Catfish Lake
Craven County, North CarolinaView mapDirections
NC DEQ publishes the water-quality measurements for Catfish Lake. Here is what has been measured.
- Eutrophic
- Impaired · Turbidity
- 40 ft max depth
- Limited data
Catfish Lake in Craven County, North Carolina has water-quality measurements published by NC DEQ, shown here as reported. Water clarity: 1.8 ft visibility. Phosphorus: 30 µg/L. Chlorophyll-a (algae): 10.1 µg/L.
Catfish Lake is a productive, nutrient-rich eutrophic lake in Craven County, North Carolina with an estimated average depth of about 40 feet. Compared to the 1 other monitored lakes in Craven County, Catfish Lake ranks #2 for water quality.
Source: EPA Water Quality Portal sampling records, NCDEQ, last sampled 2024-10-17. Methodology: how these readings are compared.
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Swimming conditions
Readings onlyLimited data
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. Catfish Lake is listed impaired under Clean Water Act §303(d) (IR 5) for turbidity. Check local advisories before you swim.
Whether Catfish Lake is safe to swim in today is a call for the North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality and the county health department, who post current advisories. LakeQuality does not issue swimming clearances.
Water quality measurements for Catfish Lake
These are the measurements NC DEQ publishes for Catfish Lake, shown as reported. The condition class beside each reading is the EPA National Lakes Assessment class for this lake’s ecoregion.
Very murky, less than 1.8 ft of visibility. Phosphorus 30 µg/L. Chlorophyll-a 10.1 µg/L. TSI 58.
| Measure | Reading | Where it sits |
|---|---|---|
| Water clarity (Secchi depth) | 1.8ft | Measured, not scored How deep a black-and-white disk stays visible from the surface. Higher is clearer. |
| Total phosphorus | 30µg/L | Measured, not scored The nutrient that most limits algae growth in freshwater. More phosphorus, more algae potential. |
| Chlorophyll-a (algae) | 10.1µg/L | Good GoodFairPoor |
| Trophic state (TSI)Carlson's 0–100 index of how much algae a lake can support, from clarity, phosphorus and chlorophyll-a. | 58 | Eutrophic OligotrophicMesotrophicEutrophicHypereutrophic |
High nutrients, frequent algae, reduced clarity
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Lake Details
Max depth
~40 ft est.
Depth marked “est.” is a modeled maximum from GLOBathy (Khazaei et al. 2022, CC0), not a measured survey. North Carolina has not published bathymetry for Catfish Lake.
Lake Size & Watershed
Watershed (drainage) area
48 sq mi
HydroLAKES / HydroSHEDS
Surface area
919 acres
HydroLAKES / HydroSHEDS
Shoreline
5.2 mi
HydroLAKES / HydroSHEDS
Elevation
30 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.
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Stays near Catfish Lake
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Fishing Catfish Lake
EPA Impairment Status
Catfish Lake is officially listed as impaired under Clean Water Act §303(d) in the 2022 EPA reporting cycle (IR category 5).
Causes of impairment
Designated uses not supporting: Aquatic life.
A Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) plan has been approved.
Source: EPA ATTAINS assessment unit NC20-9-1 · Official waterbody report
Nearby Lakes in Craven County
Frequently asked questions about Catfish Lake
Where is Catfish Lake?
- Catfish Lake is a lake in Craven County, North Carolina. Its water-quality measurements are published by NC DEQ and shown on this page as reported.
What is the water quality of Catfish Lake?
- Catfish Lake in Craven County, North Carolina has water-quality measurements published by NC DEQ, shown here as reported. Water clarity: 1.8 ft visibility. Phosphorus: 30 µg/L. Chlorophyll-a (algae): 10.1 µg/L.
Is Catfish Lake safe to swim in?
- Nutrient and algae readings are not a swimming clearance. Catfish Lake is listed impaired under Clean Water Act §303(d) (IR 5) for turbidity. Check local advisories before you swim.
How deep is Catfish Lake?
- No published bathymetric survey covers Catfish Lake, so its depth has not been measured. The HydroLAKES global model estimates an average depth of about 40 feet, but that is a modelled estimate derived from surrounding terrain rather than a measurement on the water, so treat it as approximate.
Explore Catfish Lake across LakeQuality
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Where this data comes from
35 measurements from 2 monitoring stations, 2024. Retrieved from the EPA Water Quality Portal on 2026-08-02.
Collected and reported by
- North Carolina Dept of Environmental Quality NCDEQ-DWR WQX
21NC03WQ35 samples · 2024
Analytical methods
- WSSSOP
- Phosphorus by Colorimetry
- 445.0 ~ EPA; Chlorophyll and Pheophytin in Algae by Fluorescence
- 2130 B ~ Nephelometric Method
Monitoring station identifiers (2)
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)