Jamesville Reservoir vs Otisco Lake
Water quality, depth, fish species, and recreation comparison.
Jamesville Reservoir and Otisco Lake both received the same overall water quality grade of D (Poor). Both are in Onondaga County, Wisconsin.
Both Jamesville Reservoir and Otisco Lake sit in New York. A same-state comparison strips out the state-level water-quality regime as a variable: any grade differences here are about the lakes themselves, not the agencies grading them. These two are within a letter of each other on the rubric — Jamesville Reservoir (D) versus Otisco Lake (D). The deciding factors for a recreational visitor are likely physical (depth, access, fish species) rather than water-quality differences.
With grades this close, the choice between the two lakes turns on non-water-quality factors: depth, fish species, public access, distance from home. The per-lake pages below cover all of those.
Jamesville Reservoir
Murky, only visible to about 5.3 ft.
Otisco Lake
Murky, only visible to about 5.2 ft.
Side-by-Side Metrics
| Metric | Jamesville Reservoir | Otisco Lake |
|---|---|---|
| Overall Grade | D (Poor) | D (Poor) |
| Water Clarity | 5.3 ft | 5.2 ft |
| Phosphorus | No data | No data |
| Chlorophyll-a (Algae) | No data | No data |
| Maximum Depth | - | - |
| Surface Area | 252 acres | 2.3K acres |
| Public Access | Unknown | Unknown |
| Fish Species | 0 | 0 |
| Trophic State | eutrophic | eutrophic |
Bold value = better for that metric (lower phosphorus / chlorophyll = cleaner; higher Secchi / depth / species count = better).
Verdict
Both lakes earn the same Grade D. The tiebreakers come down to clarity (Jamesville Reservoir: 5.3 ft, Otisco Lake: 5.2 ft) and what you want from the lake. Jamesville Reservoir matches its peer on species count.