PlaceDossier / BC places / Lakes

BC lake · 4 km² · Tabor River watershed

Tabor Lake

Its median summer Secchi depth over 2017–2025 was 2.2 m, from 59 readings. Murkier than 85% of the 62 BC lakes with enough recent readings.

The readings

1,120 summer readings from open water on record from 1973 to 2026, at 3 sampling sites.

Median since 2012Compared with BC lakes
Secchi depth2.2 m
2017–2025, 59 readings		Murkier than 85% of the 62 BC lakes with enough recent readings.
Total phosphorus21 µg/L
2012–2026, 269 readings		Higher than 76% of the 100 BC lakes with enough recent readings.
Chlorophyll a6.2 µg/L
2012–2026, 127 readings		Higher than 85% of the 83 BC lakes with enough recent readings.
Secchi depth how deep a black-and-white disc stays visible: deeper means clearer water
0246 19801990200020102020 1973: median 4.0 m from 1 reading1974: median 1.5 m from 3 readings2017: median 2.8 m from 2 readings2018: median 1.6 m from 2 readings2019: median 1.3 m from 2 readings2020: median 2.0 m from 1 reading2021: median 1.8 m from 2 readings2022: median 1.9 m from 13 readings2023: median 2.7 m from 13 readings2024: median 3.0 m from 12 readings2025: median 2.5 m from 12 readingsm
Total phosphorus the nutrient that most often feeds algae in BC lakes
1030 19801990200020102020 1973: median 18 µg/L from 4 readings1974: median 28 µg/L from 12 readings1977: median 74 µg/L from 4 readings1985: median 21 µg/L from 5 readings1986: median 35 µg/L from 5 readings1987: median 27 µg/L from 3 readings1989: median 23 µg/L from 3 readings1990: median 21 µg/L from 33 readings1991: median 16 µg/L from 32 readings1992: median 16 µg/L from 32 readings1994: median 24 µg/L from 69 readings1995: median 16 µg/L from 34 readings1996: median 34 µg/L from 65 readings1997: median 31 µg/L from 49 readings1998: median 29 µg/L from 26 readings1999: median 25 µg/L from 32 readings2000: median 29 µg/L from 22 readings2001: median 35 µg/L from 32 readings2002: median 26 µg/L from 16 readings2003: median 26 µg/L from 16 readings2004: median 17 µg/L from 14 readings2005: median 12 µg/L from 13 readings2006: median 14 µg/L from 19 readings2007: median 29 µg/L from 17 readings2008: median 32 µg/L from 14 readings2009: median 10 µg/L from 17 readings2010: median 9.0 µg/L from 17 readings2011: median 9.0 µg/L from 13 readings2012: median 14 µg/L from 19 readings2013: median 25 µg/L from 9 readings2014: median 28 µg/L from 19 readings2015: median 20 µg/L from 20 readings2016: median 11 µg/L from 11 readings2017: median 18 µg/L from 14 readings2018: median 23 µg/L from 18 readings2019: median 24 µg/L from 21 readings2020: median 26 µg/L from 1 reading2021: median 23 µg/L from 21 readings2022: median 26 µg/L from 29 readings2023: median 25 µg/L from 24 readings2024: median 17 µg/L from 23 readings2025: median 27 µg/L from 23 readings2026: median 24 µg/L from 17 readingsµg/L
Chlorophyll a the green pigment in algae: a direct measure of how much is growing
1310 19801990200020102020 1974: median 10 µg/L from 19 readings1985: median 3.7 µg/L from 2 readings2002: median 6.0 µg/L from 8 readings2004: median 5.9 µg/L from 1 reading2006: median 0.7 µg/L from 1 reading2008: median 8.0 µg/L from 5 readings2009: median 2.9 µg/L from 1 reading2011: median 2.3 µg/L from 6 readings2012: median 2.8 µg/L from 8 readings2013: median 3.2 µg/L from 3 readings2014: median 7.6 µg/L from 4 readings2015: median 3.8 µg/L from 8 readings2016: median 3.0 µg/L from 5 readings2017: median 6.7 µg/L from 8 readings2018: median 6.4 µg/L from 11 readings2019: median 5.7 µg/L from 11 readings2020: median 22 µg/L from 1 reading2021: median 6.5 µg/L from 10 readings2022: median 15 µg/L from 13 readings2023: median 5.6 µg/L from 13 readings2024: median 3.9 µg/L from 12 readings2025: median 8.1 µg/L from 11 readings2026: median 7.7 µg/L from 9 readingsµg/L

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 mesotrophic (moderate nutrients and algae).

IndexClass
From secchi depth (2.2 m, 2017–2025)49mesotrophic
From total phosphorus (21 µg/L, 2012–2026)48mesotrophic
From chlorophyll a (6.2 µg/L, 2012–2026)48mesotrophic

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

YearSecchi depthTotal phosphorusChlorophyll a
2026–24 µg/L (17)7.7 µg/L (9)
20252.5 m (12)27 µg/L (23)8.1 µg/L (11)
20243.0 m (12)17 µg/L (23)3.9 µg/L (12)
20232.7 m (13)25 µg/L (24)5.6 µg/L (13)
20221.9 m (13)26 µg/L (29)15 µg/L (13)
20211.8 m (2)23 µg/L (21)6.5 µg/L (10)
20202.0 m (1)26 µg/L (1)22 µg/L (1)
20191.3 m (2)24 µg/L (21)5.7 µg/L (11)
20181.6 m (2)23 µg/L (18)6.4 µg/L (11)
20172.8 m (2)18 µg/L (14)6.7 µg/L (8)
2016–11 µg/L (11)3.0 µg/L (5)
2015–20 µg/L (20)3.8 µg/L (8)
2014–28 µg/L (19)7.6 µg/L (4)
2013–25 µg/L (9)3.2 µg/L (3)
2012–14 µg/L (19)2.8 µg/L (8)
2011–9.0 µg/L (13)2.3 µg/L (6)
2010–9.0 µg/L (17)–
2009–10 µg/L (17)2.9 µg/L (1)
2008–32 µg/L (14)8.0 µg/L (5)
2007–29 µg/L (17)–
2006–14 µg/L (19)0.7 µg/L (1)
2005–12 µg/L (13)–
2004–17 µg/L (14)5.9 µg/L (1)
2003–26 µg/L (16)–
2002–26 µg/L (16)6.0 µg/L (8)
2001–35 µg/L (32)–
2000–29 µg/L (22)–
1999–25 µg/L (32)–
1998–29 µg/L (26)–
1997–31 µg/L (49)–
1996–34 µg/L (65)–
1995–16 µg/L (34)–
1994–24 µg/L (69)–
1992–16 µg/L (32)–
1991–16 µg/L (32)–
1990–21 µg/L (33)–
1989–23 µg/L (3)–
1987–27 µg/L (3)–
1986–35 µg/L (5)–
1985–21 µg/L (5)3.7 µg/L (2)
1977–74 µg/L (4)–
19741.5 m (3)28 µg/L (12)10 µg/L (19)
19734.0 m (1)18 µg/L (4)–

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

  • 0400336 Deep station -In south Half of Lake 1,065 readings
  • E208768 North station 54 readings
  • E227184 Littoral site 1 reading

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.