Oswego Lake
Burlington County, New Jersey89 acresView mapDirections
NJDEP publishes the water-quality measurements for Oswego Lake. Here is what has been measured.
- Mesotrophic
- Impaired · Mercury
Oswego Lake in Burlington County, New Jersey has water-quality measurements published by NJDEP, shown here as reported. Water clarity: 2.1 ft visibility. Phosphorus: 21.2 µg/L. Chlorophyll-a (algae): 2.5 µg/L. Surface area: 89 acres.
Oswego Lake is a 89-acre mesotrophic lake in Burlington County, New Jersey. Compared to the 11 other monitored lakes in Burlington County, Oswego Lake ranks #2 for water quality.
Source: EPA Water Quality Portal sampling records, your state environmental agency, last sampled 2021-10-19. Methodology: how these readings are compared.
Swimming conditions
Readings onlyLow algae
Based on clarity and algae readings from past sampling — there is no live water temperature and a current cyanobacteria reading for this lake. Check your state or county health department before you swim.
Nutrient and algae readings are not a swimming clearance. Oswego Lake is listed impaired under Clean Water Act §303(d) (IR 5) for mercury, pCBs. Check local advisories before you swim.
Whether Oswego Lake is safe to swim in today is a call for the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection and the county health department, who post current advisories. LakeQuality does not issue swimming clearances.
Water quality measurements for Oswego Lake
These are the measurements NJDEP publishes for Oswego Lake, shown as reported. The condition class beside each reading is the EPA National Lakes Assessment class for this lake’s ecoregion.
Very murky, less than 2.1 ft of visibility. Phosphorus 21.2 µg/L. Chlorophyll-a 2.5 µg/L. TSI 52.
| Measure | Reading | Where it sits |
|---|---|---|
| Water clarity (Secchi depth) | 2.1ft | Measured, not scored How deep a black-and-white disk stays visible from the surface. Higher is clearer. |
| Total phosphorus | 21.2µg/L | Good GoodFairPoor |
| Chlorophyll-a (algae) | 2.5µg/L | Good GoodFairPoor |
| Trophic state (TSI)Carlson's 0–100 index of how much algae a lake can support, from clarity, phosphorus and chlorophyll-a. | 52 | Mesotrophic OligotrophicMesotrophicEutrophicHypereutrophic |
Moderate nutrients, good water quality
Ask about Oswego Lake
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Lake Details
Surface area
89 acres
No bathymetric survey has been published for Oswego Lake, so its depth is not documented here.
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Fishing Oswego Lake
Reservoir Info (USACE NID)
Oswego Lake is a man-made reservoir impounded by the Oswego Dam (completed 1936), built primarily for irrigation on the Oswego River; earth-type dam, 13 ft tall and 855 ft long.
- Surface area
- 89 ac
- Normal storage
- 437 ac-ft
- Drainage area
- 56.3 sq mi
- Hazard class
- Significant
- Owner
- Division of Parks and Forestry
All listed purposes: Irrigation;Recreation.
Source: USACE National Inventory of Dams, NID ID NJ00046 · Operator website
EPA Impairment Status
Oswego 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: Fish consumption.
A Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) plan has been approved.
Source: EPA ATTAINS assessment unit NJ02040301180060-01 · Official waterbody report
Nearby Lakes in Burlington County
Frequently asked questions about Oswego Lake
Where is Oswego Lake?
- Oswego Lake is a lake in Burlington County, New Jersey. Its water-quality measurements are published by NJDEP and shown on this page as reported.
What is the water quality of Oswego Lake?
- Oswego Lake in Burlington County, New Jersey has water-quality measurements published by NJDEP, shown here as reported. Water clarity: 2.1 ft visibility. Phosphorus: 21.2 µg/L. Chlorophyll-a (algae): 2.5 µg/L. Surface area: 89 acres.
Is Oswego Lake safe to swim in?
- Nutrient and algae readings are not a swimming clearance. Oswego Lake is listed impaired under Clean Water Act §303(d) (IR 5) for mercury, pCBs. Check local advisories before you swim.
Explore Oswego Lake across LakeQuality
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Where this data comes from
94 measurements from 3 monitoring stations, 2020–2021. Retrieved from the EPA Water Quality Portal on 2026-08-21.
Collected and reported by
- NJDEP Bureau of Freshwater and Biological Monitoring
NJDEP_BFBM94 samples · 2020–2021
Analytical methods
- Phosphorus by Colorimetry
- 445.0 ~ EPA; Chlorophyll and Pheophytin in Algae by Fluorescence
Monitoring station identifiers (3)
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