Bclm Lake
Mobile County, AlabamaView mapDirections
ADEM publishes the water-quality measurements for Bclm Lake. Here is what has been measured.
- Oligotrophic
- Impaired · Mercury
- 47 ft max depth
Bclm Lake in Mobile County, Alabama has water-quality measurements published by ADEM, shown here as reported. Water clarity: 6.9 ft visibility. Phosphorus: 28 µg/L. Chlorophyll-a (algae): 1.2 µg/L.
Bclm Lake is a cold, clear oligotrophic lake in Mobile County, Alabama with an estimated average depth of about 47 feet. Overall water quality is declining over recent sampling years.
Source: EPA Water Quality Portal sampling records, ADEM, last sampled 2025-10-07. Methodology: how these readings are compared.
Swimming conditions
Readings onlyLow algae
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. Bclm Lake is listed impaired under Clean Water Act §303(d) (IR 5) for mercury. Check local advisories before you swim.
Whether Bclm Lake is safe to swim in today is a call for the Alabama Department of Environmental Management and the county health department, who post current advisories. LakeQuality does not issue swimming clearances.
Water quality measurements for Bclm Lake
These are the measurements ADEM publishes for Bclm Lake, shown as reported. The condition class beside each reading is the EPA National Lakes Assessment class for this lake’s ecoregion.
Moderate clarity, visible to about 6.9 ft. Phosphorus 28 µg/L. Chlorophyll-a 1.2 µg/L. TSI 45.
| Measure | Reading | Where it sits |
|---|---|---|
| Water clarity (Secchi depth) | 6.9ft | Measured, not scored How deep a black-and-white disk stays visible from the surface. Higher is clearer. |
| Total phosphorus | 28µg/L | Good GoodFairPoor |
| Chlorophyll-a (algae) | 1.2µg/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. | 45 | Oligotrophic OligotrophicMesotrophicEutrophicHypereutrophic |
Low nutrients, clear water. No reading is a swimming clearance.
Ask about Bclm Lake
Answers come straight from the public measurements and survey records on this page.
Lake Details
Max depth
~47 ft est.
Depth marked “est.” is a modeled maximum from GLOBathy (Khazaei et al. 2022, CC0), not a measured survey. Alabama has not published bathymetry for Bclm Lake.
Lake Size & Watershed
Watershed (drainage) area
99 sq mi
HydroLAKES / HydroSHEDS
Surface area
2,706 acres
HydroLAKES / HydroSHEDS
Shoreline
35.3 mi
HydroLAKES / HydroSHEDS
Elevation
118 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.
Stays via Stay22
Stays near Bclm Lake
Compare lakeside cabins, hotels, and vacation rentals near Bclm Lake in Mobile County, Alabama — live availability and prices for your trip. Switch the map to Satellite to see the lake and how close each stay is to the water.
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Fishing Bclm Lake
Water Quality Trend: Worsening
Based on 4 years of monitoring (2014–2025).
Water clarity
Improving4 years
Phosphorus
Worsening+2.38 µg/L/yr4 years
Chlorophyll-a
Worsening+0.26 µg/L/yr4 years
EPA Impairment Status
Bclm Lake is officially listed as impaired under Clean Water Act §303(d) in the 2022 EPA reporting cycle (IR category 5).
Causes of impairment
Designated uses not supporting: Fish consumption.
Source: EPA ATTAINS assessment unit AL03170008-0502-110 · Official waterbody report
Nearby Lakes in Mobile County
Frequently asked questions about Bclm Lake
Where is Bclm Lake?
- Bclm Lake is a lake in Mobile County, Alabama. Its water-quality measurements are published by ADEM and shown on this page as reported.
What is the water quality of Bclm Lake?
- Bclm Lake in Mobile County, Alabama has water-quality measurements published by ADEM, shown here as reported. Water clarity: 6.9 ft visibility. Phosphorus: 28 µg/L. Chlorophyll-a (algae): 1.2 µg/L.
Is Bclm Lake safe to swim in?
- Nutrient and algae readings are not a swimming clearance. Bclm Lake is listed impaired under Clean Water Act §303(d) (IR 5) for mercury. Check local advisories before you swim.
How deep is Bclm Lake?
- No published bathymetric survey covers Bclm Lake, so its depth has not been measured. The HydroLAKES global model estimates an average depth of about 47 feet, but that is a modelled estimate derived from surrounding terrain rather than a measurement on the water, so treat it as approximate.
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Where this data comes from
399 measurements from 4 monitoring stations, 2014–2025. Retrieved from the EPA Water Quality Portal on 2026-08-02.
Collected and reported by
- ALABAMA DEPT. OF ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT - WATER QUALITY DATA
21AWIC399 samples · 2014–2025
Analytical methods
- Phosphorus by Colorimetry
- 10200 H ~ Chlorophyll a-b-c Determination
- 2120 B ~ Color in Water by Visual Comparison
Monitoring station identifiers (4)
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)