National Lakes Assessment 2012 Overview of Minnesota's 2012 Survey

Minnesota routinely participates in the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) national random surveys of lakes, streams, wetlands, and estuaries. These surveys occur on a rotating five-year basis. The first NLA was in 2007. In that survey, Minnesota received 42 lakes as a part of the national draw and added 8 lakes to allow for state-based assessment. Several partnerships were established to help conduct the survey and prominent partners included Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (MDNR), Minnesota Department of Agriculture (MDA), and the U.S. Forest Service (USFS) (Superior National Forest), and National Park Service (NPS). With aid of these partners, there were several significant add-ons to the national study. These add-ons yielded several state-based assessment reports that may be found on http://www.pca.state.mn.us/index.php/water/water-types-and-programs/surface-water/lakes/national-lakes-assessment-project-nlap.html . The purpose of this report is to provide an overview of Minnesota's 2012 NLA project, describe study design, acknowledge partnerships, review summer 2012 field work and issues confronted, and describe anticipated work products from the 2012 NLA.