Illinois EPA Phase I – Diagnostic Study
Clean Lakes Program Lake Paradise
March 2004
Final Report
42
Water Quality
Methods
Chemical Parameters
Historic water quality data for Lake Paradise for the period from 1977 to 1998 were
obtained from the IEPA STORET database. Water quality samples for the 2000/2001 sampling
period (May 31, 2000 through May 24, 2001) were collected twice a month from April to
October and monthly from November to March. No samples were collected in December 2000
and January 2001 due to ice cover. The samples were collected under the Ambient Lake
Monitoring Program (ALMP) and Volunteer Lake Monitoring Program (VLMP). Lake samples
were taken from the same three (3) locations in all years (see Figure 6). The historic water
quality data include one (1) sampling event in 1977, six (6) sampling events in 1979, two (2)
sampling events in 1981, six (6) sampling events in 1991, one (1) sampling event in 1993, five
(5) sampling events in 1994, five (5) sampling events in 1995, six (6) sampling events in 1997,
nine (9) sampling events in 1998, fourteen (14) sampling events in 2000, and seven (7) sampling
events in 2001. May of 2001 was the end period for the collection of data for this project. Data
are still being collected for Lake Paradise under the VLMP but recent information has not been
incorporated into this report.
Samples were collected either by IEPA personnel or by Mattoon city personnel. All
samples were collected using water sample collection protocols established by the IEPA. All
samples were analyzed at the IEPA laboratory in Champaign, Illinois. The tabulated analytical
results from the three (3) in-lake sampling stations are shown in Appendix A.
In addition to the three (3) in-lake sampling sites, twenty-one (21) samples were collected
directly downstream (approximately 250 feet) of the spillway and thirty (30) samples were
collected off the Old State Road bridge on the Little Wabash River upstream of Lake Paradise
during the 2000/2001 sampling period. These grab samples were collected to determine water
quality characteristics of influent and effluent stream water in comparison with in-lake
characteristics. Samples were collected on the same dates as the in-lake sites, but some additional
samples were collected during or immediately after rainfall events. All of the samples collected
were analyzed for Total Suspended Solids, Volatile Suspended Solids, Ammonia-Nitrogen, Total
Kjeldahl Nitrogen, Nitrites and Nitrates, and Total Phosphorus. These data are presented in
Appendix A.
Measured parameters included Transparency (Secchi Depth in inches), Specific
Conductance (μmho/cm @25C), pH (standard units), Alkalinity (Mg/L as CaCO3), Suspended
Solids (Total and Volatile as Mg/L), Nitrogen (Ammonia, Nitrate-Nitrite, and Total Kjeldahl as
Mg/L as N), Phosphorus (Total and Dissolved as Mg/L as P), Dissolved Oxygen (Mg/L at 2 ft
intervals throughout the water column), and Chlorophyll (Corrected A, Uncorrected A,
