Harlan County Lake Quality

Harlan County holds 1 monitored lake. With a sample that small the county-level summary describes those specific waters, not necessarily every water body in the county. Every one of those lake carries recent nutrient and algae readings, so the county-level summary covers the full set rather than a monitored subset. Most monitored lakes in Harlan County are productive, shallow basins; each lake page shows its own phosphorus and chlorophyll-a readings beside the EPA condition class.

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 Harlan County Reservoir.