Lime Lake
Cattaraugus County, New York154 acresView mapDirections
NY DEC publishes the water-quality measurements for Lime Lake. Here is what has been measured.
- Impaired · Nutrients (phosphorus, nitrogen)
- 19 ft max depth
- Limited data
Lime Lake in Cattaraugus County, New York has water-quality measurements published by NY DEC, shown here as reported. Water clarity: 7.6 ft visibility. Surface area: 154 acres.
Lime Lake is a 154-acre lake in Cattaraugus County, New York with an estimated average depth of about 19 feet.
Source: EPA Water Quality Portal sampling records, NYSDEC, last sampled 2020-09-13. Methodology: how these readings are compared.
Swimming conditions
No readingRecreation use not supported
Nutrient and algae readings are not a swimming clearance. Lime Lake is listed impaired under Clean Water Act §303(d) (IR 5) for nutrients (phosphorus, nitrogen). Check local advisories before you swim.
Whether Lime 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 Lime Lake
These are the measurements NY DEC publishes for Lime 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 7.6 ft. TSI 48.
| Measure | Reading | Where it sits |
|---|---|---|
| Water clarity (Secchi depth) | 7.6ft | 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 Lime Lake
Answers come straight from the public measurements and survey records on this page.
Lake Details
Max depth
~19 ft est.
Surface area
154 acres
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 Lime Lake.
Lake Size & Watershed
Watershed (drainage) area
3 sq mi
HydroLAKES / HydroSHEDS
Shoreline
2.7 mi
HydroLAKES / HydroSHEDS
Elevation
1,637 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 Lime Lake
Reservoir Info (USACE NID)
Lime Lake is a man-made reservoir impounded by the Lime Lake Outlet Dam (completed 1850), built primarily for recreation on the LIME LAKE OUTLET; earth-type dam, 12 ft tall and 200 ft long.
- Surface area
- 154 ac
- Normal storage
- 550 ac-ft
- Max storage
- 616 ac-ft
- Hazard class
- Significant
- Owner
- CATTARAUGUS COUNTY;LIME LAKE COTTAGE OWNERS ASSOCIATION
Source: USACE National Inventory of Dams, NID ID NY00924 · Operator website · Matched by proximity (0.92 km)
EPA Impairment Status
Lime 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: Recreation.
Source: EPA ATTAINS assessment unit NY0104-0001 · Official waterbody report
Regulated Pollution Sources Nearby
3 EPA-permitted facilities operate within about 5 miles of Lime Lake under Clean Water Act (NPDES) discharge permits.
- Cattaraugus Co Dpw - Franklinville BarnMachias · 3.6 mi away · NPDES NY0291269
- 3 Olmstead ApartmentsDelevan · 4.7 mi away · NPDES NY0275506
- The Woods At Bear CreekFranklinville · 4.7 mi away · NPDES NY0098388
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 Cattaraugus County
Frequently asked questions about Lime Lake
Where is Lime Lake?
- Lime Lake is a lake in Cattaraugus 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 Lime Lake?
- Lime Lake in Cattaraugus County, New York has water-quality measurements published by NY DEC, shown here as reported. Water clarity: 7.6 ft visibility. Surface area: 154 acres.
Is Lime Lake safe to swim in?
- Nutrient and algae readings are not a swimming clearance. Lime Lake is listed impaired under Clean Water Act §303(d) (IR 5) for nutrients (phosphorus, nitrogen). Check local advisories before you swim.
How deep is Lime Lake?
- No published bathymetric survey covers Lime Lake, so its depth has not been measured. The HydroLAKES global model estimates an average depth of about 19 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 154 acres.
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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)