The 1985 Lake Erie surveillance/monitoring program consisted of eight central basin and five eastern basin surveys. Surveys were conducted from May through November, examining concentrations of conventional nutrients (e.g. phosphorus, nitrogen), dissolved oxygen, chloride, conductivity and several additional parameters. The eastern basin offshore epilimnion waters indicated an oligotrophic water quality status while the central basin was found to be borderline between oligotrophic and mesotrophic. For many of the variables measured, no statistical difference in concentration was found between the surface waters of the two basins. In contrast, the hypolimnion waters of the two basins were found to be very different in regards to oxygen content, oxygen depletion rates and the concentrations of the nutrients measured.