AQUATIC INVASIVE SPECIES (AIS) is a serious and growing problem across our country, particularly where there is a concentration of waterways. It is important for each of us to help increase awareness of AIS and share responsibility for controlling their spread. The Northwest Montana Lakes Volunteer Monitoring Network is a partnership between Montana Fish, Wildlife, and Parks, the Flathead Basin Commission and the Whitefish Lake Institute. We encourage you to get involved and volunteer in this effort! Curly Leaf Pondweed has spread dramatically since a member of Swan Lakers brought it’s presence in Eagle Bend Marina to the attention of authorities in 2011. It is now in several homeowner channels on the river, and at several locations on Flathead Lake’s west shore. Removal is taking place, but the challenge is large and the risk of spreading to Swan Lake by LOCAL boaters is exponentially greater. Beaver Lake (near Whitefish) also had an outbreak of Eurasion Millfoil in 2012. Click on links to view maps of Flathead Lake Curly Leaf Pondweed: FlatheadCLP 2013 FlatheadLakeandRiverCurlyLeafPondweed...
Water Quality – 2012 Summary Report The goal of the Swan Lake Water Quality Investigation is to collect water quality information for Swan Lake over a five year period (2010-2014) and compare to baseline data to develop trend analysis and to provide information to resource decision makers. The project was initiated in 2010 by a contract between Kootenai Lodge Estates, Swan Lakers and the Whitefish Lake Institute. In 2011, the Swan Ecosystem Center expanded the scope of the project to include a late fall sample date and additional water chemistry analysis. Each year, Swan Lake is sampled four times. During each sample event, water quality parameters are collected from eight sites on the lake. At two of those sites, more in-depth water chemistry samples are collected for laboratory analysis. Swan Lake is generally characterized by excellent water quality, with levels of nutrients, primary production, and chlorophyll (a) typical of an oligotrophic lake (low levels of nutrient inputs and low productivity). However, during late summer and early fall in the deepest parts of the lake, dissolved oxygen (DO) concentrations decline to low levels. This is particularly evident in the South Basin of the lake. Low benthic interface DO levels can increase mobility or release rates of phosphorus stored in the sediments via a reducing process given the right conditions. Provisional data from this project indicate stable to improving water quality trends in the lake for the Primary Targets investigated, however the cause and effect of the low DO concentrations in the South Basin need further...
by Brooke Andrus/Bigfork Eagle Hagadone Corporation – Oct. 13, 2011 Like many lakes in Northwest Montana, Swan Lake is known for its pristine water conditions, and Hugh Corn would like to keep it that way. Corn is the president of the Swan Lakers, a community service organization dedicated to protecting the water quality and other natural resources of Swan Lake and the surrounding area. The group has recently become involved with efforts to monitor water conditions in the lake and prevent aquatic invasive species from damaging its ecosystem. The water-testing project, which Corn likens to “giving the lake an annual physical,” began last year and was funded primarily by Kootenai Lodge Estates. Sampling and analysis were provided by the Whitefish Lake Institute. “There was never really a baseline measurement of the quality of water in Swan Lake, and as the lake develops and as the rivers upstream develop — which they will — it’s good to know where we are now so that if the water quality does begin to change, we can better identify why it’s changing,” Corn said. During the first round of testing in 2010, water sampling was conducted at three different times throughout the year. This year, the Swan Ecosystem Center provided funding for additional water chemistry samples to be taken and processed in order to determine the changes in water quality since last year. “There are a lot of things that can affect the quality of the water,” Corn said. “For example, there are a lot of old septic systems in some of the older places around Swan Lake, and those things don’t last...
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