What is the cleanest lake in North Carolina?

Lake Waccamaw in Columbus County has the cleanest nutrient and algae readings in North Carolina.

How are these rankings calculated?

Nutrients and algae, total phosphorus, nitrogen, chlorophyll-a and turbidity, are read against EPA National Lakes Assessment 2022 condition classes for that lake’s ecoregion. Water clarity (Secchi depth) is measured and shown separately. Lakes without enough recent samples are listed without a condition class rather than ranked low. Source data comes from the EPA Water Quality Portal.

Cleanest Lakes in North Carolina

Lake Waccamaw in Columbus County leads the rankings on measured clarity and nutrients. Below are the top 47 cleanest monitored lakes in North Carolina, ranked on EPA nutrient and algae measurements.

Ranked List

#	Lake	County	Clarity	Phosphorus	Algae
1	Lake Waccamaw	Columbus	-	30 µg/L	3.6 µg/L
2	Merchants Millpond	Gates	1.6 ft	270 µg/L	8.2 µg/L
3	Catawba Riv Lake	Mecklenburg	6.6 ft	20 µg/L	2.3 µg/L
4	Belews Lake	Stokes	11.6 ft	30 µg/L	3.5 µg/L
5	Lake Ben Johnson	Orange	3.3 ft	50 µg/L	6.5 µg/L
6	Corporation Lake	Orange	2.2 ft	50 µg/L	11 µg/L
7	Phelps Lake	Washington	3.6 ft	50 µg/L	6.2 µg/L
8	West Fk Eno R Reservoir	Orange	3.8 ft	35.5 µg/L	14.9 µg/L
9	Cane Creek Reservoir	Orange	3.6 ft	30 µg/L	19.5 µg/L
10	B Everett Jordan Lake	Chatham	1.8 ft	117 µg/L	22.9 µg/L
11	Catawba Creek Lake	Gaston	3.6 ft	35 µg/L	18.5 µg/L
12	S Fork Catawba Riv Lake	Gaston	3.9 ft	40 µg/L	13 µg/L
13	Kerr Scott Reservoir	Wilkes	4.9 ft	30 µg/L	17 µg/L
14	Farmer Lake	Caswell	2.1 ft	30 µg/L	27 µg/L
15	Wiggins Mill Reservoir	Wilson	2.6 ft	60 µg/L	29 µg/L
16	Lake Butner	Granville	5.4 ft	40 µg/L	11 µg/L
17	Kings Mountain Reservoir	Cleveland	6.9 ft	50 µg/L	11 µg/L
18	Lake Adger	Polk	3.9 ft	50 µg/L	7.2 µg/L
19	Lake Johnson	Wake	3 ft	40 µg/L	23 µg/L
20	West Fork Eno River Reservoir	Orange	3.8 ft	50 µg/L	30 µg/L
21	Lake Raleigh	Wake	2.5 ft	45 µg/L	29.5 µg/L
22	Toisnot Reservoir	Wilson	2.3 ft	90 µg/L	18 µg/L
23	Back Creek Lake	Randolph	-	40 µg/L	27 µg/L
24	University Lake	Orange	2.3 ft	40 µg/L	33.3 µg/L
25	B E Jordan Lake	Chatham	2.6 ft	40.5 µg/L	35.5 µg/L
26	Little River Reservoir	Durham	3.1 ft	50 µg/L	31 µg/L
27	Jordan Lake	Chatham	2.2 ft	50 µg/L	46 µg/L
28	Lake Michie	Durham	2.6 ft	50 µg/L	36 µg/L
29	Harris Lake	Wake	2.5 ft	90 µg/L	43 µg/L
30	Falls of the Neuse Reservoir	Wake	2.2 ft	40 µg/L	36 µg/L
31	Lake Roxboro	Caswell	3 ft	30 µg/L	33 µg/L
32	Lake Wheeler	Wake	2.8 ft	50 µg/L	35 µg/L
33	Lake Crabtree	Wake	1.1 ft	85 µg/L	35 µg/L
34	Buckhorn Reservoir	Wilson	2.3 ft	50 µg/L	31 µg/L
35	Lake Wilson	Wilson	2.1 ft	100 µg/L	43.5 µg/L
36	Lake Rogers	Granville	1.4 ft	105 µg/L	60.5 µg/L
37	Sycamore Lake	Wake	2 ft	50 µg/L	32 µg/L
38	Lake Orange	Orange	2.9 ft	50 µg/L	38 µg/L
39	Apex Reservoir	Wake	1.8 ft	50 µg/L	35.5 µg/L
40	Big Lake	Wake	2.3 ft	50 µg/L	37 µg/L
41	Bass Lake	Wake	2.5 ft	50 µg/L	31 µg/L
42	Beaverdam Lake	Wake	2.5 ft	45 µg/L	33 µg/L
43	Lake Benson	Wake	2.3 ft	50 µg/L	38 µg/L
44	Reedy Creek Lake	Wake	2 ft	65 µg/L	32.5 µg/L
45	Town Creek Lake	Rowan	-	60 µg/L	36 µg/L
46	Robeson Creek Lake	Chatham	-	60 µg/L	31 µg/L
47	Lake Reese	Randolph	-	40 µg/L	31 µg/L

Ranked List

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