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Briery Creek Lake Sta

Prince Edward County, Virginia810 acresView mapDirections

This is the name Virginia DEQ records for this water. It can describe one sampling location rather than the water as a whole.

Virginia DEQ publishes the water-quality measurements for Briery Creek Lake Sta. Here is what has been measured.

Clarity
4.3 ft
Typical for Virginia
Secchi · sampled 2026
Phosphorus
20 µg/L
Typical for Virginia
Measured by Virginia DEQ
Chlorophyll-a
8.5 µg/L
Typical for Virginia
Measured by Virginia DEQ
Area
810 acres
Surface area
Type
Eutrophic
Trophic class
Trend
Worsening
7 years of samples
  • Eutrophic
  • Impaired · Mercury
  • Public access

Briery Creek Lake Sta in Prince Edward County, Virginia has water-quality measurements published by Virginia DEQ, shown here as reported. Water clarity: 4.3 ft visibility. Phosphorus: 20 µg/L. Chlorophyll-a (algae): 8.5 µg/L. Surface area: 810 acres.

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Briery Creek Lake Sta is a 810-acre productive, nutrient-rich eutrophic lake in Prince Edward County, Virginia. Overall water quality is declining over recent sampling years. Limited fish-species data available. Public access is available with 1 public boat landing. Compared to the 5 other monitored lakes in Prince Edward County, Briery Creek Lake Sta ranks #2 for water quality.

Source: EPA Water Quality Portal sampling records, Virginia DEQ, last sampled 2026-06-29. Methodology: how these readings are compared.

What Briery Creek Lake Sta is good for

From access and monitoring records, not editorial picks.

  • Boat launch1 documented ramp

Swimming conditions

Readings only

Moderate algae

Based on clarity and algae readings from past sampling — there is no live water temperature and a current cyanobacteria reading for this lake. Check your state or county health department before you swim.

Nutrient and algae readings are not a swimming clearance. Briery Creek Lake Sta is listed impaired under Clean Water Act §303(d) (IR 5) for mercury. Check local advisories before you swim.

Whether Briery Creek Lake Sta is safe to swim in today is a call for the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality and the county health department, who post current advisories. LakeQuality does not issue swimming clearances.

Get alerts for Briery Creek Lake Sta →

Water quality measurements for Briery Creek Lake Sta

These are the measurements Virginia DEQ publishes for Briery Creek Lake Sta, shown as reported. The condition class beside each reading is the EPA National Lakes Assessment class for this lake’s ecoregion.

Murky, only visible to about 4.3 ft. Phosphorus 20 µg/L. Chlorophyll-a 8.5 µg/L. TSI 52.

Water quality readings
MeasureReadingWhere it sits
Water clarity (Secchi depth)4.3ftMeasured, not scored

How deep a black-and-white disk stays visible from the surface. Higher is clearer.

Total phosphorus20µg/LFair
GoodFairPoor
Chlorophyll-a (algae)8.5µg/LFair
GoodFairPoor
Trophic state (TSI)Carlson's 0–100 index of how much algae a lake can support, from clarity, phosphorus and chlorophyll-a.52Eutrophic
OligotrophicMesotrophicEutrophicHypereutrophic

High nutrients, frequent algae, reduced clarity

Ask about Briery Creek Lake Sta

Answers come straight from the public measurements and survey records on this page.

Lake Details

Surface area

810 acres

Public access

Yes

Listed by Virginia DEQ

No bathymetric survey has been published for Briery Creek Lake Sta, so its depth is not documented here.

Recreation & Access

1
Boat Landings
Yes
Public Access
  • Briery CreekPublic

Named access points in the USGS National Boat Ramps inventory, within about 3 miles. More lakes with boat ramps

Stays via Stay22

Stays near Briery Creek Lake Sta

Compare lakeside cabins, hotels, and vacation rentals near Briery Creek Lake Sta in Prince Edward County, Virginia — live availability and prices for your trip. Switch the map to Satellite to see the lake and how close each stay is to the water.

Top-rated places to stay near Briery Creek Lake Sta

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Fishing Briery Creek Lake Sta

Based on 7 years of monitoring (2013–2026).

  • Water clarity

    Stable

    7 years

  • Phosphorus

    Stable

    -0.21 µg/L/yr6 years

  • Chlorophyll-a

    Worsening

    +0.29 µg/L/yr6 years

See year-by-year chart →

Reservoir Info (USACE NID)

Briery Creek Lake Sta is a man-made reservoir impounded by the Briery Creek Lake Dam, built primarily for recreation on the Briery Creek - VAHU6 JA10 Briery Creek; earth-type dam, 64 ft tall and 920 ft long.

Surface area
810 ac
Normal storage
636 ac-ft
Max storage
21,378 ac-ft
Drainage area
24.8 sq mi
Hazard class
High
Owner
Virginia Department of Wildlife Resources

All listed purposes: Recreation;Flood Risk Reduction.

Source: USACE National Inventory of Dams, NID ID VA147037 · Operator website · Matched by proximity (0.37 km)

EPA Impairment Status

Briery Creek Lake Sta is officially listed as impaired under Clean Water Act §303(d) in the 2022 EPA reporting cycle (IR category 5).

Causes of impairment

Mercury

Designated uses not supporting: Fish consumption.

Source: EPA ATTAINS assessment unit VAP-J05L_BRI01L98 · Official waterbody report

Nearby Lakes in Prince Edward County

Frequently asked questions about Briery Creek Lake Sta

Where is Briery Creek Lake Sta?

Briery Creek Lake Sta is in Prince Edward County, Virginia. This is the name Virginia DEQ records for this water. It can describe one sampling location rather than the water as a whole. Its water-quality measurements are published by Virginia DEQ and shown on this page as reported.

What is the water quality of Briery Creek Lake Sta?

Briery Creek Lake Sta in Prince Edward County, Virginia has water-quality measurements published by Virginia DEQ, shown here as reported. Water clarity: 4.3 ft visibility. Phosphorus: 20 µg/L. Chlorophyll-a (algae): 8.5 µg/L. Surface area: 810 acres.

Measurements on this page ↑

Is Briery Creek Lake Sta safe to swim in?

Nutrient and algae readings are not a swimming clearance. Briery Creek Lake Sta is listed impaired under Clean Water Act §303(d) (IR 5) for mercury. Check local advisories before you swim.

Swimming on this page ↑

Are there boat ramps on Briery Creek Lake Sta?

Briery Creek Lake Sta has 1 documented boat landing in the USGS National Boat Ramps inventory. Named access points include Briery Creek. Public access is listed as yes.

Access on this page ↑

Can I fish at Briery Creek Lake Sta?

Briery Creek Lake Sta 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 Virginia's fish and wildlife agency, so check its current regulations before you go.

Access on this page ↑

Where this data comes from

173 measurements from 1 monitoring station, 2013–2026. Retrieved from the EPA Water Quality Portal on 2026-08-02.

Collected and reported by

  • VIRGINIA DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY21VASWCB173 samples · 2013–2026

Analytical methods

  • Tyler, John. 1968. The secchi disk, Limnology and Oceanograpy, 13(1):1-6.
  • Total Phosphorus After Block Digestion
  • 445.0 ~ EPA; Chlorophyll and Pheophytin in Algae by Fluorescence
  • 446.0 ~ EPA; Chlorophylls and Pheopigments in Phytoplankton by Spectrophotometry
Monitoring station identifiers (1)

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

Named boat-access points from the USGS National Boat Ramps inventory