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Get to know Owasco Lake and its watershed.
WATERSHED FACTS
​Watershed Size: ​208 square miles
Portions of the watershed can be found in Cayuga (170 square miles), Tompkins (33 square miles), and Onondaga (5 square miles) Counties.
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Length: 10.7 miles
Owasco Lake has the largest lake to watershed ratio (1:20) of all the Finger Lakes. In other words, for every one square mile of lake, there are 20 square miles of land in the watershed. This means that Owasco Lake's water quality is greatly impacted by activities occurring on the land.
​Retention Time: 3 to 4 years
Hydraulic retention is the amount of time the water will remain in the lake before being replaced. Owasco Lake has a short retention time compared to many of the other Finger Lakes. This is because it is influenced by the size of the watershed and the amount of water coming from streams, overland flow, and groundwater sources.
Other Facts
Average Width: 1.2 miles
Average Depth: 96 feet
Maximum Depth: 177 feet
Capacity: 260 billion gallons
Shoreline: 25 miles
​Maintained Roads: 480 miles
​Owasco Lake is the 6th largest Finger Lake with a surface area of 6665 acres.
