What is the cleanest lake in Virginia?

Mouth of Witcher Cr. Lake in Bedford County has the cleanest nutrient and algae readings in Virginia, with 11.2 feet of measured water clarity.

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 Virginia

Mouth of Witcher Cr. Lake in Bedford County leads the rankings on measured clarity and nutrients and 11.2 ft of clarity. Below are the top 50 cleanest monitored lakes in Virginia, ranked on EPA nutrient and algae measurements.

Ranked List

#	Lake	County	Clarity	Phosphorus	Algae
1	Mouth of Witcher Cr. Lake	Bedford	11.2 ft	10 µg/L	1.9 µg/L
2	Lower Blackwater River Lake	Franklin	12.1 ft	10 µg/L	2.3 µg/L
3	Dam Lake	Franklin	12.1 ft	10 µg/L	1.7 µg/L
4	Dam Lake	Pittsylvania	10.5 ft	10 µg/L	2 µg/L
5	Dam Lake	Alleghany	12.1 ft	10 µg/L	1.7 µg/L
6	Union Bridge Lake	Patrick	8.2 ft	10 µg/L	2.7 µg/L
7	Hidden Valley Lake	Washington	9.7 ft	10 µg/L	3.1 µg/L
8	Hunting Run Reservior Lake	Spotsylvania	8.2 ft	10 µg/L	2.2 µg/L
9	Goose Point Lake	Franklin	10.2 ft	10 µg/L	1.5 µg/L
10	Mouth Craddock Cr. Lake	Bedford	10.2 ft	10 µg/L	1.6 µg/L
11	Cool Branch Lake	Franklin	10.5 ft	10 µg/L	2.1 µg/L
12	Laurel Bed Lake	Russell	9.8 ft	10 µg/L	3.8 µg/L
13	Confl. Blackwater River Lake	Bedford	9.8 ft	10 µg/L	2 µg/L
14	Mouth of Bull Run Lake	Franklin	10.2 ft	10 µg/L	2.1 µg/L
15	Carvins Cove Reservoir	Botetourt	11.5 ft	10 µg/L	1.2 µg/L
16	Lee Hall Reservoir	Newport News city	4.8 ft	30 µg/L	5.8 µg/L
17	Mouth Big Lick Cr. Lake	Alleghany	12.5 ft	10 µg/L	1.7 µg/L
18	Motts Run Reservoir	Spotsylvania	10.2 ft	10 µg/L	2.3 µg/L
19	Wise Lake	Wise	10.5 ft	10 µg/L	2.2 µg/L
20	Lake Robertson	Rockbridge	13.9 ft	10 µg/L	1.9 µg/L
21	West Arm Lake	Pulaski	9.2 ft	10 µg/L	2.4 µg/L
22	Smith Lake	Stafford	8.2 ft	10 µg/L	2.3 µg/L
23	Lake Keokee	Lee	9.7 ft	10 µg/L	2.6 µg/L
24	Leesville Lakea-Topb-Middlec-Bot	Pittsylvania	5.2 ft	10 µg/L	4 µg/L
25	Martinsville Reservoir	Henry	8.5 ft	10 µg/L	2.1 µg/L
26	Talbott Reservoir	Patrick	9.8 ft	10 µg/L	3.2 µg/L
27	Goose Creek Reservoir	Loudoun	2.1 ft	65 µg/L	2.1 µg/L
28	Pedlar River Reservoir	Amherst	7.5 ft	10 µg/L	5.5 µg/L
29	Beaverdam Creek Reservoir	Loudoun	5.4 ft	10 µg/L	4 µg/L
30	Near Spillway Lake Mooney	Stafford	9.2 ft	10 µg/L	1.4 µg/L
31	Coles Run Reservoir	Augusta	25.8 ft	5 µg/L	0.5 µg/L
32	Lake Witten	Tazewell	11.3 ft	10 µg/L	2.1 µg/L
33	Horseshoe Point Lake	Patrick	9.8 ft	10 µg/L	1.7 µg/L
34	Diascund Reservoir Off Dam	New Kent	3 ft	30 µg/L	11.5 µg/L
35	Hardy Ford Lake	Franklin	3 ft	40 µg/L	5.5 µg/L
36	Lake Drummond	Chesapeake city	0.7 ft	60 µg/L	7 µg/L
37	Mcveigh Ford Lake	Franklin	3.9 ft	30 µg/L	0.6 µg/L
38	Lake Gaston	Mecklenburg	4.3 ft	20 µg/L	3.9 µg/L
39	Near Dam Lake	Albemarle	6.6 ft	20 µg/L	7.6 µg/L
40	Middle Blackwater River Lake	Franklin	5.9 ft	20 µg/L	5.6 µg/L
41	Dam Lake	Pulaski	8.5 ft	20 µg/L	6.4 µg/L
42	Hales Ford Lake	Franklin	4.9 ft	20 µg/L	8.8 µg/L
43	Confl. Beaverdam Cr. Lake	Bedford	4.3 ft	20 µg/L	12.5 µg/L
44	Peak Creek Lake	Pulaski	5.6 ft	20 µg/L	4.6 µg/L
45	State Park Lake	Pulaski	7.5 ft	20 µg/L	7.9 µg/L
46	Mouth Peak Cr. Lake	Pulaski	6.9 ft	20 µg/L	6.5 µg/L
47	Confl. Indian Cr. Lake	Franklin	4.6 ft	20 µg/L	11.2 µg/L
48	Gills Creek Lake	Franklin	6.2 ft	20 µg/L	4.6 µg/L
49	Speights Run	Suffolk city	3.1 ft	40 µg/L	25.8 µg/L
50	Dublin Water Works Lake	Pulaski	7.2 ft	10 µg/L	7.6 µg/L

Ranked List

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