PlaceDossier / BC places / Lakes

BC lake · 14.1 ha · Campbell River watershed

Unnamed lake in the Campbell River watershed

Its median summer total phosphorus over 2016–2025 was 4.6 µg/L, from 65 readings. Lower than 79% of the 269 BC lakes with at least 5 readings (lower is clearer).

The readings

156 summer readings on record from 1999 to 2025, at 2 sampling sites.

Median, latest 10 sampled yearsCompared with BC lakes
Total phosphorus4.6 µg/L
2016–2025, 65 readings		Lower than 79% of the 269 BC lakes with at least 5 readings (lower is clearer).
Chlorophyll a0.6 µg/L
2017–2025, 10 readings		Lower than 92% 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
31030100 200020102020 1999: median 100 µg/L from 3 readings2000: median 55 µg/L from 4 readings2002: median 7.0 µg/L from 6 readings2003: median 5.0 µg/L from 4 readings2004: median 6.0 µg/L from 8 readings2006: median 7.0 µg/L from 5 readings2007: median 5.0 µg/L from 5 readings2010: median 5.5 µg/L from 6 readings2011: median 5.0 µg/L from 1 reading2012: median 5.0 µg/L from 2 readings2013: median 5.1 µg/L from 6 readings2014: median 4.8 µg/L from 14 readings2015: median 4.6 µg/L from 5 readings2016: median 6.6 µg/L from 3 readings2017: median 5.6 µg/L from 10 readings2018: median 4.5 µg/L from 21 readings2020: median 4.8 µg/L from 5 readings2021: median 4.5 µg/L from 7 readings2022: median 3.4 µg/L from 6 readings2023: median 3.0 µg/L from 1 reading2024: median 5.3 µg/L from 7 readings2025: median 5.0 µg/L from 5 readingsµg/L
Chlorophyll a the green pigment in algae: a direct measure of how much is growing
13 200020102020 2013: median 1.3 µg/L from 9 readings2014: median 1.7 µg/L from 2 readings2015: median 1.0 µg/L from 1 reading2017: median 0.8 µg/L from 2 readings2018: median 0.7 µg/L from 2 readings2021: median 0.5 µg/L from 1 reading2022: median 0.6 µg/L from 1 reading2023: median 0.5 µg/L from 1 reading2024: median 0.7 µg/L from 2 readings2025: median 0.6 µg/L from 1 readingµg/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 oligotrophic (few nutrients, little algae, usually clear).

IndexClass
From total phosphorus (4.6 µg/L, 2016–2025)26oligotrophic
From chlorophyll a (0.6 µg/L, 2017–2025)25oligotrophic

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

YearTotal phosphorusChlorophyll a
20255.0 µg/L (5)0.6 µg/L (1)
20245.3 µg/L (7)0.7 µg/L (2)
20233.0 µg/L (1)0.5 µg/L (1)
20223.4 µg/L (6)0.6 µg/L (1)
20214.5 µg/L (7)0.5 µg/L (1)
20204.8 µg/L (5)–
20184.5 µg/L (21)0.7 µg/L (2)
20175.6 µg/L (10)0.8 µg/L (2)
20166.6 µg/L (3)–
20154.6 µg/L (5)1.0 µg/L (1)
20144.8 µg/L (14)1.7 µg/L (2)
20135.1 µg/L (6)1.3 µg/L (9)
20125.0 µg/L (2)–
20115.0 µg/L (1)–
20105.5 µg/L (6)–
20075.0 µg/L (5)–
20067.0 µg/L (5)–
20046.0 µg/L (8)–
20035.0 µg/L (4)–
20027.0 µg/L (6)–
200055 µg/L (4)–
1999100 µg/L (3)–

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

  • E217018 NO NAME LAKE - MID LAKE (NNLD) PE-7008 QUINSAM COAL LAKE SITE 3 160 readings
  • E217017 NO NAME LAKE OUTLET (NNO) (PE 7008) QUINSAM COAL LAKE SITE 2 119 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.