State officials are looking for someone to watch Utah Lake.

The Utah Lake Watch program asks volunteers around the state to measure water clarity and take water samples of local lakes in an effort to begin building a database for research.

Since 2005, however, the state has not been able to find a Utah County volunteer to monitor Utah Lake.

Volunteers are trained to use something called a Secchi disk -- a plate-sized disk with alternating black and white sections attached to a line -- to measure water clarity, which is a sign of lake health.

"You lower it in the lake and look at it through the water column and at some point it will disappear and then you bring it up and when it reappears you measure the length of the line," said Nancy Mesner, Utah State University water quality specialist. "It is an elegant, nice way to monitor the status of your lake."

Some volunteers take measurements only once or twice a summer, though "we prefer every couple of weeks from May through September, that is optimal," she said.

Utah Lake is not the only lake struggling to find volunteers. Last year only about 18 lakes were monitored by volunteers, compared to about 25 the year before.

"We would love to have it monitored," Mesner said of Utah Lake. Lake Powell, the Great Salt Lake and Strawberry reservoir also need volunteer monitors.

Volunteers are needed because the state simply does not have the resources to monitor every lake every year, said Eric Peterson of Utah Lake Watch. Peterson manned a booth at the recent Provo River Festival, looking for volunteers for the program. Those interested were given a booklet titled "What About Our Lake: The Good, The Bad or The Ugly."

The booklet describes the effects of algae, fertilizer, acid rain and the aging process of lakes.

For the first time this summer, program managers are asking volunteers to take a water sample to be tested for phosphorus levels and types of algae, said Nancy Mesner, Utah State University water quality specialist.

The program has been running for six years and is a joint effort between the Utah Division of Water Quality and Utah State University.

"The idea is two-fold," Mesner said. "One is to educate and engage people in a better understanding of the lakes and reservoirs in their backyard, so they understand a little more how lakes work and what threatens lakes, and how to improve water quality."

The second goal is to expand what Mesner called the state's "knowledge base" of local lakes, accumulating over time a bank of data that can be researched and studied.

Those interested in volunteering are asked to e-mail susan.anderson@usu.edu. For information on the program, visit extension.usu.edu/waterquality, click on "Volunteer Monitoring," then click on "Utah Lake Watch."