Jackson County Lake Quality

Jackson County's 20 monitored lakes fall in the moderate-density bracket for Oregon. 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. 6 of those lakes carry an A–F grade. The county-level summary describes that subset, not every water body listed. The county average is C — the middle of the rubric, with one or two lakes pulling the average up or down depending on year.

The county's lakes lean shallow, which makes the grades sensitive to wind, sediment-resuspension, and any nutrient inputs from the watershed. The cleanest lake on the books is Applegate Lake (A); the most-stressed is Fish Lake (D).