Wise County Lake Quality
Virginia, 3 lakes, average grade A (Excellent)
Wise County has 3 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. Every one of those lakes carries an A–F grade, so the county-level summary covers the full set rather than a monitored subset. The county's average grade is A — among the cleanest in Virginia. 3 lakes pull an A on their own, and almost none fall into the D or F brackets.
The county's lakes lean shallow, which makes the grades sensitive to wind, sediment-resuspension, and any nutrient inputs from the watershed. The cleanest lake on the books is Wise Lake (A); the most-stressed is Wise Lake (A).
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Quick Answers for Wise County
Planning a trip? Check special fishing regulations for Wise Lake — or check the official Virginia fishing regulations.
All Lakes in Wise County
3 lakes3 graded lakes
| # | Lake | Grade | Clarity | Phosphorus | Algae | Trophic | Access |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | AWise LakeWise | A | 10.5 ft | 10 µg/L | 2.2 µg/L | No recent samples | Not recorded |
| 2 | ASta Big Cherry Reservoir East of Big StoneWise | A | 12.5 ft | 10 µg/L | 2.1 µg/L | No recent samples | Not recorded |
| 3 | ANorth Fork Pound Reservoir@DamWise | A | 12.1 ft | 10 µg/L | 2 µg/L | No recent samples | Not recorded |
Lake Match
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Other Counties in Virginia
See how Wise County stacks up in the national county water-quality rankings, or browse the full directory of graded lakes across all United States (49 states), Canada (Ontario, Québec, Nova Scotia, British Columbia and Newfoundland and Labrador), and 38 other country hubs..
Source: EPA National Aquatic Resource Surveys, 2026.