The western basin of Lake Erie has a history of recurrent cyanobacterial harmful algal blooms (HABs) despite decades of efforts by the United States and Canada to limit phosphorus loading, a major driver of the blooms. In response, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory (GLERL) and the Cooperative Institute for Great Lakes Research (CIGLR) created an annual sampling program to detect, monitor, assess, and predict HABs in western Lake Erie (WLE). Here we describe the data collected from this monitoring program from 2012 to 2021. This dataset includes observations on physicochemical properties, major nutrient fractions, phytoplankton pigments, microcystins, and optical properties for western Lake Erie. This dataset is particularly relevant for creating models, verifying and calibrating remote sensing algorithms, and informing experimental research to further understand the water quality dynamics that influence HABs in this internationally significant body of freshwater. The dataset can be freely accessed from NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI) at https://doi.org/10.25921/11da-3×54 (Cooperative Institute for Great Lakes Research, University of Michigan and NOAA Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory, 2019).
