Jamesville Reservoir is part of a New York statewide program that monitors the water quality of many lakes and reservoirs.
This page will feature reports of the scientific analyses of the water quality and other interesting things about the reservoir
Harmful algal blooms
State of the reservoir
Reports of the water quality of the reservoir are provided by NY DEC as part of the CSLAP monitoring system. JRPA is an active member of the monitoring system and every two weeks one of our members collects water samples and has them analyzed by a water quality laboratory.
2023 CSLAP review of the state of the reservoir
2022 CSLAP review of the state of the reservoir
2021 CSLAP review of the state of the reservoir
2020 CSLAP review of the state of the reservoir
2019 CSLAP review of the state of the reservoir
Harmful algal blooms are an issue and could be related to the increased input of nitrogen (N) and phosphorous (P ) from lawns and farms
Low levels of pesticides detected in the reservoir
Low levels of certain pesticides or more broadly CECs (chemicals of emerging concern) were detected in the reservoir in 2019 as part of a study by Syracuse University, Upstate Freshwater Institute, and SUNY-ESF.
The presence of harmful algal blooms impacted the swimming at the reservoir during 2018
Fish
The main gamefish in the reservoir are largemouth and smallmouth bass, chain pickerel, tiger musky and walleye. White perch, pumpkinseed sunfish, bluegill, black crappie, and yellow perch are also found in the reservoir.
Fish Survey Report (2015) from NY DEC
Walleye (6,600 pond fingerlings) are stocked every other year in Jamesville Reservoir. Surplus were available in 2015, resulting in 7,800 stocked this year. Night-time boat electrofishing was conducted on September 30, 2015 to assess the current status of the walleye population in the reservoir as well as to attempt to assess the tiger muskellunge population.
The entire perimeter of the lake was sampled, and 67 walleye were collected, along with 1 tiger muskellunge. The catch rate of walleye was 40.6 fish per hour, a substantial improvement over the 2013 survey at 13.7 fish per hour, and 2011 at 4.7 fish per hour. Walleyes ranged in size from 7.1 to 24.4 inches and ranged in age from 0 to 9+ years. Sixty-one of the captured walleye were age 0, presumably from the spring 2015 stocking as very little natural reproduction occurs in this lake. Tiger muskellunge captured was fairly small, 10 inches, most likely representative of the approximately 1,700 tiger muskellunge stocked in late September 2015 by the DEC.
Due to summer drought conditions, and a permitted water withdrawal, the lake level dropped throughout the summer and was about 2 feet below full pool at the time of tiger musky stocking (September 22, 2015). Rain brought the lake level back up to full pool within 48 hours of the survey. No management changes are proposed as a result of this survey.
Caring for the reservoir
Protecting the water quality of the reservoir is important for everyone, whether you use the reservoir for fishing, swimming, boating, or just viewing.
