Press Releases FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE DATE: June 8, 2005 CONTACT: Andrea Lamoreaux, (603) 271-2658 Jody Connor, (603) 271-2963

Concord, NH - The Department of Environmental Services is looking for your help in determining if your favorite lake is clean. Celebrating its 11th anniversary, volunteers of the Great North American Secchi Dip-In will collect transparency data from June 25 through July 17 to determine the health of our lakes.

Transparency, a measure of water clarity, is tested with the use of a Secchi disk -a flat, horizontal, black and white disk. The depth at which the disk disappears is a measure of the transparency of the water. Transparency is affected by the color of the water and by particles of silt or clay or small plants called algae, and therefore is a measure of some forms of pollution.

The Dip-In began in 1994 as a pilot study in six Midwest states funding from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's Clean Lakes Program. Since then, more than 375 programs and 10,000 volunteers in the U.S., Canada, and several other countries have generated 30,000 records. These data are used to map regional differences in transparency and to detect trends. The Dip-In is a fun and effective way for lake enthusiasts to provide important information for keeping our nation's water bodies clean and healthy. This year, more than 2,500 volunteer monitors throughout the United States and Canada are expected to participate.

Previous Dip-Ins have provided valuable information about water quality. The maps made each year have shown considerable regional differences in transparency. Lakes in the northern parts of the United States and in Canada typically have the clearest lakes, while lakes in agricultural regions of the Midwest have some of the smallest transparencies. Transparencies found during the Dip-In range from one inch to more than 65 feet. Almost 1,000 bodies of water have been monitored during the Dip-In for five or more years.

Results from the Secchi Dip-In will be sent to Kent State University for entry into a national database. New Hampshire has consistently ranked very high in its lake water clarity compared to other states, usually ranking in the top five states nationwide.

To find out more about this exciting event, or to reserve a Secchi disk, please contact Andrea Lamoreaux, the Department of Environmental Services (DES) Volunteer Lake Assessment Coordinator at (603) 271-2658, or Jody Connor, DES Limnology Center Director, at (603) 271-2963. DES will collect Secchi disk data from volunteers and have it submitted into the national database. More information on the Great American Secchi Dip-In, including participating programs and state-by-state results for past Dip-Ins, is available on the online at www.dipin.kent.edu.