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LakeQuality

Saratoga Lake

Saratoga County, New YorkView mapDirections

NR
Not rated

Not Rated: one monitoring station are on record, but they measured water clarity only. LakeQuality’s A–F method grades total phosphorus, total nitrogen, chlorophyll-a, and turbidity; clarity is shown, not scored.

Water temp
No reading
No gauge
Clarity
11.3 ft
Secchi · sampled 2020
Max depth
~50 ft est.
GLOBathy model
Level
202.72 ft
USGS · Jul 6 · elevation
Trend
No reading
Not enough history
  • Impaired · Nutrients (phosphorus, nitrogen)
  • 50 ft max depth
  • Limited data

Saratoga Lake in Saratoga County, New York is not rated for water quality — its monitoring record does not meet the evidence bar. Water clarity: 11.3 ft visibility.

Clarity
11.3 ft
Max depth
~50 ft est.
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Watch Saratoga Lake’s letter

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Why Saratoga Lake has no grade

Saratoga Lake has monitoring on record from one station, but only water clarity was measured. LakeQuality’s A–F letter uses total phosphorus, total nitrogen, chlorophyll-a, and turbidity against EPA National Lakes Assessment condition classes. With none of those grading measurements on record, Saratoga Lake is Not Rated — not an F. Its 11.3-foot median from 8 readings collected 2020 is still shown as clarity, but clarity alone cannot earn a letter.

Not Rated is EPA Integrated Reporting Category 3 — insufficient information. Everything below that has been measured is still reported on this page.

Sampling is run by NYSDEC and volunteer programs, and published through the EPA Water Quality Portal. Read the full grading methodology.

Saratoga Lake is a lake in Saratoga County, New York with an estimated average depth of about 50 feet.

Source: EPA Water Quality Portal sampling records, NYSDEC, last sampled 2020-09-14. Grade methodology: LakeQuality methodology.

What Saratoga Lake is good for

From access and monitoring records, not editorial picks.

  • Clear water11.3 ft of visibility

Swimming Safety

Not rated

Limited data

The letter is not a swimming clearance. Saratoga Lake is listed impaired under Clean Water Act §303(d) (IR 5) for nutrients (phosphorus, nitrogen). Check local advisories before you swim.

Compare the safest swimming lakes near Albany

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Water quality measurements for Saratoga Lake

These readings exist but are not enough for an A–F grade — see why.

Good clarity, visible to about 11.3 ft. TSI 42.

MetricValueGrade
Water Clarity (Secchi Depth)11.3 ftNot graded
PhosphorusNo recent samples
Chlorophyll-a (Algae)No recent samples
Trophic State Index (TSI)42Mesotrophic

Moderate nutrients, good water quality

Current Conditions

202.72 ft
Water Elevation

USGS snapshot Jul 6, 2026, 5:00 AM from gauge 01330884 (Saratoga Lake at State Hwy 9p at Saratoga Lake NY). Station page ↗ — a live reading replaces this snapshot when the gauge responds. Missing live data is not an all-clear.

Lake Details

CharacteristicValue
Maximum Depth~50 ft est.

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 Saratoga Lake.

Lake Size & Watershed

Watershed (drainage) area
215 sq mi
Surface area
4,191 acres
Shoreline
26.1 mi
Elevation
200 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.

Fishing Saratoga Lake

EPA Impairment Status

Saratoga Lake is officially listed as impaired under Clean Water Act §303(d) in the 2022 EPA reporting cycle (IR category 5).

Causes of impairment

Nutrients (phosphorus, nitrogen)

Source: EPA ATTAINS assessment unit NY1101-0012 · Official waterbody report

Regulated Pollution Sources Nearby

3 EPA-permitted facilities operate within about 5 miles of Saratoga Lake under Clean Water Act (NPDES) discharge permits.

  • Xtra Mart-Citgo Station
    Ballston Spa · 2.6 mi away · NPDES NY0251763
  • Thorobred Motel
    Malta · 2.7 mi away · NPDES NY0265829
  • Hilltop Circle Apartments
    Stillwater · 2.9 mi away · NPDES NY0265411

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 Saratoga County

Frequently asked questions about Saratoga Lake

Where is Saratoga Lake?

Saratoga Lake is a lake in Saratoga County, New York. LakeQuality has not rated this lake (UNRATED) — the only measurement available is water clarity, which is not a water-quality indicator on its own — EPA's National Lakes Assessment does not grade clarity.

What is the water quality grade for Saratoga Lake?

Saratoga Lake in Saratoga County, New York is not rated for water quality — its monitoring record does not meet the evidence bar. Water clarity: 11.3 ft visibility.

Is Saratoga Lake safe to swim in?

The letter is not a swimming clearance. Saratoga 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 Saratoga Lake?

No published bathymetric survey covers Saratoga Lake, so its depth has not been measured. The HydroLAKES global model estimates an average depth of about 50 feet, but that is a modelled estimate derived from surrounding terrain rather than a measurement on the water, so treat it as approximate.

What is the water level at Saratoga Lake?

The USGS snapshot on this page for Saratoga Lake is 202.72 ft of water-surface elevation, recorded Jul 6, 2026, 5:00 AM at gauge 01330884. Current Conditions hydrates a live NWIS reading from that same station when the gauge responds. A missed live fetch is not an all-clear.

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 SocietyNALMS8 samples · 2020
Monitoring station identifiers (1)

Grade thresholds from the EPA National Lakes Assessment (EPA 841-R-24-006, Table 6-3), applied by ecoregion. See how grades are calculated 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)