UK Kentucky Water Resources Research Institute

News release 

LANCASTER — Watershed Watch and the Kentucky Division of Water are partnering to coordinate a new citizen monitoring effort to help assess water quality in the state’s lakes and reservoirs. A free volunteer training workshop will be held at 6 p.m. Thursday, June 1 at Herrington Lake Marina, 136 Homestad Lane, Lancaster.

In 2017, this effort is being piloted in Herrington Lake, as well as Kentucky Lake and Lake Barkley in Western Kentucky. It is anticipated that this new program will assist the Division of Water, local residents, and others with ensuring safe water quality conditions for uses, including swimming, boating, fishing, and as drinking water sources.

During the training workshops, volunteer samplers will learn how to conduct various observations of lake conditions and enter them into a centralized database for water quality tracking. These sampling results will be posted on an online website for the public and others to view. Some sampling sites on Herrington Lake have been pre-selected for optimal lake assessment, but participants will also be able to select sampling locations of personal interest.

If you are interested in participating or have questions about this new sampling program, you may contact Malissa McAlister at mmcalister@uky.edu.