Santuit Pond
Barnstable County, Massachusetts165 acresView mapDirections
MassDEP publishes the water-quality measurements for Santuit Pond. Here is what has been measured.
- Impaired · Algal growth
- 28 ft max depth
- Limited data
Santuit Pond in Barnstable County, Massachusetts has water-quality measurements published by MassDEP, shown here as reported. Chlorophyll-a (algae): 52.4 µg/L. Surface area: 165 acres.
Santuit Pond is a 165-acre lake in Barnstable County, Massachusetts with an estimated average depth of about 28 feet. Overall water quality is declining over recent sampling years.
Source: EPA Water Quality Portal sampling records, MassDEP, last sampled 2020-08-31. Methodology: how these readings are compared.
Swimming conditions
No readingRecreation use not supported
Nutrient and algae readings are not a swimming clearance. Santuit Pond is listed impaired under Clean Water Act §303(d) (IR 5) for algal growth, biotoxins, habitat alterations, nutrients (phosphorus, nitrogen), pH / acidity, turbidity. Check local advisories before you swim.
Whether Santuit Pond is safe to swim in today is a call for the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection and the county health department, who post current advisories. LakeQuality does not issue swimming clearances.
Water quality measurements for Santuit Pond
These are the measurements MassDEP publishes for Santuit Pond, shown as reported. The condition class beside each reading is the EPA National Lakes Assessment class for this lake’s ecoregion.
No clarity data. Chlorophyll-a 52.4 µg/L. TSI 69.
| Measure | Reading | Where it sits |
|---|---|---|
| Water clarity (Secchi depth) | No reading 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) | 52.4µg/L | Measured, not scored 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. | 69 | Eutrophic OligotrophicMesotrophicEutrophicHypereutrophic |
High nutrients, frequent algae, reduced clarity
Ask about Santuit Pond
Answers come straight from the public measurements and survey records on this page.
Lake Details
Max depth
~28 ft est.
Surface area
165 acres
Depth marked “est.” is a modeled maximum from GLOBathy (Khazaei et al. 2022, CC0), not a measured survey. Massachusetts has not published bathymetry for Santuit Pond.
Lake Size & Watershed
Watershed (drainage) area
2 sq mi
HydroLAKES / HydroSHEDS
Shoreline
2.8 mi
HydroLAKES / HydroSHEDS
Elevation
52 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 Santuit Pond
Water quality readings over time
3 seasons of samples on record (2017–2020). Calling a direction takes at least 4 years of the same measurement.
Chlorophyll-a
Worsening+17.11 µg/L/yr3 years
Reservoir Info (USACE NID)
Santuit Pond is a man-made reservoir impounded by the Santuit Pond Dam, built primarily for recreation on the Santuit River; earth-type dam, 8 ft tall and 330 ft long.
- Surface area
- 165 ac
- Normal storage
- 375 ac-ft
- Max storage
- 870 ac-ft
- Drainage area
- 1.53 sq mi
- Hazard class
- Low
- Owner
- Town of Mashpee
All listed purposes: Recreation;Fire Protection, Stock, Or Small Fish Pond.
Source: USACE National Inventory of Dams, NID ID MA02445 · Operator website
EPA Impairment Status
Santuit Pond 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, Other.
Source: EPA ATTAINS assessment unit MA96277 · Official waterbody report
Nearby Lakes in Barnstable County
Frequently asked questions about Santuit Pond
Where is Santuit Pond?
- Santuit Pond is a lake in Barnstable County, Massachusetts. Its water-quality measurements are published by MassDEP and shown on this page as reported.
What is the water quality of Santuit Pond?
- Santuit Pond in Barnstable County, Massachusetts has water-quality measurements published by MassDEP, shown here as reported. Chlorophyll-a (algae): 52.4 µg/L. Surface area: 165 acres.
Is Santuit Pond safe to swim in?
- Nutrient and algae readings are not a swimming clearance. Santuit Pond is listed impaired under Clean Water Act §303(d) (IR 5) for algal growth, biotoxins, habitat alterations, nutrients (phosphorus, nitrogen), pH / acidity, turbidity. Check local advisories before you swim.
How deep is Santuit Pond?
- No published bathymetric survey covers Santuit Pond, so its depth has not been measured. The HydroLAKES global model estimates an average depth of about 28 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 165 acres.
Explore Santuit Pond across LakeQuality
Planning a trip around Cape Cod?
Santuit Pond is about 28 miles from Cape Cod National Seashore. Crowds there swing hard by season, so the month you pick changes both how busy the park is and what lodging costs.
Best time to visit Cape Cod →More lakes in Massachusetts
Other Lakes in Massachusetts
Eutrophic Lakes in Massachusetts
Where this data comes from
1 measurement from 1 monitoring station, 2020. Retrieved from the EPA Water Quality Portal on 2026-08-02.
Collected and reported by
- USGS Massachusetts Water Science Center
USGS-MA1 sample · 2020
Analytical methods
- Plant pigments, sonication & 445
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
Lake size & watershed from HydroLAKES (HydroSHEDS)