Timber Lake
Burlington County, New Jersey24 acresView mapDirections
NJDEP publishes the water-quality measurements for Timber Lake. Here is what has been measured.
- Eutrophic
- Impaired · Metals (other than mercury)
- Limited data
Timber Lake in Burlington County, New Jersey has water-quality measurements published by NJDEP, shown here as reported. Water clarity: 4.6 ft visibility. Phosphorus: 25.8 µg/L. Chlorophyll-a (algae): 19.9 µg/L. Surface area: 24 acres.
Timber Lake is a 24-acre productive, nutrient-rich eutrophic lake in Burlington County, New Jersey. Compared to the 11 other monitored lakes in Burlington County, Timber Lake ranks #8 for water quality.
Source: EPA Water Quality Portal sampling records, your state environmental agency, last sampled 2022-10-05. Methodology: how these readings are compared.
Swimming conditions
Readings onlyLimited data
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. Timber Lake is listed impaired under Clean Water Act §303(d) (IR 5) for metals (other than mercury), pH / acidity. Check local advisories before you swim.
Whether Timber 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 Timber Lake
These are the measurements NJDEP publishes for Timber 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 4.6 ft. Phosphorus 25.8 µg/L. Chlorophyll-a 19.9 µg/L. TSI 55.
| Measure | Reading | Where it sits |
|---|---|---|
| Water clarity (Secchi depth) | 4.6ft | Measured, not scored How deep a black-and-white disk stays visible from the surface. Higher is clearer. |
| Total phosphorus | 25.8µg/L | Good GoodFairPoor |
| Chlorophyll-a (algae) | 19.9µg/L | Fair GoodFairPoor |
| Trophic state (TSI)Carlson's 0–100 index of how much algae a lake can support, from clarity, phosphorus and chlorophyll-a. | 55 | Eutrophic OligotrophicMesotrophicEutrophicHypereutrophic |
High nutrients, frequent algae, reduced clarity
Ask about Timber Lake
Answers come straight from the public measurements and survey records on this page.
Lake Details
Surface area
24 acres
No bathymetric survey has been published for Timber Lake, so its depth is not documented here.
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Fishing Timber Lake
Reservoir Info (USACE NID)
Timber Lake is a man-made reservoir impounded by the Timber Lake Dam (completed 1955), built primarily for recreation on the Haynes Creek-TR; earth-type dam, 19 ft tall and 300 ft long.
- Surface area
- 24 ac
- Normal storage
- 90 ac-ft
- Drainage area
- 9.3 sq mi
- Hazard class
- High
- Owner
- Birchwood Lake Colony Club
Source: USACE National Inventory of Dams, NID ID NJ00416 · Operator website
EPA Impairment Status
Timber 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: Drinking water, Aquatic life.
Source: EPA ATTAINS assessment unit NJ02040202060030-01 · Official waterbody report
Nearby Lakes in Burlington County
Frequently asked questions about Timber Lake
Where is Timber Lake?
- Timber 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 Timber Lake?
- Timber Lake in Burlington County, New Jersey has water-quality measurements published by NJDEP, shown here as reported. Water clarity: 4.6 ft visibility. Phosphorus: 25.8 µg/L. Chlorophyll-a (algae): 19.9 µg/L. Surface area: 24 acres.
Is Timber Lake safe to swim in?
- Nutrient and algae readings are not a swimming clearance. Timber Lake is listed impaired under Clean Water Act §303(d) (IR 5) for metals (other than mercury), pH / acidity. Check local advisories before you swim.
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Where this data comes from
44 measurements from 3 monitoring stations, 2022. Retrieved from the EPA Water Quality Portal on 2026-08-21.
Collected and reported by
- NJDEP Bureau of Freshwater and Biological Monitoring
NJDEP_BFBM44 samples · 2022
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