Ellis Lake
Cortland County, New York44 acresView mapDirections
NY DEC publishes the water-quality measurements for Ellis Lake. Here is what has been measured.
- Limited data
Ellis Lake in Cortland County, New York has water-quality measurements published by NY DEC, shown here as reported. Water clarity: 7.8 ft visibility. Surface area: 43.6 acres.
Ellis Lake is a 44-acre lake in Cortland County, New York.
Source: EPA Water Quality Portal sampling records, NYSDEC, last sampled 2020-09-18. Methodology: how these readings are compared.
Swimming conditions
No readingLimited data
Nutrient and algae readings are not a swimming clearance. Check local advisories before you swim.
Whether Ellis 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 Ellis Lake
These are the measurements NY DEC publishes for Ellis 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 7.8 ft. TSI 48.
| Measure | Reading | Where it sits |
|---|---|---|
| Water clarity (Secchi depth) | 7.8ft | 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. | 48 | Mesotrophic OligotrophicMesotrophicEutrophicHypereutrophic |
Moderate nutrients, good water quality
Ask about Ellis Lake
Answers come straight from the public measurements and survey records on this page.
Lake Details
Surface area
44 acres
No bathymetric survey has been published for Ellis Lake, so its depth is not documented here.
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Fishing Ellis Lake
Reservoir Info (USACE NID)
Ellis Lake is a man-made reservoir impounded by the Melody Lake Dam (completed 1902), built primarily for recreation on the TR-WILLET CREEK; stone-type dam, 26 ft tall and 120 ft long.
- Surface area
- 43.6 ac
- Normal storage
- 410 ac-ft
- Max storage
- 620 ac-ft
- Drainage area
- 1.64 sq mi
- Hazard class
- High
- Owner
- MELODY LAKE ASSOCIATION
Source: USACE National Inventory of Dams, NID ID NY00748 · Operator website
Nearby Lakes in Cortland County
Frequently asked questions about Ellis Lake
Where is Ellis Lake?
- Ellis Lake is a lake in Cortland 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 Ellis Lake?
- Ellis Lake in Cortland County, New York has water-quality measurements published by NY DEC, shown here as reported. Water clarity: 7.8 ft visibility. Surface area: 43.6 acres.
Is Ellis Lake safe to swim in?
- Nutrient and algae readings are not a swimming clearance. Check local advisories before you swim.
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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.