Botetourt County Lake Quality

Botetourt County holds 1 monitored lake. With a sample that small the county-level summary describes those specific waters, not necessarily every water body in the county. Every one of those lake carries recent nutrient and algae readings, so the county-level summary covers the full set rather than a monitored subset. On average, Botetourt County lakes carry some of the lowest phosphorus and chlorophyll-a readings in Virginia, with clear summer transparency across most monitored basins.

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. Carvins Cove Reservoir has the lowest nutrient and algae readings in the county.