GLEC has assisted EPA with the 2007, 2012, 2017, and 2022 NLA surveys of about 1,000 randomly selected and 200 reference site lakes and reservoirs each survey year. GLEC and GLEC subcontractor field crews have conducted 778 site visits to lakes and reservoirs throughout the conterminous U.S. For all NLA surveys, GLEC has conducted training workshops, provided oversight of state agency/subcontractor field crews; developed field and laboratory manuals and QAPPs; and conducted GIS desktop site evaluations and survey mapping plans. GLEC assisted EPA in the authoring and design of the official NLA 2007 report entitled National Lakes Assessment – A Collaborative Survey of the Nation’s Lakes. In 2012, GLEC began its ongoing role as NARS national logistics coordinator supporting field sampling and laboratory analysis and tracking along with methods and documentation. GLEC’s principal water quality laboratory is led post-survey immunoassay evaluations of microcystin and cylindrospermopsin (algal toxins) levels in water samples and oversaw all macroinvertebrate QA/QC for the 2017 NLA. For the NLA 2022 GLEC coordinated the analysis of atrazine in water samples, conducted 283 site visits with subcontractors in all but two EPA Regions, delivered virtual and field-based training of NLA field crews, and provided field sampling supplies for 70 NLA crews conducting 1,227 site visits throughout the conterminous U.S.
