BC lake · 18 km² · South Thompson River watershed

Little Shuswap Lake

Its median summer Secchi depth over 2012–2014 was 7.1 m, from 15 readings. Clearer than 79% of the 62 BC lakes with enough recent readings. It lies in Thompson-Nicola, Electoral Area P (Rivers and the Peaks) (55%), Thompson-Nicola, Electoral Area L (Grasslands) (42%).

The readings

61 summer readings from open water on record from 2011 to 2014, at 1 sampling site.

	Median since 2012	Compared with BC lakes
Secchi depth	7.1 m 2012–2014, 15 readings	Clearer than 79% of the 62 BC lakes with enough recent readings.
Total phosphorus	4.7 µg/L 2012–2014, 16 readings	Lower than 70% of the 95 BC lakes with enough recent readings (lower is clearer).
Chlorophyll a	1.7 µg/L 2012–2014, 15 readings	Lower than 57% of the 83 BC lakes with enough recent readings (lower is clearer).

Secchi depth how deep a black-and-white disc stays visible: deeper means clearer water

Total phosphorus the nutrient that most often feeds algae in BC lakes

Chlorophyll a the green pigment in algae: a direct measure of how much is growing

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

Reads as oligotrophic (few nutrients, little algae, usually clear).

	Index	Class
From secchi depth (7.1 m, 2012–2014)	32	oligotrophic
From total phosphorus (4.7 µg/L, 2012–2014)	26	oligotrophic
From chlorophyll a (1.7 µg/L, 2012–2014)	36	oligotrophic

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
2014	7.1 m (5)	3.8 µg/L (5)	1.9 µg/L (5)
2013	6.4 m (4)	4.4 µg/L (4)	1.1 µg/L (4)
2012	6.2 m (6)	5.5 µg/L (7)	1.8 µg/L (6)
2011	6.3 m (5)	5.0 µg/L (5)	2.1 µg/L (5)

Median of each year's May to October readings; the number of readings is in brackets.

Where it was sampled

E285853 Deep 61 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 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.