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Lake Burien
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Welcome
Wilderness
Yellow
Watershed Area
250 acres
Lake surface area
44 acres
Maximum depth
29 feet
Mean depth
13 feet
Public Park
No
Boat Ramp
No
Fish Present
Unknown
Volunteer monitoring at Lake Burien occurred in 1994, 1998, and 2000-2004, before being discontinued. The data collected classify this lake in the city of Burien as low to moderate in primary productivity (oligotrophic - mesotrophic) with very good water quality that appears to be steady over time.
Profile data suggested that thermal stratification was not stable through summer, and phosphorus concentrations did not build up in deep water. Nitrogen to phosphorus ratios generally remained above 20:1 through summer, which suggests that other algae are favored over bluegreens.
Lake Burien has no public access boat ramp, but residents should continue to watch near-shore aquatic plants to catch early infestations of noxious aquatic weeds.
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This bathymetric map shows contour lines of equal depth, similar to a topographic map would for mountains and valleys
This map shows the area of the watershed relative to the area of the lake. Generally speaking, the larger a watershed is relative to a lake, the greater the influence land use practices on lake water quality
Click image to enlarge
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Through a combination of efforts by volunteer lake monitors and King County staff,
data relating to physical, chemical, and biological aspects of the lake have been
collected for most lakes. The King County Lake Stewardship Program analyzes data
to track long-term water quality trends in small lakes in western King County.
View or Download Data
Use this tool to view or download data from the lake in tabular format. You can
define date ranges and select which parameters to view or download.
Chart Data
Use the charting tool to look at graphs showing single parameters for a single
water year at a time.
Five year water quality trends
A common method of tracking water quality trends in lakes is by calculating
the “trophic state index” (TSI) (Carlson, 1977). TSI indicators predict the biological
productivity of the lake based on water clarity (Secchi) and concentrations of total
phosphorus (TP) and chlorophyll a (Chlor).
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).
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