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LakeQuality

A eutrophic lake is a productive ecosystem with the trade-offs that come with productivity: more food at the base of the food web, more clarity reduction by mid-summer, more dissolved-oxygen variability near the bottom. 9 Idaho lakes register as eutrophic. Only 0% are deep — eutrophy correlates with shallowness, agricultural watersheds, and the kind of nutrient-input history that takes decades to shift.

Eutrophic lakes typically carry higher phosphorus and chlorophyll-a readings. The same nutrient richness that defines the trophic class shows up in those numbers.

#LakeCountyClarityDepthTSI
1Mud LakeBear Lake--59
2Cas Reservoir Inlet Between Lf AndValley4.3 ft-56
3Lake WalcottCassia4.3 ft-58
4Island Park LakeFremont9.8 ft-50
5Cascade R W of Sugarloaf Island LakeValley8.2 ft-50
6Island Pk ReservoirFremont2.3 ft-60
7Littlewood LakeBlaine12.5 ft-50
8Mountain View LakeOwyhee--57
9American Falls R-Little Hole Draw LakePower--60

Source: EPA National Aquatic Resource Surveys, 2026.