Water Quality Reports Breakdown

By: Kristine Lebo, Water Quality Manager

We are deep into winter and for Water Quality, that means we are in “reports season”. In addition to the regular AIS reports that our membership is accustomed to seeing, the CMT has added multiple reports to the stack. We wanted to break it down, in one place, so you know where to find the answers to any questions you may have about the 2022 activities.

CMT Specific Reports

Summer 2022 CMT Implementation Special Report

This special report was published on September 30, 2022 to provide a detailed account of everything that was implemented during the summer. There was so much activity with Year 1; it is difficult for those not immersed in the daily operations to have a handle on what happened. The team felt it prudent to explain how everything unfolded and why setbacks occurred. We want clarity for all of our stakeholders - each of our homeowners, regulating agencies, and members of the public - to be able to digest the details of the undertaking that was achieved last year.

CMT Year 1 Preliminary Results

This report sets the stage for our plans for the near term, 2023, and some long term goals we have laid out using the results from Year 1. When this report was published on February 10, 2023, we had already worked through most of the data and had a good handle of our results. The 1st year dictates our path forward. The teams are working different aspects in parallel to ensure the appropriate planning is in place for seamless implementation once Year 1 results and spring regrowth dictates methodology usage. It’s important on a project like this to remember to step back and assess the big picture. We always need to keep the larger goal in mind when making decisions. The function of this report is to bring you along on our thought process as we navigate our efforts.

CMT Annual Report: Year 1

The Annual Report is the big data dump. This is where all of the samples and analysis come together to display the results. How did the treatment methods work, what didn’t work, what were the challenges, and what is the Year 1 conclusions? This report is a permit required report due to Lahontan and TRPA by March 15th. We break down treatments site by site showing the graphs and trends over the 2022 season. Part of why the report is so extensive is permit requirements. It is important, with any study, to be able to prove your work, therefore quality assurance and control must be demonstrated. We also have many sites, which help with proven repeatability, but that also means much more data. In 2022 alone, our Water Quality Team and the various TRPA contractors, collected around 48,000 samples! All of this data was analyzed and reviewed, each individual sampler was vetted and trained, every single sample was tracked, all the equipment was maintained and verified, any anomalies were explained and results based on all this information was concluded for each treatment at each site. It is a hefty report, however the best read for anyone looking to get into the efficacy details.

AIS Reports

WDR Reports

Our WDR permit has multiple pieces which need separate reports to fulfill requirements. Four reports get submitted to Lahontan by January 31st each year. There is the Integrated Management Plan (IMP) Update which details the on-the-water activities. A sub-report to the IMP is the Bottom Barrier Report to detail how the Bottom Barrier Program was implemented for the year. In 2022, the Bottom Barrier Program was not conducted because of the CMT, but a report was still needed to explain the change. The Non-Point Source (NPS) Water plan update explains all of the land-based activities and programs in place to limit any pollution entering our lagoons. The Macrophyte Survey is conducted to report the yearly changes in the aquatic plant population fluctuations. This annual survey was crucial in getting regulators on board with our CMT plans. If you’d like to know what species is abundant around your dock, this is the report for you!

End of Season Report

The AIS report was created as a place to bring everything together. There are redundancies from other reports but we view this as the comprehensive overview of the Water Quality department as a whole. This report brings AIS work together with Harvesting to give a picture of how staff spent their time over the year. Due to other priorities, staff has deferred this report and it has not yet been published. After the March 15th deadline for the CMT Annual Report, staff will focus their efforts in on this report and expect to publish by end of April.

LFA Report

The Laminar Flow Aeration (LFA) system is a separate study in partnership with Lahontan. The LFA was brought into the CMT as a trial but there are specific requirements for data analysis and sampling that must be adhered to in order to be in compliance with the SWAMP permit. This report breaks out the LFA system, that has been running between Christie Dr. and Lucerne Way for the past few years, and assesses efficacy against the four objectives within the study.

The Water Quality Department would like to send a sincere thank you to all of our homeowners for their contributions and patience during the 2022 season. We hope that these reports give each of you an idea of what our department is working on and explains the multiple ways we have been striving to improve our waterways. Steady consistent progress forward, however slow it may seem, is how we will reach our goal of clearer and higher quality waterways.

All of these reports and more can be found on the keysweedsmanagement.org website.