Water that enters Otsego Lake stays in the lake for around 3 years before it leaves the lake, which is called water residence time. While the exact breakdown for Otsego Lake is not yet known, most of the water leaves the lake through Clinton Dam into the Susquehanna River. Evaportranspiration (water evaporation into the air plus loss through plants) and loss to groundwater certainly exist but have not been measured as of 2017. Substances that dissolved in lake water eventually leave the lake with the flow. Certain compounds also can serve as nutrients for organisms in the lake. However, soil particles such as clay, silt, and sand, behave differently and tend to stay within the lake longer than the water residence time. This is due to water velocity slowing as the streams reach the lake, therefore losing the power to flush particles across the lake and downstream. This over long periods of time can fill the lake basin in, which increases water levels. Excessive particle loading into a lake can cause short term problems as well. For example, lake trout in the lake were studied and found that they were not using their normal spawning beds, which had been buried in silt.