Bare Hill Pond
Worcester County, Massachusetts324 acresView mapDirections
MassDEP publishes the water-quality measurements for Bare Hill Pond. Here is what has been measured.
- Mesotrophic
- Impaired · Algal growth
- 45 ft max depth
- Limited data
Bare Hill Pond in Worcester County, Massachusetts has water-quality measurements published by MassDEP, shown here as reported. Chlorophyll-a (algae): 2.1 µg/L. Surface area: 324 acres.
Bare Hill Pond is a 324-acre mesotrophic lake in Worcester County, Massachusetts with an estimated average depth of about 45 feet. Compared to the 23 other monitored lakes in Worcester County, Bare Hill Pond ranks #3 for water quality.
Source: EPA Water Quality Portal sampling records, MassDEP, last sampled 2016-09-27. Methodology: how these readings are compared.
Swimming conditions
Readings onlyLimited data
Based on clarity and algae readings from past sampling — there is no live water temperature and a current cyanobacteria reading for this lake. Check your state or county health department before you swim.
Nutrient and algae readings are not a swimming clearance. Bare Hill Pond is listed impaired under Clean Water Act §303(d) (IR 4A) for algal growth, mercury, noxious aquatic plants, nuisance exotic species. Check local advisories before you swim.
Whether Bare Hill Pond is safe to swim in today is a call for the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection and the county health department, who post current advisories. LakeQuality does not issue swimming clearances.
Water quality measurements for Bare Hill Pond
These are the measurements MassDEP publishes for Bare Hill Pond, shown as reported. The condition class beside each reading is the EPA National Lakes Assessment class for this lake’s ecoregion.
No clarity data. Chlorophyll-a 2.1 µg/L. TSI 38.
| Measure | Reading | Where it sits |
|---|---|---|
| Water clarity (Secchi depth) | No reading How deep a black-and-white disk stays visible from the surface. Higher is clearer. | |
| Total phosphorus | No reading The nutrient that most limits algae growth in freshwater. More phosphorus, more algae potential. | |
| Chlorophyll-a (algae) | 2.1µg/L | Good GoodFairPoor |
| Trophic state (TSI)Carlson's 0–100 index of how much algae a lake can support, from clarity, phosphorus and chlorophyll-a. | 38 | Mesotrophic OligotrophicMesotrophicEutrophicHypereutrophic |
Moderate nutrients, good water quality
Ask about Bare Hill Pond
Answers come straight from the public measurements and survey records on this page.
Lake Details
Max depth
~45 ft est.
Surface area
324 acres
Depth marked “est.” is a modeled maximum from GLOBathy (Khazaei et al. 2022, CC0), not a measured survey. Massachusetts has not published bathymetry for Bare Hill Pond.
Lake Size & Watershed
Watershed (drainage) area
3 sq mi
HydroLAKES / HydroSHEDS
Shoreline
4.8 mi
HydroLAKES / HydroSHEDS
Elevation
344 ft
Size, shoreline, and watershed area from HydroLAKES (HydroSHEDS). Mean depth here is modelled, not surveyed — HydroLAKES v1.0 estimates lake depth from surrounding terrain rather than from soundings. Treat it as an approximation, and prefer a state bathymetric survey where one exists.
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Fishing Bare Hill Pond
Reservoir Info (USACE NID)
Bare Hill Pond is a man-made reservoir impounded by the Bare Hill Pond Dam (completed 1837), built primarily for recreation on the Bowers Brook; earth-type dam, 9 ft tall and 278 ft long.
- Surface area
- 324 ac
- Normal storage
- 3,292 ac-ft
- Max storage
- 4,000 ac-ft
- Drainage area
- 3.81 sq mi
- Hazard class
- Significant
- Owner
- Town of Harvard
Source: USACE National Inventory of Dams, NID ID MA00822 · Operator website
EPA Impairment Status
Bare Hill Pond is officially listed as impaired under Clean Water Act §303(d) in the 2022 EPA reporting cycle (IR category 4A).
Causes of impairment
Designated uses not supporting: Aquatic life, Fish consumption.
A Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) plan has been approved.
Source: EPA ATTAINS assessment unit MA81007 · Official waterbody report
Nearby Lakes in Worcester County
Frequently asked questions about Bare Hill Pond
Where is Bare Hill Pond?
- Bare Hill Pond is a lake in Worcester County, Massachusetts. Its water-quality measurements are published by MassDEP and shown on this page as reported.
What is the water quality of Bare Hill Pond?
- Bare Hill Pond in Worcester County, Massachusetts has water-quality measurements published by MassDEP, shown here as reported. Chlorophyll-a (algae): 2.1 µg/L. Surface area: 324 acres.
Is Bare Hill Pond safe to swim in?
- Nutrient and algae readings are not a swimming clearance. Bare Hill Pond is listed impaired under Clean Water Act §303(d) (IR 4A) for algal growth, mercury, noxious aquatic plants, nuisance exotic species. Check local advisories before you swim.
How deep is Bare Hill Pond?
- No published bathymetric survey covers Bare Hill Pond, so its depth has not been measured. The HydroLAKES global model estimates an average depth of about 45 feet, but that is a modelled estimate derived from surrounding terrain rather than a measurement on the water, so treat it as approximate. The lake covers 324 acres.
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Where this data comes from
3 measurements from 1 monitoring station, 2016. Retrieved from the EPA Water Quality Portal on 2026-08-02.
Collected and reported by
- Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection (MassDEP)
MASSDEP3 samples · 2016
Analytical methods
- 445.0 ~ EPA; Chlorophyll and Pheophytin in Algae by Fluorescence
Monitoring station identifiers (1)
EPA condition classes from the National Lakes Assessment (EPA 841-R-24-006, Table 6-3), applied by ecoregion. See where the data comes from and data sources.
Other records on this page
Impairment status from EPA ATTAINS 303(d) database
Lake size & watershed from HydroLAKES (HydroSHEDS)