A 3-year program was conducted to examine the ecology of Cladophora glomerata and to develop a mathematical model useful in evaluating various management strategies for the control of this nuisance alga. This manuscript provides a detailed description of the field program and study site in support of subsequent papers dealing with the results of field monitoring, autecological studies, calibration and verification of the model, and the impact of a demonstration phosphorus removal program of Cladophora growth. A municipal wastewater treatment plant discharge at Harbor Beach, Michigan, on Lake Huron has resulted in severe nuisance conditions associated with the presence of Cladophora. An intensive field monitoring program was established at the site to record weather conditions daily, and levels of dissolved and stored phosphorus and standing crop of Cladophora on a weekly basis. (Copyright (c) Internat. Assoc. Great Lakes Res., 1982.)