PlaceDossier / BC places / Lakes
BC lake · 1.0 ha · Revelstoke Lake watershed
Unnamed lake in the Revelstoke Lake watershed
Its median summer total phosphorus over 2020–2025 was 50 µg/L, from 13 readings. Higher than 91% of the 269 BC lakes with at least 5 readings.
The readings
13 summer readings on record from 2020 to 2025, at 1 sampling site.
| Median, latest 10 sampled years | Compared with BC lakes | |
|---|---|---|
| Total phosphorus | 50 µg/L 2020–2025, 13 readings | Higher than 91% of the 269 BC lakes with at least 5 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
Reads as eutrophic (rich in nutrients, with more algae and weed growth).
| Index | Class | |
|---|---|---|
| From total phosphorus (50 µg/L, 2020–2025) | 61 | eutrophic |
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 |
|---|---|
| 2025 | 50 µg/L (2) |
| 2024 | 50 µg/L (2) |
| 2023 | 50 µg/L (3) |
| 2022 | 50 µg/L (2) |
| 2021 | 50 µg/L (2) |
| 2020 | 50 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
- E249058 COLUMBIA SHUSWAP REGIONAL DISTRICT (15821) SURFACE WATER SW-15 18 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.