Nelson Lake
Kent County, Michigan8 acresView mapDirections
EGLE publishes the water-quality measurements for Nelson Lake. Here is what has been measured.
- Limited data
Nelson Lake in Kent County, Michigan has water-quality measurements published by EGLE, shown here as reported. Water clarity: 7 ft visibility. Phosphorus: 19 µg/L. Surface area: 7.9 acres.
Nelson Lake is a 8-acre lake in Kent County, Michigan. Overall water quality is improving over recent sampling years.
Source: EPA Water Quality Portal sampling records, EGLE, last sampled 2023-09-15. 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 Nelson Lake is safe to swim in today is a call for the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy (EGLE) and the county health department, who post current advisories. LakeQuality does not issue swimming clearances.
Water quality measurements for Nelson Lake
These are the measurements EGLE publishes for Nelson 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 ft. Phosphorus 19 µg/L. TSI 48.
| Measure | Reading | Where it sits |
|---|---|---|
| Water clarity (Secchi depth) | 7ft | Measured, not scored How deep a black-and-white disk stays visible from the surface. Higher is clearer. |
| Total phosphorus | 19µg/L | Measured, not scored 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 Nelson Lake
Answers come straight from the public measurements and survey records on this page.
Lake Details
Surface area
8 acres
No bathymetric survey has been published for Nelson Lake, so its depth is not documented here.
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Fishing Nelson Lake
Water quality readings over time
3 seasons of samples on record (2017–2023). Calling a direction takes at least 4 years of the same measurement.
Water clarity
Improving3 years
Phosphorus
Improving-31 µg/L/yr2 years
Nearby Lakes in Kent County
Frequently asked questions about Nelson Lake
Where is Nelson Lake?
- Nelson Lake is a lake in Kent County, Michigan. Its water-quality measurements are published by EGLE and shown on this page as reported.
What is the water quality of Nelson Lake?
- Nelson Lake in Kent County, Michigan has water-quality measurements published by EGLE, shown here as reported. Water clarity: 7 ft visibility. Phosphorus: 19 µg/L. Surface area: 7.9 acres.
Is Nelson 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
3 measurements from 1 monitoring station, 2023. Retrieved from the EPA Water Quality Portal on 2026-08-26.
Collected and reported by
- Michigan EGLE - MiCorps
21MICH_MICORPS3 samples · 2023
Analytical methods
- Phosphorus by Colorimetry
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.