BC lake · 10.3 ha · Squamish watershed

Nita Lake

Its median summer total phosphorus over 2007–2009 was 3.0 µg/L, from 11 readings. Lower than 92% of the 269 BC lakes with at least 5 readings (lower is clearer).

The readings

20 summer readings on record from 2007 to 2009, at 1 sampling site.

	Median, latest 10 sampled years	Compared with BC lakes
Total phosphorus	3.0 µg/L 2007–2009, 11 readings	Lower than 92% of the 269 BC lakes with at least 5 readings (lower is clearer).
Chlorophyll a	0.8 µg/L 2007–2009, 9 readings	Lower than 83% of the 156 BC lakes with at least 5 readings (lower is clearer).

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 total phosphorus (3.0 µg/L, 2007–2009)	20	oligotrophic
From chlorophyll a (0.8 µg/L, 2007–2009)	28	oligotrophic

Inferred by us, not a provincial classification. 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. 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.

Year by year

Year	Total phosphorus	Chlorophyll a
2009	3.0 µg/L (3)	1.1 µg/L (2)
2008	5.0 µg/L (5)	0.8 µg/L (5)
2007	2.0 µg/L (3)	0.8 µg/L (2)

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

Where it was sampled

E267522 NITA LAKE; SOUTH DEEP STATION 21 readings

Site names and IDs are as recorded in the provincial database; 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. Each year's figure is the median of that year's readings; the summary is the median of every reading in the lake's latest 10 sampled years. 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.