Orange County Lake Quality

There are 16 monitored lakes in Orange County. The mix is varied enough that the county-level average tells you the broad strokes, not the choose-this-cabin specifics. 4 of those lakes carry recent nutrient and algae readings. The county-level summary describes that subset, not every water body listed. Taken together, the monitored lakes of Orange County sit near the low-nutrient end of the Vermont range.

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. Lake Fairlee has the lowest nutrient and algae readings in the county.