Wilde Lake
Howard County, Maryland23 acresView mapDirections
MDE publishes the water-quality measurements for Wilde Lake. Here is what has been measured.
- Limited data
Wilde Lake in Howard County, Maryland has water-quality measurements published by MDE, shown here as reported. Water clarity: 4.9 ft visibility. Surface area: 23 acres.
Wilde Lake is a 23-acre lake in Howard County, Maryland. Overall water quality is improving over recent sampling years.
Source: EPA Water Quality Portal sampling records, your state environmental agency, last sampled 2024-06-20. Methodology: how these readings are compared.
Swimming conditions
No readingLimited data
Nutrient and algae readings are not a swimming clearance. Check local advisories before you swim.
Whether Wilde Lake is safe to swim in today is a call for the Maryland Department of the Environment and the county health department, who post current advisories. LakeQuality does not issue swimming clearances.
Water quality measurements for Wilde Lake
These are the measurements MDE publishes for Wilde 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 4.9 ft. TSI 54.
| Measure | Reading | Where it sits |
|---|---|---|
| Water clarity (Secchi depth) | 4.9ft | 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. | 54 | Eutrophic OligotrophicMesotrophicEutrophicHypereutrophic |
High nutrients, frequent algae, reduced clarity
Ask about Wilde Lake
Answers come straight from the public measurements and survey records on this page.
Lake Details
Surface area
23 acres
No bathymetric survey has been published for Wilde Lake, so its depth is not documented here.
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Fishing Wilde Lake
Water Quality Trend: Improving
Based on 5 years of monitoring (2012–2024).
Water clarity
Improving5 years
Reservoir Info (USACE NID)
Wilde Lake is a man-made reservoir impounded by the Wilde Lake Dam (completed 1967), built primarily for recreation on the Little Patuxent River-TR; gravity-type dam, 28 ft tall and 280 ft long.
- Surface area
- 23 ac
- Normal storage
- 202 ac-ft
- Max storage
- 317 ac-ft
- Drainage area
- 3.6 sq mi
- Hazard class
- Significant
- Owner
- Columbia Association
Source: USACE National Inventory of Dams, NID ID MD00051 · Operator website
Nearby Lakes in Howard County
Frequently asked questions about Wilde Lake
Where is Wilde Lake?
- Wilde Lake is a lake in Howard County, Maryland. Its water-quality measurements are published by MDE and shown on this page as reported.
What is the water quality of Wilde Lake?
- Wilde Lake in Howard County, Maryland has water-quality measurements published by MDE, shown here as reported. Water clarity: 4.9 ft visibility. Surface area: 23 acres.
Is Wilde Lake safe to swim in?
- Nutrient and algae readings are not a swimming clearance. Check local advisories before you swim.
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Where this data comes from
18 measurements from 3 monitoring stations, 2024. Retrieved from the EPA Water Quality Portal on 2026-08-02.
Collected and reported by
- Submitting organization not recorded for these samples18 samples · 2024
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.