Buncombe County Lake Quality

Buncombe County has 5 monitored lakes — a thin enough sample that one or two stressed lakes can move the county average noticeably. Use the per-lake pages below for what actually matters. 3 of those lakes carry an A–F grade. The county-level summary describes that subset, not every water body listed. The county-wide average lands at B — solid water quality with most lakes carrying clear summer transparency and low-to-moderate phosphorus.

Most of the county's monitored lakes are shallow — under 50 feet — which means wind keeps the water column mixed all summer and sediment-bound phosphorus releases back into the surface layer whenever the bottom is disturbed. Lake Julian (A) is the cleanest in the county.