Natural short‐circuiting of inflow to outflow through Silver Lake, New York

The proximity of the major inlet to the outlet of Silver Lake, New York, permits some short‐circuiting of the incoming flow. This feature, unusual to document in lakes, is verified with data which show times when the inlet and outlet waters resemble each other more than they do the lake. Rhodamine dyes and some natural inorganic chemical variables have been used as tracers to illustrate this phenomenon. The case for short‐circuiting appears less clear during some low inflows and is complicated by water level manipulation at a small dam on the outlet and withdrawal of water from the lake by communities. The significance of short‐circuiting for this eutrophic/mesotrophic lake is that some incoming nutrients from the rich agricultural watershed bypass the lake. Determinations of retention time and nutrient loading for such lakes are more complex. The governance of trophic conditions in this and similar lakes, or in parts of some lakes, may be influenced more by such incomplete mixing than generally considered.