Carbon 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. 1 of those lake carry recent nutrient and algae readings. The county-level summary describes that subset, not every water body listed. Most monitored lakes in Carbon County carry favourable nutrient and algae readings for Montana.

Many of the county's lakes are deep glacial basins, over 50 feet at their deepest point, which gives them thermal stratification and a buffer against summer warming. Cooney Reservoir has the lowest nutrient and algae readings in the county.