The Lacamas Watershed Council (LWC) partners with the City of Camas to make sure water quality information is available to the public. The data on this page is collected by the City of Camas and shared monthly.

The city monitors the same water quality indicators as the LWC, but also collects samples at different depths. This gives us a better understanding of the lakes as you go deeper under the surface. Water depth is the primary focus of this page.

Important aquatic plants, animals, and microorganisms all need oxygen dissolved in the water to survive. For example, rainbow trout need a dissolved oxygen level above 8 parts per million (ppm) to survive. When toxic algae bloom and eventually die, oxygen is consumed to decompose their remnants. This process depletes oxygen from the water and creates an inhospitable environment for fish and beneficial microorganisms that regulate toxic algae levels.

On average, Lacamas, Round, and Fallen Leaf lakes’ dissolved oxygen levels are inhospitable to fish below 5 meters. In the summer, when algae blooms are common, the water is inhospitable to fish at 3.5 meters, and aerobic microorganisms can't survive below 5.5 meters. At around the 10-meter mark, there is no dissolved oxygen.

Toxic algae can raise the lake water’s pH above 7, making it alkaline. This poses health concerns for aquatic plants, animals, and microorganisms because they need water that is relatively pH neutral. The graphs below show that pH levels are highest at the surface of the water from June to October. The high surface pH in the warmer months generally indicates that toxic algae are present throughout the summer.