Columbia County Lake Quality

Columbia County holds 13 monitored lakes. With a sample that small the county-level summary describes those specific waters, not necessarily every water body in the county. 2 of those lakes carry recent nutrient and algae readings. The county-level summary describes that subset, not every water body listed. Most monitored lakes in Columbia County carry favourable nutrient and algae readings for Florida.

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. Columbia-Jeffery Lake has the lowest nutrient and algae readings in the county.