These data were collected as part of the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative (GLRI) project template 678-1 entitled "Evaluate immediate and long-term BMP effectiveness of GLRI restoration efforts at urban beaches on Southern and Western Lake Michigan". This project is evaluating the effectiveness of projects that are closely associated with restoration of local habitat and contact recreational activities at two GLRI funded sites in Southern Lake Michigan and one non-GLRI site in Western Lake Michigan. Evaluation of GLRI projects will assess whether goals of recipients are on track and identify any developing unforeseen consequences. Including a third, non-GLRI project site in the evaluation allows comparison between restoration efforts in GLRI and non-GLRI funded projects. Projections and potential complications associated with climate change impacts on restoration resiliency are also being assessed. Two of the three sites to receive evaluation represent some of the most highly contaminated beaches in the United States and include restoration BMPs which could benefit urban beaches and nearshore areas throughout the Great Lakes. The urban beaches chosen for evaluation are at various stages of the restoration process and located in Indiana (Jeorse Park Beach), Illinois (63rd Street Beach), and Wisconsin (North Beach). Evaluation of effectiveness of restoration efforts and resiliency to climate change at urban beaches will provide vital information on the success of restoration efforts and identify potential pitfalls that will help maximize success of future GLRI beach and nearshore restoration projects. Data used for evaluation include continuous monitoring and synoptic mapping of nearshore currents, bathymetry, and water quality to examine nearshore transport under a variety of conditions. In addition, biological evaluations rely upon daily indicator bacteria monitoring, microbial community and shorebird surveys, recreational usage, and other ancillary water quality data. The pre- and post-restoration datasets comprised of these physical, chemical, biological, geological, and social data will allow restoration success to be evaluated using a science-based approach with quantifiable measures of progress. These data will also allow the evaluation of the resiliency of these restoration efforts under various climate change scenarios using existing climate change predictions and models. This data release is comprised of two-dimensional, near-surface point measurements of basic water-quality parameters in coastal Lake Michigan at Jeorse Park Beach at Gary, Indiana, on September 21, 2016. Water-quality parameters include temperature, specific conductance, pH, dissolved oxygen, turbidity, total chlorophyll, and phycocyanin concentration. These data were collected using an EXO2 multiparameter sonde (SN 16F100255) equipped with a version 2 handheld display with a built-in Global Positioning System (GPS) receiver (SN 16N999907), temperature/conductivity probe (SN 16C104865), pH sensor (SN 15M100825), optical dissolved oxygen sensor (SN 15L101706), turbidity sensor (SN 16D100455), total algae phycocyanin smart sensor (SN 16C103752), central wiper, and depth sensor. The sonde was deployed off the starboard side of a manned survey vessel using a fixed aluminum mount at a depth of approximately 1.6 feet below the water surface. All parameters were sampled at 1-second intervals as the vessel completed the survey of the nearshore zone. The resulting dataset allows for analysis of the two-dimensional distributions of near-surface water-quality parameters in Lake Michigan at Jeorse Park Beach.