Chittenden Reservoir
Rutland County, Vermont693 acresView mapDirections
Vermont DEC publishes the water-quality measurements for Chittenden Reservoir. Here is what has been measured.
- Impaired · Hydrologic alteration
- 52 ft max depth
- Public access
- Limited data
Chittenden Reservoir in Rutland County, Vermont has water-quality measurements published by Vermont DEC, shown here as reported. Water clarity: 15.7 ft visibility. Surface area: 693 acres.
Chittenden Reservoir is a 693-acre lake in Rutland County, Vermont with an estimated average depth of about 52 feet. Limited fish-species data available. Public access is available with 1 public boat landing.
Source: EPA Water Quality Portal sampling records, VT DEC, last sampled 2020-08-18. Methodology: how these readings are compared.
Chittenden Reservoir covers about 690 acres in Rutland County. It has one public boat landing. For a place on the water, look through cabin and lake-house rentals near Chittenden Reservoir on Vrbo. For a hotel or motel room, Booking.com and Expedia both search around the lake.
What Chittenden Reservoir is good for
From access and monitoring records, not editorial picks.
- Clear water15.7 ft of visibility
- Boat launch1 documented ramp
Swimming conditions
No readingLimited data
Nutrient and algae readings are not a swimming clearance. Chittenden Reservoir is listed impaired under Clean Water Act §303(d) (IR 4A) for hydrologic alteration, mercury. Check local advisories before you swim.
Whether Chittenden Reservoir is safe to swim in today is a call for the Vermont Department of Environmental Conservation and the county health department, who post current advisories. LakeQuality does not issue swimming clearances.
Water quality measurements for Chittenden Reservoir
These are the measurements Vermont DEC publishes for Chittenden Reservoir, shown as reported. The condition class beside each reading is the EPA National Lakes Assessment class for this lake’s ecoregion.
Crystal clear, you can see 15.7 ft down. TSI 37.
| Measure | Reading | Where it sits |
|---|---|---|
| Water clarity (Secchi depth) | 15.7ft | Measured, not scored How deep a black-and-white disk stays visible from the surface. Higher is clearer. |
| Total phosphorus | No reading 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. | 37 | Oligotrophic OligotrophicMesotrophicEutrophicHypereutrophic |
Low nutrients, clear water. No reading is a swimming clearance.
Ask about Chittenden Reservoir
Answers come straight from the public measurements and survey records on this page.
Lake Details
Max depth
~52 ft est.
Surface area
693 acres
Public access
Yes
Listed by Vermont DEC
Depth marked “est.” is a modeled maximum from GLOBathy (Khazaei et al. 2022, CC0), not a measured survey. Vermont has not published bathymetry for Chittenden Reservoir.
Lake Size & Watershed
Watershed (drainage) area
16 sq mi
HydroLAKES / HydroSHEDS
Shoreline
6 mi
HydroLAKES / HydroSHEDS
Elevation
1,480 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
- Chittenden ReservoirPublic
Named access points in the USGS National Boat Ramps inventory, within about 3 miles. More lakes with boat ramps
Stays via Stay22
Stays near Chittenden Reservoir
Compare lakeside cabins, hotels, and vacation rentals near Chittenden Reservoir in Rutland County, Vermont — 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 Chittenden Reservoir
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Fishing Chittenden Reservoir
Reservoir Info (USACE NID)
Chittenden Reservoir is a man-made reservoir impounded by the Chittenden Reservoir (completed 1901), built primarily for hydroelectric on the East Creek; earth-type dam, 68 ft tall and 967 ft long.
- Surface area
- 693 ac
- Normal storage
- 0 ac-ft
- Max storage
- 22,090 ac-ft
- Drainage area
- 15.91 sq mi
- Hazard class
- High
- Owner
- GREEN MOUNTAIN POWER CORP
Source: USACE National Inventory of Dams, NID ID VT00178 · Operator website
EPA Impairment Status
Chittenden Reservoir is officially listed as impaired under Clean Water Act §303(d) in the 2022 EPA reporting cycle (IR category 4A).
Causes of impairment
Designated uses not supporting: Aquatic life, Fish consumption.
A Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) plan has been approved.
Source: EPA ATTAINS assessment unit VT03-14L03 · Official waterbody report
Nearby Lakes in Rutland County
Frequently asked questions about Chittenden Reservoir
Where is Chittenden Reservoir?
- Chittenden Reservoir is a lake in Rutland County, Vermont. Its water-quality measurements are published by Vermont DEC and shown on this page as reported.
What is the water quality of Chittenden Reservoir?
- Chittenden Reservoir in Rutland County, Vermont has water-quality measurements published by Vermont DEC, shown here as reported. Water clarity: 15.7 ft visibility. Surface area: 693 acres.
Is Chittenden Reservoir safe to swim in?
- Nutrient and algae readings are not a swimming clearance. Chittenden Reservoir is listed impaired under Clean Water Act §303(d) (IR 4A) for hydrologic alteration, mercury. Check local advisories before you swim.
How deep is Chittenden Reservoir?
- No published bathymetric survey covers Chittenden Reservoir, so its depth has not been measured. The HydroLAKES global model estimates an average depth of about 52 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 693 acres.
Are there boat ramps on Chittenden Reservoir?
- Chittenden Reservoir has 1 documented boat landing in the USGS National Boat Ramps inventory. Named access points include Chittenden Reservoir. Public access is listed as yes.
Can I fish at Chittenden Reservoir?
- Chittenden Reservoir 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 Vermont's fish and wildlife agency, so check its current regulations before you go.
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Where this data comes from
6 measurements from 1 monitoring station, 2020. Retrieved from the EPA Water Quality Portal on 2026-08-02.
Collected and reported by
- Vermont Dept of Environmental Conservation
1VTDECWQ6 samples · 2020
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
Lake size & watershed from HydroLAKES (HydroSHEDS)
Named boat-access points from the USGS National Boat Ramps inventory