Sean C. Morgan
Since last summer, boaters and visitors to Foster Lake might have noticed an extra floating platform.
The device is used to test water quality, said U.S. Corps of Engineers Spokesman Scott Clemens. It was installed in June 2010 and activated that September.
The floating devices were installed last summer at Detroit, Foster, Lookout Point, Hills Creek and Green Peter, Clemens said.
The yellow and blue devices contain an antenna, communication equipment, a sealed battery and solar panel, in addition to water-testing equipment.
They are anchored in place and can rise and fall with the level of the lakes.
A yellow sign warns boaters to stay away.
Their main purpose is to measure water temperature, Clemens said, and help provide data that the Corps can use to make decisions to meet the biological opinion developed by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration for improving survival of listed salmon species in the Willamette Basin.
NOAA provides the opinion, and the Corps is obligated to implement most of the water quality improvements, Clemens said.
In Foster Lake, endangered and threatened species include the spring Chinook and winter steelhead, he said. The Willamette Basin also has a variety of other listed species.
The platforms will probably be there for an extended time to provide year-round monitoring, Clemens said.