PlaceDossier / BC places / Lakes
BC lake · 2 km² · Victoria watershed
Elk Lake
Its median summer Secchi depth over 2015–2025 was 4.8 m, from 11 readings. Murkier than 52% of the 62 BC lakes with enough recent readings.
The readings
356 summer readings from open water on record from 1985 to 2026, at 4 sampling sites.
| Median since 2012 | Compared with BC lakes | |
|---|---|---|
| Secchi depth | 4.8 m 2015–2025, 11 readings | Murkier than 52% of the 62 BC lakes with enough recent readings. |
| Total phosphorus | 12 µg/L 2014–2026, 75 readings | Higher than 62% of the 95 BC lakes with enough recent readings. |
| Chlorophyll a | 8.3 µg/L 2014–2026, 93 readings | Higher than 89% of the 83 BC lakes with enough recent readings. |
Median each year (bigger dot, more readings)Middle half of BC lakesBC median
Source: BC Environmental Monitoring Data System (EnMoDS) results, Environmental Monitoring and Analysis Branch, Province of BC, records to September 19, 2026 (Open Government Licence – British Columbia); lake outlines and names: Freshwater Atlas lakes, Province of BC (Open Government Licence – British Columbia). Summaries by PlaceDossier.
Nutrient level Inferred
The measures disagree: clarity reads oligotrophic, phosphorus reads oligotrophic, algae reads eutrophic. That's common: clarity also depends on silt and colour, not just algae.
| Index | Class | |
|---|---|---|
| From secchi depth (4.8 m, 2015–2025) | 37 | oligotrophic |
| From total phosphorus (12 µg/L, 2014–2026) | 40 | oligotrophic |
| From chlorophyll a (8.3 µg/L, 2014–2026) | 51 | eutrophic |
Inferred by us, not a provincial classification. The index was built for summer readings from the middle of a lake; ours mix sites and months, so treat the class as a rough guide.
How we worked this out
Carlson's trophic state index (Carlson 1977, Limnology and Oceanography 22:361) turns each median into a score: 60 − 14.41 ln(Secchi m), 14.42 ln(phosphorus µg/L) + 4.15, 9.81 ln(chlorophyll µg/L) + 30.6. Classes after Carlson and Simpson (1996): under 40 oligotrophic, 40 to 50 mesotrophic, 50 to 70 eutrophic, 70 and over hypereutrophic.
Year by year
| Year | Secchi depth | Total phosphorus | Chlorophyll a |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | – | 15 µg/L (2) | 8.2 µg/L (2) |
| 2025 | 3.0 m (1) | 23 µg/L (13) | 17 µg/L (23) |
| 2024 | 3.7 m (1) | 29 µg/L (12) | 12 µg/L (40) |
| 2023 | 4.8 m (1) | 13 µg/L (1) | 4.3 µg/L (1) |
| 2022 | 4.8 m (1) | 10 µg/L (8) | 2.9 µg/L (6) |
| 2021 | 4.8 m (1) | 4.8 µg/L (11) | 3.3 µg/L (7) |
| 2020 | 4.9 m (1) | 9.6 µg/L (7) | 2.5 µg/L (1) |
| 2019 | 4.1 m (1) | 30 µg/L (9) | 3.5 µg/L (1) |
| 2018 | 4.7 m (1) | 5.6 µg/L (1) | 2.6 µg/L (1) |
| 2017 | 5.5 m (1) | 7.6 µg/L (1) | 1.8 µg/L (1) |
| 2016 | 5.8 m (1) | 5.7 µg/L (1) | 3.0 µg/L (1) |
| 2015 | 4.5 m (1) | 5.7 µg/L (3) | 1.6 µg/L (3) |
| 2014 | – | 10 µg/L (6) | 2.5 µg/L (6) |
| 2007 | 3.5 m (5) | 22 µg/L (2) | 3.1 µg/L (14) |
| 2005 | 6.0 m (1) | 7.0 µg/L (1) | 3.6 µg/L (1) |
| 2000 | – | 100 µg/L (9) | – |
| 1995 | 5.2 m (4) | – | 2.1 µg/L (12) |
| 1994 | 7.2 m (4) | – | 2.5 µg/L (10) |
| 1993 | 5.8 m (5) | – | 3.6 µg/L (25) |
| 1988 | – | 23 µg/L (74) | 1.5 µg/L (6) |
| 1987 | – | 13 µg/L (3) | – |
| 1985 | – | 14 µg/L (1) | – |
Median of each year's May to October readings; the number of readings is in brackets.
Source: BC Environmental Monitoring Data System (EnMoDS) results, Environmental Monitoring and Analysis Branch, Province of BC, records to September 19, 2026 (Open Government Licence – British Columbia); lake outlines and names: Freshwater Atlas lakes, Province of BC (Open Government Licence – British Columbia). Summaries by PlaceDossier.
Where it was sampled
- 1100844 Centre 301 readings
- E207469 0.5 km north of south boat launch 25 readings
- E207468 0.5 km west of Rowing boat house 23 readings
- 0130261 Deep station 7 readings
Left out: 2 readings at 1 site whose names put them away from the open lake
- E209261 Hamsterly Beach 2 readings; on the shore
Site names are tidied from the provincial records; the IDs find each site's full record there.
What this record doesn't cover
Algae bloom reports and invasive mussel checks aren't in this record: the province's Algae Watch map and mussel monitoring aren't published as open data. For swimming, check the regional health authority's beach advisories; for blooms and mussels, ask the province's regional environment office or the local lake association.
Readings are from the province's monitoring database: samples taken by provincial staff, volunteer lake monitors, and companies and local governments that sample under their permits. We keep the ice-free season (May to October), and for phosphorus and chlorophyll only samples from the top 5 m. We leave out sites whose names put them at a water intake, a sewage or industrial outfall, a mine, or a permit holder's works or the water receiving its discharge, or on the shore (a beach, dock or boat launch): water there can differ a lot from the open lake. Each year's figure is the median of that year's readings. We give a lake a summary, a comparison with other lakes and a nutrient level only when it has at least 10 summer readings from open water, spread over at least 3 different years, since 2012; the summary is the median of those readings. With fewer, or only older ones, we show the readings and say there are too few to judge the lake. A reading below the lab's detection limit counts at that limit. One site can be a bay rather than the open lake, so a lake's figures can differ from one end to the other.
Water quality changes with the season, the weather and the part of the lake. These are past readings, not a test of the water today: before you buy, ask the local government and the lake association what's known, and test a drinking-water intake yourself.