Lake Moraine
Madison County, New York260 acresView mapDirections
NY DEC publishes the water-quality measurements for Lake Moraine. Here is what has been measured.
- Impaired · Nutrients (phosphorus, nitrogen)
- 57 ft max depth
- Public access
- Limited data
Lake Moraine in Madison County, New York has water-quality measurements published by NY DEC, shown here as reported. Water clarity: 20.3 ft visibility. Surface area: 260 acres.
Lake Moraine is a 260-acre lake in Madison County, New York with an estimated average depth of about 57 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 2020-09-27. Methodology: how these readings are compared.
Lake Moraine covers about 260 acres in Madison County. It has one public boat landing. If you are planning to stay, you can search lake houses and cabins around Lake Moraine on Vrbo, or look for a hotel room near the lake on Booking.com or Expedia.
What Lake Moraine is good for
From access and monitoring records, not editorial picks.
- Clear water20.3 ft of visibility
- Boat launch1 documented ramp
Swimming conditions
No readingRecreation use not supported
Nutrient and algae readings are not a swimming clearance. Lake Moraine is listed impaired under Clean Water Act §303(d) (IR 5) for nutrients (phosphorus, nitrogen), oxygen depletion (low DO). Check local advisories before you swim.
Whether Lake Moraine 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 Lake Moraine
These are the measurements NY DEC publishes for Lake Moraine, shown as reported. The condition class beside each reading is the EPA National Lakes Assessment class for this lake’s ecoregion.
Crystal clear, you can see 20.3 ft down. TSI 34.
| Measure | Reading | Where it sits |
|---|---|---|
| Water clarity (Secchi depth) | 20.3ft | 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. | 34 | Oligotrophic OligotrophicMesotrophicEutrophicHypereutrophic |
Low nutrients, clear water. No reading is a swimming clearance.
Ask about Lake Moraine
Answers come straight from the public measurements and survey records on this page.
Lake Details
Max depth
~57 ft est.
Surface area
260 acres
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 Lake Moraine.
Lake Size & Watershed
Watershed (drainage) area
7 sq mi
HydroLAKES / HydroSHEDS
Shoreline
4.5 mi
HydroLAKES / HydroSHEDS
Elevation
1,204 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
- Lake MorainePublic
Named access points in the USGS National Boat Ramps inventory, within about 3 miles. More lakes with boat ramps
Stays via Stay22
Stays near Lake Moraine
Compare lakeside cabins, hotels, and vacation rentals near Lake Moraine in Madison County, New York — 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.
Top-rated places to stay near Lake Moraine
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Fishing Lake Moraine
Reservoir Info (USACE NID)
Lake Moraine is a man-made reservoir impounded by the Lake Moraine Dam (completed 1836), built primarily for navigation on the PAYNE BROOK; earth-type dam, 56 ft tall and 800 ft long.
- Surface area
- 260 ac
- Normal storage
- 3,765 ac-ft
- Max storage
- 6,300 ac-ft
- Drainage area
- 8.05 sq mi
- Hazard class
- High
- Owner
- New York State Canal Corporation
All listed purposes: Navigation;Other;Recreation.
Source: USACE National Inventory of Dams, NID ID NY00354 · Operator website
EPA Impairment Status
Lake Moraine 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: Aquatic life, Recreation.
Source: EPA ATTAINS assessment unit NY0602-0007 · Official waterbody report
Regulated Pollution Sources Nearby
2 EPA-permitted facilities operate within about 5 miles of Lake Moraine under Clean Water Act (NPDES) discharge permits, including 1 classified by the EPA as major discharger. 2 facilities have a reported Clean Water Act violation in the past three years.
- Hamilton (V) WpcpHamilton · 3.2 mi away · NPDES NY0020672MajorRecent violation
- Madison MarketplaceHamilton · 1.8 mi away · NPDES NY0262021Recent violation
Facilities permitted to discharge under the Clean Water Act within ~5 miles; proximity does not by itself mean a facility affects this lake. Source: EPA ECHO (ICIS-NPDES), as of 2026-07.
Nearby Lakes in Madison County
Frequently asked questions about Lake Moraine
Where is Lake Moraine?
- Lake Moraine is a lake in Madison 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 Lake Moraine?
- Lake Moraine in Madison County, New York has water-quality measurements published by NY DEC, shown here as reported. Water clarity: 20.3 ft visibility. Surface area: 260 acres.
Is Lake Moraine safe to swim in?
- Nutrient and algae readings are not a swimming clearance. Lake Moraine is listed impaired under Clean Water Act §303(d) (IR 5) for nutrients (phosphorus, nitrogen), oxygen depletion (low DO). Check local advisories before you swim.
How deep is Lake Moraine?
- No published bathymetric survey covers Lake Moraine, so its depth has not been measured. The HydroLAKES global model estimates an average depth of about 57 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 260 acres.
Are there boat ramps on Lake Moraine?
- Lake Moraine has 1 documented boat landing in the USGS National Boat Ramps inventory. Named access points include Lake Moraine. Public access is listed as yes.
Can I fish at Lake Moraine?
- Lake Moraine 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.
Explore Lake Moraine across LakeQuality
Depth, room, public access, and the state wake-sport rules
Species activity outlook by water temperature and season
Where to stay at New York's top lakes, each with its readings
New York's cleanest lakes, ranked on agency measurements
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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
Impairment status from EPA ATTAINS 303(d) database
Regulated discharger data from EPA ECHO (ICIS-NPDES)
Lake size & watershed from HydroLAKES (HydroSHEDS)
Named boat-access points from the USGS National Boat Ramps inventory