Butterfield Lake
Jefferson County, New YorkView mapDirections
NY DEC publishes the water-quality measurements for Butterfield Lake. Here is what has been measured.
- 34 ft max depth
- Public access
- Limited data
Butterfield Lake in Jefferson County, New York has water-quality measurements published by NY DEC, shown here as reported. Water clarity: 11.3 ft visibility.
Butterfield Lake is a lake in Jefferson County, New York with an estimated average depth of about 34 feet. Limited fish-species data available. Public access is available with 1 public boat landing.
Source: EPA Water Quality Portal sampling records, NYSDEC, last sampled 2020-09-12. Methodology: how these readings are compared.
What Butterfield Lake is good for
From access and monitoring records, not editorial picks.
- Clear water11.3 ft of visibility
- Boat launch1 documented ramp
Swimming conditions
No readingLimited data
Nutrient and algae readings are not a swimming clearance. Check local advisories before you swim.
Whether Butterfield Lake is safe to swim in today is a call for the New York Department of Environmental Conservation and the county health department, who post current advisories. LakeQuality does not issue swimming clearances.
Water quality measurements for Butterfield Lake
These are the measurements NY DEC publishes for Butterfield Lake, shown as reported. The condition class beside each reading is the EPA National Lakes Assessment class for this lake’s ecoregion.
Good clarity, visible to about 11.3 ft. TSI 42.
| Measure | Reading | Where it sits |
|---|---|---|
| Water clarity (Secchi depth) | 11.3ft | Measured, not scored 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) | No reading The green pigment in algae — a direct measure of how much algae is in the water. | |
| Trophic state (TSI)Carlson's 0–100 index of how much algae a lake can support, from clarity, phosphorus and chlorophyll-a. | 42 | Mesotrophic OligotrophicMesotrophicEutrophicHypereutrophic |
Moderate nutrients, good water quality
Ask about Butterfield Lake
Answers come straight from the public measurements and survey records on this page.
Lake Details
Max depth
~34 ft est.
Public access
Yes
Listed by NY DEC
Depth marked “est.” is a modeled maximum from GLOBathy (Khazaei et al. 2022, CC0), not a measured survey. New York has not published bathymetry for Butterfield Lake.
Lake Size & Watershed
Watershed (drainage) area
48 sq mi
HydroLAKES / HydroSHEDS
Surface area
904 acres
HydroLAKES / HydroSHEDS
Shoreline
11.3 mi
HydroLAKES / HydroSHEDS
Elevation
272 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.
Recreation & Access
- Butterfield LakePublic
Named access points in the USGS National Boat Ramps inventory, within about 3 miles. More lakes with boat ramps
Stays via Stay22
Stays near Butterfield Lake
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Fishing Butterfield Lake
Nearby Lakes in Jefferson County
Frequently asked questions about Butterfield Lake
Where is Butterfield Lake?
- Butterfield Lake is a lake in Jefferson County, New York. Its water-quality measurements are published by NY DEC and shown on this page as reported.
What is the water quality of Butterfield Lake?
- Butterfield Lake in Jefferson County, New York has water-quality measurements published by NY DEC, shown here as reported. Water clarity: 11.3 ft visibility.
Is Butterfield Lake safe to swim in?
- Nutrient and algae readings are not a swimming clearance. Check local advisories before you swim.
How deep is Butterfield Lake?
- No published bathymetric survey covers Butterfield Lake, so its depth has not been measured. The HydroLAKES global model estimates an average depth of about 34 feet, but that is a modelled estimate derived from surrounding terrain rather than a measurement on the water, so treat it as approximate.
Are there boat ramps on Butterfield Lake?
- Butterfield Lake has 1 documented boat landing in the USGS National Boat Ramps inventory. Named access points include Butterfield Lake. Public access is listed as yes.
Can I fish at Butterfield Lake?
- Butterfield Lake has 1 documented boat landing in the USGS National Boat Ramps inventory. Seasons, size and bag limits, and whether you need a license are set by New York's fish and wildlife agency, so check its current regulations before you go.
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Where this data comes from
8 measurements from 1 monitoring station, 2020. Retrieved from the EPA Water Quality Portal on 2026-08-02.
Collected and reported by
- North American Lake Management Society
NALMS8 samples · 2020
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
Lake size & watershed from HydroLAKES (HydroSHEDS)
Named boat-access points from the USGS National Boat Ramps inventory