Winter is indeed here. We got 7 inches of snow in the past week and this morning the temperature was -8.
Outdoor Recreation We have a good amount of snow for cross country skiing or snow shoeing, but the snowmobile trails have little cover. The Land O Lakes Fish & Game Club Cross Country Ski Trail was expanded this year. Nearly 2 miles of trail was added on the west side bringing the total length of the trail to about 8 miles. You can find the new Ski Trail Map under the “Outdoor Recreation” tab.
Water Quality A new tab “Other Water Quality Data” was added under the “Water Quality” tab. You will find a chart showing 8 years of water clarity data.
Dale Sharpe has provided the following Water Quality report for 2011.
As of November 29th Moon Lake was not frozen. The water level measured at the water
gauge on the 29th was 2.54 feet. This is approximately 5 ½ inches above the water level
on November 20, 2010 (ice over).
The water level on July 1st was 3.08 feet. From July1st the water level decreased with
most of the decrease taking place after mid-August.
The measuring and sampling that takes place with our lake monitoring program finished
with the last water clarity reading on September 8th. The average clarity reading for
2011 was 17.65 feet . This is the second lowest average reading in the 17 years that
water clarity has been measured. The lowest average, 16.5 feet, occurred in 2008. The
results of the 16 readings that were taken in 2011 are posted on the Water Quality page
(tab) on the website (Moonlake.org).
The results from the sampling for phosphorus and chlorophyll a will not be available
until March.
We plan to continue to participate in the Cooperative Lakes Monitoring Program in
2012.