PlaceDossier / BC places / Lakes
BC lake · 76.1 ha · Upper Shuswap watershed
Gardom Lake
Its median summer total phosphorus over 2012–2017 was 8.6 µg/L, from 23 readings. Lower than 54% of the 100 BC lakes with enough recent readings (lower is clearer).
The readings
156 summer readings from open water on record from 1990 to 2017, at 3 sampling sites.
| Median since 2012 | Compared with BC lakes | |
|---|---|---|
| Secchi depth | Too few readings to judge 12 readings since 2012, in 2 years | Too few readings to compare (12 readings since 2012, in 2 years). |
| Total phosphorus | 8.6 µg/L 2012–2017, 23 readings | Lower than 54% of the 100 BC lakes with enough recent readings (lower is clearer). |
| Chlorophyll a | 5.2 µg/L 2012–2017, 21 readings | Higher than 82% 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: phosphorus reads oligotrophic, algae reads mesotrophic. That's common: clarity also depends on silt and colour, not just algae.
| Index | Class | |
|---|---|---|
| From total phosphorus (8.6 µg/L, 2012–2017) | 35 | oligotrophic |
| From chlorophyll a (5.2 µg/L, 2012–2017) | 47 | mesotrophic |
Left out for too few recent readings (we need at least 10 summer readings from open water, spread over at least 3 different years, since 2012): secchi depth (12 readings since 2012, in 2 years).
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2017 | 6.2 m (5) | 8.4 µg/L (5) | 4.8 µg/L (4) |
| 2016 | 7.4 m (7) | 8.0 µg/L (7) | 7.0 µg/L (6) |
| 2012 | – | 8.7 µg/L (11) | 4.2 µg/L (11) |
| 2011 | 6.8 m (8) | 9.0 µg/L (9) | 6.5 µg/L (8) |
| 2010 | 5.3 m (3) | 8.0 µg/L (14) | 4.1 µg/L (8) |
| 2009 | 4.8 m (1) | 16 µg/L (2) | 5.0 µg/L (1) |
| 2008 | – | 18 µg/L (2) | – |
| 2004 | 3.9 m (9) | 8.5 µg/L (14) | 1.9 µg/L (1) |
| 2002 | – | 17 µg/L (2) | – |
| 2001 | – | 58 µg/L (4) | – |
| 2000 | – | 60 µg/L (2) | – |
| 1999 | – | 12 µg/L (1) | – |
| 1991 | 8.5 m (1) | 8.0 µg/L (2) | 1.9 µg/L (2) |
| 1990 | 8.4 m (2) | 11 µg/L (2) | 4.1 µg/L (2) |
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
- E208107 North east basin 146 readings
- E208106 Between Islands - - near Grindrod 7 readings
- E236626 South basin off Turtle Island 3 readings
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 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.