Beaver Lake
Anderson County, Kentucky158 acresView mapDirections
Kentucky DOW publishes the water-quality measurements for Beaver Lake. Here is what has been measured.
- Impaired · Mercury
- 27 ft max depth
- Public access
- Limited data
Beaver Lake in Anderson County, Kentucky has water-quality measurements published by Kentucky DOW, shown here as reported. Phosphorus: 17.9 µg/L. Surface area: 158 acres.
Beaver Lake is a 158-acre lake in Anderson County, Kentucky with an estimated average depth of about 27 feet. Overall water quality is improving over recent sampling years. Limited fish-species data available. Public access is available with 1 public boat landing.
Source: EPA Water Quality Portal sampling records, KY DOW, last sampled 2014-10-16. Methodology: how these readings are compared.
What Beaver Lake is good for
From access and monitoring records, not editorial picks.
- Boat launch1 documented ramp
Swimming conditions
No readingRecreation use not supported
Nutrient and algae readings are not a swimming clearance. Beaver Lake is listed impaired under Clean Water Act §303(d) (IR 5) for mercury, noxious aquatic plants, nutrients (phosphorus, nitrogen), oxygen depletion (low DO). Check local advisories before you swim.
Whether Beaver Lake is safe to swim in today is a call for the Kentucky Division of Water and the county health department, who post current advisories. LakeQuality does not issue swimming clearances.
Water quality measurements for Beaver Lake
These are the measurements Kentucky DOW publishes for Beaver Lake, shown as reported. The condition class beside each reading is the EPA National Lakes Assessment class for this lake’s ecoregion.
No clarity data. Phosphorus 17.9 µg/L. TSI 46.
| Measure | Reading | Where it sits |
|---|---|---|
| Water clarity (Secchi depth) | No reading How deep a black-and-white disk stays visible from the surface. Higher is clearer. | |
| Total phosphorus | 17.9µg/L | Measured, not scored The nutrient that most limits algae growth in freshwater. More phosphorus, more algae potential. |
| Chlorophyll-a (algae) | No reading The green pigment in algae — a direct measure of how much algae is in the water. | |
| Trophic state (TSI)Carlson's 0–100 index of how much algae a lake can support, from clarity, phosphorus and chlorophyll-a. | 46 | Mesotrophic OligotrophicMesotrophicEutrophicHypereutrophic |
Moderate nutrients, good water quality
Ask about Beaver Lake
Answers come straight from the public measurements and survey records on this page.
Lake Details
Max depth
~27 ft est.
Surface area
158 acres
Public access
Yes
Listed by Kentucky DOW
Depth marked “est.” is a modeled maximum from GLOBathy (Khazaei et al. 2022, CC0), not a measured survey. Kentucky has not published bathymetry for Beaver Lake.
Lake Size & Watershed
Watershed (drainage) area
3 sq mi
HydroLAKES / HydroSHEDS
Shoreline
4.8 mi
HydroLAKES / HydroSHEDS
Elevation
804 ft
Size, shoreline, and watershed area from HydroLAKES (HydroSHEDS). Mean depth here is modelled, not surveyed — HydroLAKES v1.0 estimates lake depth from surrounding terrain rather than from soundings. Treat it as an approximation, and prefer a state bathymetric survey where one exists.
Recreation & Access
- BeaverPublic
Named access points in the USGS National Boat Ramps inventory, within about 3 miles. More lakes with boat ramps
Stays via Stay22
Stays near Beaver Lake
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Fishing Beaver Lake
Water quality readings over time
2 seasons of samples on record (2013–2014). Calling a direction takes at least 4 years of the same measurement.
Phosphorus
Improving-50.1 µg/L/yr2 years
Reservoir Info (USACE NID)
Beaver Lake is a man-made reservoir impounded by the Beaver Lake Dam (completed 1963), built primarily for recreation on the Beaver Creek; earth-type dam, 60 ft tall and 690 ft long.
- Surface area
- 158 ac
- Normal storage
- 2,641.3 ac-ft
- Max storage
- 4,550 ac-ft
- Drainage area
- 2.9 sq mi
- Hazard class
- High
- Owner
- COMMONWEALTH OF KENTUCKY
Source: USACE National Inventory of Dams, NID ID KY00052 · Operator website
EPA Impairment Status
Beaver Lake is officially listed as impaired under Clean Water Act §303(d) in the 2024 EPA reporting cycle (IR category 5).
Causes of impairment
Designated uses not supporting: Aquatic life, Fish consumption, Recreation.
Source: EPA ATTAINS assessment unit KY-206 · Official waterbody report
Nearby Lakes in Anderson County
Frequently asked questions about Beaver Lake
Where is Beaver Lake?
- Beaver Lake is a lake in Anderson County, Kentucky. Its water-quality measurements are published by Kentucky DOW and shown on this page as reported.
What is the water quality of Beaver Lake?
- Beaver Lake in Anderson County, Kentucky has water-quality measurements published by Kentucky DOW, shown here as reported. Phosphorus: 17.9 µg/L. Surface area: 158 acres.
Is Beaver Lake safe to swim in?
- Nutrient and algae readings are not a swimming clearance. Beaver Lake is listed impaired under Clean Water Act §303(d) (IR 5) for mercury, noxious aquatic plants, nutrients (phosphorus, nitrogen), oxygen depletion (low DO). Check local advisories before you swim.
How deep is Beaver Lake?
- No published bathymetric survey covers Beaver Lake, so its depth has not been measured. The HydroLAKES global model estimates an average depth of about 27 feet, but that is a modelled estimate derived from surrounding terrain rather than a measurement on the water, so treat it as approximate. The lake covers 158 acres.
Are there boat ramps on Beaver Lake?
- Beaver Lake has 1 documented boat landing in the USGS National Boat Ramps inventory. Named access points include Beaver. Public access is listed as yes.
Can I fish at Beaver Lake?
- Beaver Lake has 1 documented boat landing in the USGS National Boat Ramps inventory. Seasons, size and bag limits, and whether you need a license are set by Kentucky's fish and wildlife agency, so check its current regulations before you go.
Explore Beaver Lake across LakeQuality
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Where this data comes from
19 measurements from 3 monitoring stations, 2013–2014. Retrieved from the EPA Water Quality Portal on 2026-08-02.
Collected and reported by
- KY WQX
21KY_WQX19 samples · 2013–2014
Analytical methods
- Phosphorus by Colorimetry
Monitoring station identifiers (3)
EPA condition classes from the National Lakes Assessment (EPA 841-R-24-006, Table 6-3), applied by ecoregion. See where the data comes from and data sources.
Other records on this page
Impairment status from EPA ATTAINS 303(d) database
Lake size & watershed from HydroLAKES (HydroSHEDS)
Named boat-access points from the USGS National Boat Ramps inventory