What is the cleanest lake in Virginia?

Mouth of Witcher Cr. Lake in Bedford County is the highest-rated lake in Virginia with an EPA water quality grade of A and 11.2 feet of water clarity.

How are these rankings calculated?

Lakes are graded A through F on nutrients and algae — total phosphorus, nitrogen, chlorophyll-a, and turbidity — against EPA National Lakes Assessment 2022 condition classes for that lake’s ecoregion. Water clarity (Secchi depth) is measured and shown; it is not the letter. Lakes without enough recent samples are UNRATED, not given an F. Source data comes from the EPA Water Quality Portal.

Cleanest Lakes in Virginia

Mouth of Witcher Cr. Lake in Bedford County leads the rankings with a water quality grade of A and 11.2 ft of clarity. Below are the top 50 cleanest monitored lakes in Virginia, ranked by EPA water quality score.

Ranked List

#	Lake	County	Grade	Clarity	Phosphorus	Algae
1	Mouth of Witcher Cr. Lake	Bedford	A	11.2 ft	10 µg/L	1.9 µg/L
2	Lower Blackwater River Lake	Franklin	A	12.1 ft	10 µg/L	2.3 µg/L
3	Dam Lake	Franklin	A	12.1 ft	10 µg/L	1.7 µg/L
4	Dam Lake	Pittsylvania	A	10.5 ft	10 µg/L	2 µg/L
5	Dam Lake	Alleghany	A	12.1 ft	10 µg/L	1.7 µg/L
6	Sta B Lake	Mecklenburg	A	7.2 ft	10 µg/L	3.8 µg/L
7	Union Bridge Lake	Patrick	A	8.2 ft	10 µg/L	2.7 µg/L
8	Hidden Valley Lake	Washington	A	9.7 ft	10 µg/L	3.1 µg/L
9	Hunting Run Reservior Lake	Spotsylvania	A	8.2 ft	10 µg/L	2.2 µg/L
10	Goose Point Lake	Franklin	A	10.2 ft	10 µg/L	1.5 µg/L
11	Mouth Craddock Cr. Lake	Bedford	A	10.2 ft	10 µg/L	1.6 µg/L
12	Above Dam Lake	Albemarle	A	13.1 ft	10 µg/L	1.6 µg/L
13	Above Dam Lake	Pulaski	A	9.2 ft	10 µg/L	2.1 µg/L
14	Cool Branch Lake	Franklin	A	10.5 ft	10 µg/L	2.1 µg/L
15	Laurel Bed Lake	Russell	A	9.8 ft	10 µg/L	3.8 µg/L
16	Confl. Blackwater River Lake	Bedford	A	9.8 ft	10 µg/L	2 µg/L
17	Mouth of Bull Run Lake	Franklin	A	10.2 ft	10 µg/L	2.1 µg/L
18	Carvins Cove Reservoir	Botetourt	A	11.5 ft	10 µg/L	1.2 µg/L
19	Bolar Mtn. Campground Lake	Bath	A	9.2 ft	10 µg/L	1.8 µg/L
20	Lee Hall Reservoir	Newport News city	A	4.8 ft	30 µg/L	5.8 µg/L
21	Mouth Big Lick Cr. Lake	Alleghany	A	12.5 ft	10 µg/L	1.7 µg/L
22	Motts Run Reservoir	Spotsylvania	A	10.2 ft	10 µg/L	2.3 µg/L
23	Wise Lake	Wise	A	10.5 ft	10 µg/L	2.2 µg/L
24	Lake Robertson	Rockbridge	A	13.9 ft	10 µg/L	1.9 µg/L
25	West Arm Lake	Pulaski	A	9.2 ft	10 µg/L	2.4 µg/L
26	Smith Lake	Stafford	A	8.2 ft	10 µg/L	2.3 µg/L
27	Sta Lake	York	A	6.9 ft	20 µg/L	4.1 µg/L
28	Lake Keokee	Lee	A	9.7 ft	10 µg/L	2.6 µg/L
29	Leesville Lakea-Topb-Middlec-Bot	Pittsylvania	A	5.2 ft	10 µg/L	4 µg/L
30	Sta Big Cherry Reservoir East of Big Stone	Wise	A	12.5 ft	10 µg/L	2.1 µg/L
31	North Fork Pound Reservoir@Dam	Wise	A	12.1 ft	10 µg/L	2 µg/L
32	Martinsville Reservoir	Henry	A	8.5 ft	10 µg/L	2.1 µg/L
33	Talbott Reservoir	Patrick	A	9.8 ft	10 µg/L	3.2 µg/L
34	Goose Creek Reservoir	Loudoun	A	2.1 ft	65 µg/L	2.1 µg/L
35	Little Creek Reserv Sta Lake	James City	A	9.5 ft	10 µg/L	2.2 µg/L
36	Pedlar River Reservoir	Amherst	A	7.5 ft	10 µg/L	5.5 µg/L
37	Beaverdam Creek Reservoir	Loudoun	A	5.4 ft	10 µg/L	4 µg/L
38	Near Spillway Lake Mooney	Stafford	A	9.2 ft	10 µg/L	1.4 µg/L
39	Hungry Mother Lake Sta	Smyth	A	8.7 ft	10 µg/L	3.1 µg/L
40	Coles Run Reservoir	Augusta	A	25.8 ft	5 µg/L	0.5 µg/L
41	Lake Witten	Tazewell	A	11.3 ft	10 µg/L	2.1 µg/L
42	Horseshoe Point Lake	Patrick	A	9.8 ft	10 µg/L	1.7 µg/L
43	Chickahominy Lake Sta Upper Lake New	Charles City	B	2.1 ft	60 µg/L	12.5 µg/L
44	Waller Mill Reserv Sta Lake	York	B	3.9 ft	30 µg/L	11.1 µg/L
45	Diascund Reservoir Off Dam	New Kent	B	3 ft	30 µg/L	11.5 µg/L
46	Hardy Ford Lake	Franklin	C	3 ft	40 µg/L	5.5 µg/L
47	Lake Drummond	Chesapeake city	C	0.7 ft	60 µg/L	7 µg/L
48	Mcveigh Ford Lake	Franklin	C	3.9 ft	30 µg/L	0.6 µg/L
49	Sta Mouth of Interior Ditch Lake	Chesapeake city	C	0.7 ft	60 µg/L	6.9 µg/L
50	Lake Gaston	Mecklenburg	C	4.3 ft	20 µg/L	3.9 µg/L

Ranked List

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