Get Involved!

Interested in actively helping preserve and protect water in Carver County? Find out more here.

City Monitors for CAMP

Overview

The City of Chanhassen has partnered with the Metropolitan Council to participate in its Citizen Assisted Monitoring Program (CAMP). Volunteers collect surface water samples from Chanhassen Lakes. The samples are then sent to the Metropolitan Council to be analyzed for the following:

• Total phosphorus (TP)
• Total Kjeldahl nitrogen (TKN)
• Chlorophyll-a (CLA)

Volunteers also gather the following information:

• Measure surface water transparency using a secchi disc
• Record water temperature
• Record perceptions such as weather conditions

Samples are taken bi-weekly from April through October (14 sampling dates) and are sampled at the lake's deepest open-water location.

Citizen Assisted Monitoring Program (CAMP)

The City of Chanhassen would like to thank its current citizen monitors! These residents take samples from the following lakes:

• Lake Lucy
• Lake Minnewashta
• Lake Riley
• Lake St. Joe
• Lake Susan
• Lotus Lake

Citizen monitors are still needed for Christmas Lake and Lake Ann. If you would like to become a citizen monitor, please contact Ryan Pinkalla, Water Resources Technician at 952-227-1173 or by email.

Volunteer Lake Level Monitoring

Lake level monitoring program is led by the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources. Knowing and understanding the history of water level fluctuations can help shore land owners cope with the natural fluctuations of a lake. DNR waters have installed permanent and temporary lake level gauges on many of Chanhassen lakes. Some lakes are in need of volunteers to submit readings to the DNR once a week. If you would like to volunteer please contact the area hydrologist Taylor Huinker at (651) 259-5790 or at taylor.huinker@state.mn.us or the Water Resources Coordinator Matt Unmacht for more information.