Lake Winnipeg Community-Based Monitoring Network

The Lake Winnipeg Community-Based Monitoring Network (LWCBMN) is a growing network that engages citizen volunteers to collect water samples across Manitoba using scientifically vetted protocols. Samples are then analyzed in a lab to measure phosphorus concentration and calculate the amount of phosphorus begin exported off our landscapes.

While Lake Winnipeg receives its water from a vast watershed, not all areas of the watershed contribute equal amounts of phosphorus. By sampling frequently at many sites, LWCBMN is able to pinpoint phosphorus hotspots – areas that contribute a disproportionate amount of phosphorus to Lake Winnipeg.

Snow melts, floods and heavy rainfall events are responsible for most of the phosphorus that is flushed from the land into our waterways. Special care is taken by network staff and volunteers to ensure phosphorus runoff is captured during these high-water events. And, because these volunteers live, work or commute near their sampling sites, LWCBMN can quickly mobilize citizen scientists to collect samples when it matters most.

Citation

Lake Winnipeg Foundation. 2024-02-05. "Lake Winnipeg Community-Based Monitoring Network" (dataset). 5.0.0. DataStream. https://doi.org/10.25976/hxqe-py39.

Data Collection Information

Water samples are collected using a sampling device (weighted plastic tube and three metre leader) that collects source water directly into the collection bottle (500 mL Nalgene polyethylene bottle). The collection bottle is lowered into the water just before it hits the bottom, the bottle is filled, then brought back to the surface. It is rinsed three times, prior to sample collection. To collect the water sample, the sampler is lowered close to the bottom, then raised to the top of the water while the bottle is filling. From the collection bottle, a 60 mL Nalgene polyethylene bottle is filled with whole water containing 1 mL 4N H2SO4. Next, 20 mL is drawn into a syringe, and filtered through a 45 um filter into a 25 mL scintillation vial containing 0.1 mL of 4N H2SO4. Whole water is analyzed for total phosphorus, and filtered water for dissolved phosphorus. Suspended phosphorus can be found by subtracting dissolved phosphorus from the total.
The discharge data is collected by the Water Survey of Canada (WSC). Water level stations are setup across Canada that log water levels every 5 minutes. These water levels can be related to discharge via a mathematical relationship established at each site using manual flow measurements. LWF calculates daily discharge averages based on the WSC data.

Attribution Licence (ODC-By) v1.0

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API Access

curl -G https://api.datastream.org/v1/odata/v4/Records --data-urlencode "\\$filter=DOI eq '10.25976/hxqe-py39'" -H "x-api-key: PRIVATE-API-KEY"

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