Humboldt 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. 3 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 Humboldt 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 Onion Valley Reservoir @ Dam.