. The eggs have finally hatched, and we saw some very tiny (and very cute) chicks being fed!
June 29, 2021
Average Water Temperature: 23 °C
Average Water Depth: 4.9 m
Average Turbidity: 2.05 NTU
Average Dissolved Oxygen: 9 mg/L
Average pH: 8.1
Citizen Scientists of the Week:
Sophie Selbie and Liana Isaias-White
Did someone say hot tub? The water was a scorching 23 °C in the lake on this beautiful, sunny morning. It still beats the heat outside though! We also recorded our largest depth reading of the year so far: 7.1 m just outside Taynton Bay. This week we were joined in the boat by two wonderful citizen scientist volunteers: Sophie from the UK and Liana from Australia, who both work at Panorama.
August 24, 2021
Average Water Temperature: 17.3 °C
Average Water Depth: 3.7 m
Average Turbidity: 1.07 NTU.
Average Dissolved Oxygen: 8.2 mg/L.
Average pH: 8.30
Citizen Scientist of the Week:
Dalia Ciobanu
Thank you to our citizen scientist volunteer, the lovely Dalia Ciobanu, who recently retired to Windermere from Airdrie. Dalia is a nature lover, birder and great photographer, but also a huge metalhead!
Today marked the last day of lake sampling for the Lake Windermere Ambassadors’ summer staff! We’ve had an amazing time out on the lake this summer, and it’s been an honour to look after the lake on your behalf. We’re very grateful to have met and worked alongside so many of the Valley’s most awesome residents, especially those of you who joined us in the boat!
August 3, 2021
Average Water Temperature: 22.2 °C
Average Water Depth: 4.0 m
Average Turbidity: 0.94 NTU
Average Dissolved Oxygen: 6.9 mg/L.
Average pH: 8.11
Citizen Scientists of the Week:
Kelsey Baker
After another tranquil but smoky start to the morning, we were grateful to be gifted a glimpse of blue sky! After weeks of smoke, it was a sight for (literally) sore eyes. Water quality readings were very similar to last week, with lake conditions now holding pretty steady week to week.
We paid a visit to our tiny, endangered friends, the bank swallows at Windermere Lake Provincial Park, but the colony was worryingly quiet. Hopefully it has nothing to do with the chipmunk we saw investigating burrows last week! Another reminder to not disturb their steep nesting habitats wherever you see them.
July 13, 2021
Average Water Temperature: 23.5 °C
Average Water Depth: 4.6 m
Average Turbidity: 1.17 NTU
Average Dissolved Oxygen: 7.5 mg/L
Average pH: 8.21
Citizen Scientists of the Week:
Don Gunn
This morning was the warmest we’ve seen the lake this year, hitting 24 °C at our warmest site (just outside Taynton Bay). The water is also beautifully clear right now, with turbidity down to 1.17 NTU: conditions couldn’t be better for swimming!
Thank you to long-time LWA supporter Gavin Jacobs for sharing his boat (and many interesting stories) and to long-time Pulse Check reader and outdoors enthusiast Don Gunn, who loved learning about how we monitor the lake.
June 8, 2021
Average Water Temperature: 15 °C
Average Water Depth: 5.2 m
Average Turbidity: 7.3 NTU
Average D.O.: 9.7 mg/L
Citizen Scientist of the Week:
Mark Precious
This morning we welcomed our first citizen scientist volunteer of the year! Thanks to Mark, a mountain lover who lives in Athalmer, who was eager to be onboard as we tested the water after a crazy week for the lake.
Keen observers will have seen Toby Creek backing up into Lake Windermere, thanks to the enormous snowmelt after the heatwave last week. The freshet topped the lake up with cooler, more turbid waters, raising the level significantly: check out the comparison with last week!
We were also witness to an awesome sight: we watched in wonder as we came across a deer swimming all the way from Invermere to Lakeview!
August 17, 2021
Average Water Temperature: 20.3 °C
Average Water Depth: 3.8 m
Average Turbidity: 1.00 NTU.
Average Dissolved Oxygen: 6.6 mg/L.
Average pH: 8.23
Citizen Scientist of the Week:
Marie McCallum
With the wind and rain, we were the only boat out on the lake this morning. We didn’t mind one bit – the weather is most welcome!
We were joined by the lovely Marie McCallum from the BC Lakes Stewardship Society who audited our monitoring procedures to make sure they’re up to standard and to lend our program more credibility. BCLSS do lots of amazing work to support small lake stewardship organisations like ours!
July 27, 2021
Average Water Temperature: 21.7 °C
Average Water Depth: 3.6 m
Average Turbidity: 0.80 NTU
Average Dissolved Oxygen: 8.3 mg/L
Average pH: 8.29
Citizen Scientist of the Week:
Travis Lee
Glassy, deserted waters and hazy skies lent an eerie atmosphere to the lake this morning. The water was crystal clear though – 0.80 NTU makes for our lowest average turbidity of the season so far.
Thank you to this week’s citizen scientist volunteer, Travis, who runs Blade and Bough Lawn Care around the Valley. Travis is an Edmonton native who has been coming to the Valley since he was a kid, and has just made it his permanent home!
July 6, 2021
Average Water Temperature: 23.0 °C
Average Water Depth: 4.9 m
Average Turbidity: 2.05 NTU
Average Dissolved Oxygen: 9.0 mg/L
Average pH: 8.14
Citizen Scientist of the Week:
Nancy Trigg
The water levels had been holding steady that last few weeks but now they have started to drop! It was a spectacular day to be out on the lake: clear skies, mild temperatures and water like glass. We have started looking for at-risk bank swallows in Windermere Lake Provincial Park and were excited to see a couple nesting in the steep banks. They’ve had a 98% population decline in the last 40 years so it is vital that we protect this critical habitat.
May 25, 2021
Average Water Temperature: 13.9 °C
Average Water Depth: 4.24 m
Average Turbidity: 0.97 NTU
Average D.O.: 10.73 mg/L
Average pH: 8.5
After a grey, drizzly long weekend, it was a grey, drizzly Tuesday morning on the lake. We even had a few pebbles of hail pepper the water around our boat! But the water is warming up nicely anyway – we had readings close to 15 °C at our North site near Taynton Bay!
Turbidity (cloudiness) usually ranges from 0 to 10 NTU but can get into the hundreds in times of high flow, flooding etc.
Most fish need a D.O. (degree of oxygenation) of between 4 and 15 mg/L to survive.