Volunteer monitoring began at Lake Meridian in the early 1980s and continued through 2004, when it was discontinued. The data indicated that this lake in the City of Kent is low in primary productivity (oligotrophic) with excellent water quality. Productivity has decreased over time, the trend marked by a fairly high degree of statistical significance.
Profile data indicated that thermal stratification is stable through summer, and the sediments release phosphorus into the deep water. Nitrogen to phosphorus ratios were above 20:1 through the summer, which generally favors other algae over bluegreens.
Lake Meridian has a public access boat launch. Eurasian milfoil is well established in the lake; however, residents should watch for other noxious weeds growing in the nearshore environment.
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The average of these three TSI indicators during the growing season can be used to place lakes in one of three broad categories: <40 = oligotrophic (low productivity), 40 to 50 = mesotrophic (moderate productivity) >50 = eutrophic (highly productive).
