Sweetwater Lake
Garfield County, ColoradoView mapDirections
Colorado WQCD publishes the water-quality measurements for Sweetwater Lake. Here is what has been measured.
- 15 ft max depth
- Limited data
Sweetwater Lake in Garfield County, Colorado has water-quality measurements published by Colorado WQCD, shown here as reported. Water clarity: 8 ft visibility. Phosphorus: 128 µg/L. Chlorophyll-a (algae): 8.5 µg/L.
Sweetwater Lake is a lake in Garfield County, Colorado with an estimated average depth of about 15 feet.
Source: EPA Water Quality Portal sampling records, CDPHE, last sampled 2021-07-29. Methodology: how these readings are compared.
Vrbo is where to look for cabins and lake homes around Sweetwater Lake, and Booking.com and Expedia search hotels near the lake for your dates.
What Sweetwater Lake is good for
From access and monitoring records, not editorial picks.
- Camping1 public campground nearby
Swimming conditions
No readingLimited data
Nutrient and algae readings are not a swimming clearance. Check local advisories before you swim.
Whether Sweetwater Lake is safe to swim in today is a call for the Water Quality Control Division of the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment and the county health department, who post current advisories. LakeQuality does not issue swimming clearances.
Water quality measurements for Sweetwater Lake
These are the measurements Colorado WQCD publishes for Sweetwater 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 8 ft. Phosphorus 128 µg/L. Chlorophyll-a 8.5 µg/L. TSI 58.
| Measure | Reading | Where it sits |
|---|---|---|
| Water clarity (Secchi depth) | 8ft | Measured, not scored How deep a black-and-white disk stays visible from the surface. Higher is clearer. |
| Total phosphorus | 128µg/L | Measured, not scored The nutrient that most limits algae growth in freshwater. More phosphorus, more algae potential. |
| Chlorophyll-a (algae) | 8.5µg/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. | 58 | Eutrophic OligotrophicMesotrophicEutrophicHypereutrophic |
High nutrients, frequent algae, reduced clarity
Ask about Sweetwater Lake
Answers come straight from the public measurements and survey records on this page.
Lake Details
Max depth
~15 ft est.
Depth marked “est.” is a modeled maximum from GLOBathy (Khazaei et al. 2022, CC0), not a measured survey. Colorado has not published bathymetry for Sweetwater Lake.
Lake Size & Watershed
Watershed (drainage) area
58 sq mi
HydroLAKES / HydroSHEDS
Surface area
59 acres
HydroLAKES / HydroSHEDS
Shoreline
1.5 mi
HydroLAKES / HydroSHEDS
Elevation
7,720 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.
Recreation & Access
Public campgrounds near Sweetwater Lake
- Sweetwater Lake Cg0.6 km
Nearest public campgrounds in the USGS National Map inventory, within about 3 miles. An empty list means USGS records no campground that close, which is not the same as camping being unavailable. Where the source gives an official reservation link, it is used; the cabin and hotel search does not cover campsites. More camping lakes
Stays via Stay22
Stays near Sweetwater Lake
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Fishing Sweetwater Lake
Nearby Lakes in Garfield County
Frequently asked questions about Sweetwater Lake
Where is Sweetwater Lake?
- Sweetwater Lake is a lake in Garfield County, Colorado. Its water-quality measurements are published by Colorado WQCD and shown on this page as reported.
What is the water quality of Sweetwater Lake?
- Sweetwater Lake in Garfield County, Colorado has water-quality measurements published by Colorado WQCD, shown here as reported. Water clarity: 8 ft visibility. Phosphorus: 128 µg/L. Chlorophyll-a (algae): 8.5 µg/L.
Is Sweetwater Lake safe to swim in?
- Nutrient and algae readings are not a swimming clearance. Check local advisories before you swim.
How deep is Sweetwater Lake?
- No published bathymetric survey covers Sweetwater Lake, so its depth has not been measured. The HydroLAKES global model estimates an average depth of about 15 feet, but that is a modelled estimate derived from surrounding terrain rather than a measurement on the water, so treat it as approximate.
Are there campgrounds on Sweetwater Lake?
- Sweetwater Lake has 1 public campground from USGS The National Map within 5 km, including Sweetwater Lake Cg. This is a location join, not a booking. Cabins and hotels are listed separately; campsite reservations use the official link when the source provides one.
Explore Sweetwater Lake across LakeQuality
3 thermal springs within 21.5 mi, nearest Dotsero Warm Springs
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Where this data comes from
7 measurements from 2 monitoring stations, 2021. Retrieved from the EPA Water Quality Portal on 2026-08-02.
Collected and reported by
- Colorado Dept. of Public Health & Environment-WQCD
21COL001_WQX7 samples · 2021
Analytical methods
- Secchi disk depth measurement
- Phosphorus by Colorimetry
- 10200 H ~ Chlorophyll a-b-c Determination
- Nitrogen in Water by Pyrolysis Detection
Monitoring station identifiers (2)
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
Lake size & watershed from HydroLAKES (HydroSHEDS)
Public campgrounds from USGS The National Map Structures, within about 3 miles