Oneida County Lake Quality

Oneida County has 1 graded lakes — a thin enough sample that one or two stressed lakes can move the county average noticeably. Use the per-lake pages below for what actually matters. On average, Oneida County lakes grade D, with phosphorus loading and reduced clarity showing up across most of the dataset.

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. Otter Lake (D) is the cleanest in the county.