Your lake health’s foundation: OXYGEN at the lake bottom Getting oxygen to the bottom of the lake is essential for the health and resilience of your lake. The Benthic Life Force: The lake bottom hosts a vital community of organisms—microbes, invertebrates, and worms—that form nature's cleanup crew. From digesting accumulated organic matter (muck) to transforming harmful compounds into harmless ones, these organisms create a healthy foundation for the entire lake ecosystem. Without adequate levels of dissolved oxygen, beneficial benthic organisms become stressed or die, altering the community’s structure and disrupting natural ecological processes. Fact: A well-oxygenated lake can process organic matter significantly faster than an oxygen-depleted one. Studies have shown that when oxygen is depleted, nutrients like phosphorus and nitrogen, fuel for algal blooms to thrive, can be released from the sediment into the overlying water column. Oxygen is key to a healthy, resilient la...