Long-term monitoring is essential to understand, protect, and restore Michigan's thousands of inland lakes. For over 50 years, volunteers in the MiCorps’ Cooperative Lakes Monitoring Program (CLMP) have been collecting reliable, meaningful, and scientifically valid data on lakes statewide. The primary purpose of this cooperative program is to provide volunteers with a framework to monitor indicators of water quality and habitat in their lake and document changes in lake conditions over time.

The CLMP provides sampling methods, training workshops, technical support, quality control, and laboratory assistance for volunteers to collect reliable, high quality data. All data are publicly accessible in the MiCorps Data Exchange.

Are you interested in becoming a CLMP Volunteer? Click here to begin.

Are you a returning CLMP Volunteer and need to enroll your lake? Click here to enroll.

Why Monitor?

Protecting lakes starts with monitoring. By keeping an eye on your lake's water quality and natural habitat through time, you’re helping ensure it stays clean, safe, and beautiful for everyone to enjoy—now and for generations to come. Regular monitoring is also vital to the conservation of the fish, wildlife, and plants that call your lake home. Annual monitoring lets us know if the lake is stable or if it needs a little extra care. If something starts to go wrong, early detection monitoring gives us the chance to act quickly and keep our lake thriving.

Enroll in the CLMP to start monitoring!

What is the data used for?

Each year MiCorps Cooperative Lakes Monitoring Program Volunteers collect valuable water quality and habitat data on hundreds of inland lakes statewide. This data is used by volunteers, local communities, researchers, and state agencies like the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy and the Department of Natural Resources to better protect and manage Michigan’s waters and the fish and wildlife that rely on them.

All data are publicly accessible in the MiCorps Data Exchange.
You can also find summarized Individual Lake Reports on recently enrolled lakes in our Reports page.

Join our email list

Don't miss important MiCorps CLMP deadlines, announcements, and news. To subscribe, send an email to micorps-news+subscribe@googlegroups.com. The message does not need a subject or any text. After you send the email, you should receive a confirmation message.

Questions?

If you have any questions about the CLMP, please contact Erick Elgin with Michigan State University Extension at elgineri@msu.edu. Have a question, but not sure whom to contact? Email us at MiCorps@msu.edu.