Oathill Lake Conservation Society Water Monitoring

The Oathill Lake Conservation Society is a group of concerned neighbours of Oathill Lake, a small urban lake in Dartmouth Nova Scotia. It started when changes were noticed in the lake ecosystems, including increased fish stocking and fishing activities, loss of amphibian populations, and erosion of the lake shore. A measurement program was started to provide baseline depth profiles of oxygen, temperature, salinity/conductivity and pH, and was followed by by-weekly (during open water periods) sampling to track the effects of a number of changes in the lake environment intended to correct the problems noted, as well as the impacts of natural and other man-made events and activities on the lake habitat. Depth profiles are collected at 3 fixed locations in the lake, and, on a less-regular basis, at four of the more significant storm sewer drains into the lake. Other data are collected from long-duration data loggers (e.g., temperature-depth profiles at the deepest part of the lake, and winter temperature and conductivity in the main in-flow channel) and physical samples collected for laboratory analysis of nutrients and minerals.