Harney County Lake Quality

Harney County in Oregon carries 70 monitored lakes — one of the lake-richer counties in our dataset. Coverage that dense usually reflects active lake-association sampling alongside state-agency monitoring. 1 of those lake carry an A–F grade. The county-level summary describes that subset, not every water body listed. The county average is F — the most-stressed bracket in our rubric. Most monitored lakes here show persistent nutrient loading and algal pressure.

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. Malheur Lake (F) is the cleanest in the county.