Routt County Lake Quality

Only 5 lakes in Routt County carry an active grade. The county-level summary is therefore representative of those specific lakes, not necessarily of every water body in the county. The county average is C — the middle of the rubric, with one or two lakes pulling the average up or down depending on year.

Most of the county's monitored lakes are shallow — under 50 feet — which means wind keeps the water column mixed all summer and sediment-bound phosphorus releases back into the surface layer whenever the bottom is disturbed. Pearl Lake (B) is the cleanest in the county.