Pleasure Lake
Sullivan County, New York218 acresView mapDirections
NY DEC publishes the water-quality measurements for Pleasure Lake. Here is what has been measured.
- Impaired · Nutrients (phosphorus, nitrogen)
- 56 ft max depth
- Limited data
Pleasure Lake in Sullivan County, New York has water-quality measurements published by NY DEC, shown here as reported. Water clarity: 4.3 ft visibility. Surface area: 218 acres.
Pleasure Lake is a 218-acre lake in Sullivan County, New York with an estimated average depth of about 56 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. Pleasure Lake is listed impaired under Clean Water Act §303(d) (IR 5) for nutrients (phosphorus, nitrogen). Check local advisories before you swim.
Whether Pleasure 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 Pleasure Lake
These are the measurements NY DEC publishes for Pleasure Lake, shown as reported. The condition class beside each reading is the EPA National Lakes Assessment class for this lake’s ecoregion.
Murky, only visible to about 4.3 ft. TSI 56.
| Measure | Reading | Where it sits |
|---|---|---|
| Water clarity (Secchi depth) | 4.3ft | 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. | 56 | Eutrophic OligotrophicMesotrophicEutrophicHypereutrophic |
High nutrients, frequent algae, reduced clarity
Ask about Pleasure Lake
Answers come straight from the public measurements and survey records on this page.
Lake Details
Max depth
~56 ft est.
Surface area
218 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 Pleasure Lake.
Lake Size & Watershed
Watershed (drainage) area
10 sq mi
HydroLAKES / HydroSHEDS
Shoreline
3.2 mi
HydroLAKES / HydroSHEDS
Elevation
1,207 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 Pleasure Lake
Reservoir Info (USACE NID)
Pleasure Lake is a man-made reservoir impounded by the Pleasure Lake Dam (completed 1875), built primarily for recreation on the SHELDRAKE STREAM; earth-type dam, 35 ft tall and 470 ft long.
- Surface area
- 218 ac
- Normal storage
- 2,103 ac-ft
- Max storage
- 3,738 ac-ft
- Drainage area
- 13.1 sq mi
- Hazard class
- High
- Owner
- FALLSBURG FISH AND BOAT CLUB INC
Source: USACE National Inventory of Dams, NID ID NY00345 · Operator website
EPA Impairment Status
Pleasure 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 NY1402-0055 · Official waterbody report
Regulated Pollution Sources Nearby
30 EPA-permitted facilities operate within about 5 miles of Pleasure Lake under Clean Water Act (NPDES) discharge permits, including 3 classified by the EPA as major dischargers. 13 facilities have a reported Clean Water Act violation in the past three years.
- South Fallsburg (T) WwtpSouth Fallsburg · 1.5 mi away · NPDES NY0024520MajorRecent violation
- Consolidated Kiamesha Sewer DistrictMonticello · 2.9 mi away · NPDES NY0030724MajorRecent violation
- Monticello (V) StpMonticello · 4.3 mi away · NPDES NY0022454MajorRecent violation
- Avon WwtpWoodridge · 1 mi away · NPDES NY0023493Recent violation
- R And B Energy Inc South Fallsburg PlantSouth Fallsburg · 1.1 mi away · NPDES NY0234231Recent violation
- Riverside EstatesWoodridge · 1.6 mi away · NPDES NY0032409Recent 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 Sullivan County
Frequently asked questions about Pleasure Lake
Where is Pleasure Lake?
- Pleasure Lake is a lake in Sullivan 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 Pleasure Lake?
- Pleasure Lake in Sullivan County, New York has water-quality measurements published by NY DEC, shown here as reported. Water clarity: 4.3 ft visibility. Surface area: 218 acres.
Is Pleasure Lake safe to swim in?
- Nutrient and algae readings are not a swimming clearance. Pleasure 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 Pleasure Lake?
- No published bathymetric survey covers Pleasure Lake, so its depth has not been measured. The HydroLAKES global model estimates an average depth of about 56 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 218 acres.
Explore Pleasure Lake across LakeQuality
Depth, room, public access, and the state wake-sport rules
20.3 mi away · 60 ft
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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)