Terms of Use
Effective Date: August 14, 2026
Acceptance of Terms
By accessing and using PlainLakes ("plainlakes.com"), you agree to these Terms of Use. If you do not agree, please do not use this site.
Information Purpose
PlainLakes is an informational resource that presents publicly available government data, official water-quality assessment records from EPA ATTAINS and water-level observations from USGS NWIS, in a more accessible format. The information on this site is provided for general informational purposes only and should not be relied upon as professional advice. In particular, a fish-consumption use status shown on this site is not consumption guidance and not medical advice; consult the applicable fish advisory program, run by your state health or environmental agency or by the tribal government with jurisdiction over those waters, before eating fish from any waterbody.
Accuracy and Completeness
While we strive to present accurate information, we make no warranties about the completeness, reliability, or accuracy of the data. Government source data may contain errors, may be outdated, or may not reflect current conditions. Assessment records can lag conditions in the water, and water-level readings are daily-batch snapshots, never real-time. Always verify important information with official government sources.
No Professional Advice
Nothing on this site constitutes professional advice of any kind, whether medical, legal, financial, or otherwise. Any decisions you make based on information found here are solely your responsibility.
Intellectual Property
The underlying government data presented on this site is in the public domain. Our original design, code, text, and organization of the data are copyrighted by PlainLakes. You may not scrape, reproduce, or redistribute our site design or original content without permission.
Third-Party Links
This site may contain links to third-party websites. We are not responsible for the content or privacy practices of those sites.
Advertising
This site displays advertisements through Google AdSense to support its operation. Ads are served by third parties and are subject to their own terms and privacy policies.
Limitation of Liability
To the fullest extent permitted by law, PlainLakes shall not be liable for any damages arising from your use of or inability to use this site.
Changes to Terms
We may update these terms at any time. Continued use of the site constitutes acceptance of any changes.
Contact
Questions about these terms? Email hello@plainlakes.com.
Data Accuracy and Verification
PlainLakes aggregates and reformats information from its named upstream sources, EPA ATTAINS and USGS NWIS (see our methodology page for the specifics). While we take reasonable steps to ingest, normalize, and refresh this data, upstream records may contain clerical errors, lag behind real-world conditions, or omit relevant context, and not every lake is assessed or gaged. You are solely responsible for verifying any fact that influences a health, safety, legal, financial, or similarly consequential decision, including any decision about eating fish or recreating in a waterbody. Cross-reference the official source, and the applicable fish advisory program where relevant, before acting on anything you read here.
Acceptable Use
You may browse, read, and share PlainLakes content for personal, journalistic, academic, and non-commercial research use. You may cite specific records with attribution and a link back to the page on plainlakes.com. You may not (a) systematically scrape, crawl, or download the dataset in bulk without prior written permission; (b) resell, sublicense, or redistribute derived data products that compete with PlainLakes; (c) use our pages to harass, defame, or misrepresent any individual or organization appearing in the data; (d) remove, obscure, or mislabel source attribution; or (e) attempt to bypass rate limits, security controls, or authentication mechanisms.
Automated Page Production and Editorial Role
PlainLakes combines raw public data with plain-language summaries and comparisons. Pages are produced programmatically from official government records and checked back against those records before publication. Underlying assessment verdicts and water-level readings are never altered; they are loaded directly from EPA ATTAINS and USGS NWIS. If you spot a summary that misreads the data, please email corrections@plainlakes.com or use the contact page.
Changes to These Terms
We may update these Terms of Use from time to time to reflect changes in our data sources, product features, legal environment, or advertising relationships. When we make material changes, we will update the "Last updated" date above and, when appropriate, surface a brief notice on the homepage. Continued use of the site after an update constitutes acceptance of the revised terms. We encourage you to revisit this page periodically.
Governing Law and Disputes
These terms are governed by the laws of the United States and the jurisdiction in which PlainLakes is domiciled, without regard to conflict-of-law principles. Any dispute arising from or relating to your use of PlainLakes will first be addressed through good-faith informal negotiation. If that fails, both parties agree to resolve the dispute in the courts with jurisdiction over PlainLakes' principal place of business. Nothing in these terms limits your statutory consumer-protection rights under applicable local law.
Legal Notices
For formal legal notices, DMCA takedown requests, subpoenas, law-enforcement requests, or correspondence regarding these terms, email legal@plainlakes.com. General questions, data corrections, and feedback should use the contact page so they are seen promptly.
Who Publishes This
PlainLakes is operated by Kiznis Studio, an independent data-engineering studio (solo-operated). Questions, corrections, and accountability inquiries can be sent to hello@plainlakes.com.