Impaired Lakes in Nevada
22 of 44 graded Nevada lakes (50%) are officially listed as impaired under Clean Water Act §303(d) in the most recent EPA ATTAINS reporting cycle. 1 have an approved TMDL restoration plan.
Top Causes of Impairment in Nevada
Reading the Nevada impairment landscape
50% of Nevada's tracked lakes — 22 of 44 — appear on the EPA Clean Water Act §303(d) impaired-waters list. At that share, impairment is the default state rather than an exception: the majority of lakes are flagged for at least one pollutant exceeding water-quality standards. Trip-planning for clean water in Nevada typically requires checking impairment status as a first filter, not as an edge case.
Metals (other than mercury) leads the impairment causes in Nevada — a contaminant category that is most relevant for fish consumption rather than for swimming or boating. Mercury and PCB impairments typically come from atmospheric deposition or legacy industrial discharge; they bioaccumulate up the food chain, so larger and longer-lived fish carry the highest tissue concentrations. Check the state's fish-consumption advisory before keeping a catch from these waters.
Impaired-waters listings come from the state environmental agency's §303(d) submission to EPA, refreshed on a roughly 2-year cycle. A listed lake stays on the list until either a TMDL is established and the cleanup completes, or subsequent monitoring shows the pollutant concentrations no longer exceed water-quality standards. The list below reflects the most recent available Nevada submission to the EPA Assessment, Total Maximum Daily Load Tracking and Implementation System (ATTAINS) dataset.
All 22 EPA-Listed Impaired Lakes in Nevada
| Lake | County | Grade | Causes | TMDL |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Comins Reservoir | White Pine | A | Mercury | — |
| Lake Tahoe | Douglas | A | Nuisance exotic species, Nutrients (phosphorus, nitrogen), Turbidity | ✓ |
| Illipah Reservoir | White Pine | B | Metals (other than mercury) | — |
| Boulder Reservoir | Washoe | C | Metals (other than mercury), Nutrients (phosphorus, nitrogen), pH / acidity | — |
| Onion Valley Reservoir @ Dam | Humboldt | C | Metals (other than mercury), Nutrients (phosphorus, nitrogen), Oxygen depletion (low DO) +1 more | — |
| Squaw Creek Reservoir | Washoe | C | Metals (other than mercury), Nutrients (phosphorus, nitrogen), Oxygen depletion (low DO) | — |
| Spooner Lake | Douglas | C | pH / acidity, Temperature, Turbidity | — |
| Bilk Creek Reservoir | Humboldt | D | Metals (other than mercury), Oxygen depletion (low DO), pH / acidity +1 more | — |
| Wall Canyon Reservoir | Washoe | D | Metals (other than mercury), Nutrients (phosphorus, nitrogen), Oxygen depletion (low DO) | — |
| Wildhorse Reservoir | Elko | F | Mercury, Metals (other than mercury), Nutrients (phosphorus, nitrogen) +1 more | — |
| Knott Creek Reservoir | Humboldt | F | Metals (other than mercury), Nutrients (phosphorus, nitrogen), Oxygen depletion (low DO) +1 more | — |
| Willow Creek Reservoir East | Elko | NR | Metals (other than mercury), Nutrients (phosphorus, nitrogen), Oxygen depletion (low DO) +2 more | — |
| Steamboat Creek Lake | Washoe | NR | Metals (other than mercury), Temperature | — |
| Willow Creek Reservoir West | Elko | NR | Metals (other than mercury), Nutrients (phosphorus, nitrogen), Oxygen depletion (low DO) +2 more | — |
| Chimney Reservoir West Lobe North | Humboldt | NR | Mercury, Metals (other than mercury), Nutrients (phosphorus, nitrogen) +3 more | — |
| Chimney Reservoir East Lobe | Humboldt | NR | Mercury, Metals (other than mercury), Nutrients (phosphorus, nitrogen) +3 more | — |
| Sparks Marina West Side Lake | Washoe | NR | Metals (other than mercury), Nutrients (phosphorus, nitrogen), Oxygen depletion (low DO) +2 more | — |
| Sparks Marina Cove Lake | Washoe | NR | Metals (other than mercury), Nutrients (phosphorus, nitrogen), Oxygen depletion (low DO) +2 more | — |
| Sparks Marina Lake | Washoe | NR | Metals (other than mercury), Nutrients (phosphorus, nitrogen), Oxygen depletion (low DO) +2 more | — |
| Little Washoe Outfall Lake | Washoe | NR | Mercury, Metals (other than mercury), Nutrients (phosphorus, nitrogen) +1 more | — |
| Catnip Reservoir | Washoe | NR | Metals (other than mercury), Nutrients (phosphorus, nitrogen), pH / acidity | — |
| Echo Canyon Reservoir | Lincoln | NR | Mercury, Temperature | — |
Frequently Asked Questions
How many lakes are impaired in Nevada?
22 of 44 graded Nevada lakes (50%) are listed as impaired in the most recent EPA ATTAINS reporting cycle. Of those, 21 are on the federal Clean Water Act §303(d) list and 1 have an approved Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) restoration plan.
What does Clean Water Act §303(d) mean?
Section 303(d) of the federal Clean Water Act requires every state to identify waters that don't meet water quality standards even after pollution control measures. Each listed water must then have a Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) developed — a plan that caps how much of each pollutant can enter the waterbody. The "303(d) list" is the impaired-waters list. The EPA reviews each state's list every two years.
What are the top causes of impairment in Nevada?
The most common causes flagged across Nevada's impaired lakes are: Metals (other than mercury) (18 lakes); Nutrients (phosphorus, nitrogen) (16 lakes); Oxygen depletion (low DO) (11 lakes); Temperature (8 lakes); Mercury (6 lakes); Turbidity (6 lakes). Mercury is widespread in fish tissue across the upper Midwest from atmospheric deposition. Nutrient impairment (phosphorus, nitrogen) typically reflects agricultural runoff and urban stormwater.
Can I swim in an impaired lake?
It depends on the cause of impairment. A lake impaired for "mercury in fish tissue" is generally safe to swim in — the warning is about long-term consumption of fish. A lake impaired for "pathogens" (E. coli) or "algal growth" may pose a swimming risk and often has a separate beach advisory. Check the cause categories listed for each lake below, and consult your state health department's beach monitoring program for current advisories.
Where does this impairment data come from?
Every impairment record on this page comes from the EPA's ATTAINS (Assessment and TMDL Tracking and Implementation System) public dataset, the federal repository of state-reported water quality assessments. EPA ATTAINS is published as GeoParquet files on the EPA Office of Water S3 bucket and refreshed several times per year. Causes and use-support codes follow EPA's standard taxonomy.
More on impaired waters
What it means when a lake is listed as impaired, why mercury is the most common reason, and why a listed lake can still be clear water with a good grade.
Why states issue fish-consumption advisories, which contaminants — mercury, PCBs, PFAS — drive them, and how to eat the fish you catch more safely.
How phosphorus and nutrient runoff drive algae growth and turn lakes green, where the nutrients come from, and what it means for a lake's grade.
Which lakes are actually improving: multi-year EPA monitoring trends, the named recoveries still in progress, and what it takes to move a letter grade.
Data source
Impairment data from the EPA ATTAINS (Assessment and TMDL Tracking and Implementation System) public dataset. Assessment unit IDs are matched to LakeQuality lakes by name and proximity; some lakes may not appear here if their ATTAINS name doesn't match our naming convention. For an official query, consult .