• Pipe Lake has very clear water, with low nutrient concentrations and low algal growth.
• Pipe Lake had some of the deepest Secchi depths in the Lake Stewardship Program. Secchi depths have been getting even deeper over time.
• Long-term trends suggest that water quality in Pipe Lake has been improving over time, with decreasing nitrogen concentrations and deeper Secchi depths. The trend of deeper Secchi depths (clearer water) in Pipe Lake is especially noticeable. On average, Secchi depths in recent years have been about 1.5 m deeper than they were in the mid-1990s when monitoring began.
• No algal blooms were reported for toxin testing in 2023.
This bathymetric map shows contour lines of equal depth, similar to a topographic map would for mountains and valleys. The red 'X' marks the location where water quality samples are taken.
This map shows the area of the watershed relative to the area of the lake. Generally speaking, the larger a watershed is relative to a lake, the greater the influence land use practices on lake water quality.
The average of these three TSI indicators during the growing season can be used
to place lakes in one of three broad categories:
<40 = oligotrophic (low productivity),
40 to 50 = mesotrophic (moderate productivity)
>50 = eutrophic (highly productive).