KLSA Data Centre

A stylized icon of E. Coli

KLSA E.coli Sampling Program

Public beaches in Ontario are ‘posted’ when the level of E. coli in the water exceeds 200 E. coli colony forming units per 100mL. This means that the water is unsafe for recreational use. KLSA considers counts over 50 cfu/100mL as somewhat high for the Kawartha Lakes Counts of 20 and below, with an occasional reading between 20 and 50, are normal for the Kawartha Lakes. The presence of E. coli usually indicates fecal contamination from warm-blooded animals such as birds or mammals, including humans. Although E. coli can be dangerous, most strains of E. coli are harmless. The usual analysis done cannot distinguish the difference between the harmless and the deadly.

Complete Dataset (2001 - 2025)

The dataset may be  downloaded in either xlsx or csv format. The dataset includes the following columns: 

  • Sample Date (Year, Month, Day)
  • Lake Site ID
  • E. coli colony forming units / 100mL

Please acknowledge the Kawartha Lake Stewards Association when presenting analyses from the dataset.

Lake Partner Program (LPP)

The Lake Partner Program (LPP) was launched in the 1990s by the Ministry of the Environment, Conservation, and Parks in partnership with the Federation of Ontario Cottagers’ Associations (FOCA) to engage community scientists to build a database of nutrient and water clarity information from lakes across Ontario. 

Find the latest complete LPP data here, where you can either use the online map tool to find information about the lakes you are interested in and specify which particular variables (e.g. phosphorus) you want to examine, or you can choose to download the latest complete (1980-2024) dataset from LPP.

You may also choose to download KLSA’s edited version of the latest, complete (1980-2024) LPP dataset in xlsx format. This spreadsheet includes the following columns:

  • MonitoringLocationID – Site specific code
  • MonitoringLocationName – Water body
  • MonitoringLocationsLatitude
  • MonitoringLocationsLongitude
  • ActivityType – What kind of sampling was done
  • ActivityStartDate -Date of Sampling
  • Characteristic Name – Calcium, Chloride, Phosphorus, Sulphate, Depth – Secchi Disk depth
  • ResultValue – actual numeric result for sample
  • ResultUnit – the units of the numeric value

Please cite this source when reporting on these data:

Government of Ontario, Ministry of the Environment, Conservation and Parks (MECP). 2025. “Ontario Lake Partner Program (LPP)” (dataset). 11.0.0. DataStream. https://doi.org/10.25976/fxsw-ym39.

Scroll to Top