Health Report

The Citizens Statewide Lake Assessment Program (CSLAP)

The Citizens Statewide Lake Assessment Program (CSLAP) is a volunteer lake monitoring program conducted by the NYS Department of Environmental Conservation (NYSDEC) and the NYS Federation of Lake Associations (FOLA). Founded in 1986 with 25 pilot lakes, the program now involves more than 125 lakes, ponds, and reservoirs and 1000 volunteers from eastern Long Island to the Northern Adirondacks to the western-most lake in New York, including several Finger Lakes, Lake Ontario, and lakes with state parks. In this program, lay volunteers trained by the NYSDEC and FOLA collect water samples, observations, and perception data every other week in a fifteen-week interval between May and October. Water samples are analyzed by the NYS Department of Health and other certified laboratories. Analytical results are interpreted by the NYSDEC and FOLA, and utilized for a variety of purposes by the State of New York, local governments, researchers, and most importantly, participating lake associations.