July is Lake Appreciation Month! Boating, fishing, and swimming are favorite recreational uses of lakes and reservoirs. Lakes also provide many other services such as drinking water and irrigation water for agricultural fields and as a source of electricity and power generation. Lakes also serve the important function of absorbing rainfall and runoff from land, help to prevent floods, and provide homes for precious wildlife. Pierce County is home to more than 180 named lakes, and July is great time to get out and celebrate your favorite local lake.
 
One way to celebrate Lake Appreciation Month is to participate in the National Secchi Dip-in. The National Secchi Dip-in is an annual data-gathering event that takes place during Lakes Appreciation Month demonstrating the value of citizen gathered data. In July, volunteers measure transparency at their monitoring sites using either a secchi disk (lakes) or a turbidity test kit (streams), and the data is submitted to the Secchi Dip-In website. The data provides a comprehensive snapshot of water transparency and how it varies according to regional geology and land use.  Contact Isabel at isabelr@piercecd.org to learn how to participate in the Dip-In.

Photo: The boat launch at Kapowsin Lake.