Hampshire County Lake Quality

The county-level average smooths over real differences — a single agricultural watershed near the southwest corner can pull the average down even if the rest of the county runs clean. 4 of those lakes carry recent nutrient and algae readings. The county-level summary describes that subset, not every water body listed. The county-wide picture is low-to-moderate phosphorus with clear summer transparency across most monitored lakes.

The county's lakes lean shallow, which makes the readings sensitive to wind, sediment-resuspension, and any nutrient inputs from the watershed. The cleanest measured lake is Arcadia Lake.