Curtis Lake
Stafford County, Virginia95 acresView mapDirections
Virginia DEQ publishes the water-quality measurements for Curtis Lake. Here is what has been measured.
- Eutrophic
- Impaired · pH / acidity
- Public access
Curtis Lake in Stafford County, Virginia has water-quality measurements published by Virginia DEQ, shown here as reported. Water clarity: 4.3 ft visibility. Phosphorus: 25 µg/L. Chlorophyll-a (algae): 12.1 µg/L. Surface area: 95 acres.
Curtis Lake is a 95-acre productive, nutrient-rich eutrophic lake in Stafford County, Virginia. Water clarity is declining over recent sampling years. Limited fish-species data available. Public access is available. Compared to the 4 other monitored lakes in Stafford County, Curtis Lake ranks #4 for water quality.
Source: EPA Water Quality Portal sampling records, Virginia DEQ, last sampled 2024-10-24. Methodology: how these readings are compared.
Swimming conditions
Readings onlyModerate 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. Curtis Lake is listed impaired under Clean Water Act §303(d) (IR 5) for pH / acidity. Check local advisories before you swim.
Whether Curtis Lake 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.
Water quality measurements for Curtis Lake
These are the measurements Virginia DEQ publishes for Curtis Lake, 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 25 µg/L. Chlorophyll-a 12.1 µg/L. TSI 54.
| Measure | Reading | Where it sits |
|---|---|---|
| Water clarity (Secchi depth) | 4.3ft | Measured, not scored How deep a black-and-white disk stays visible from the surface. Higher is clearer. |
| Total phosphorus | 25µg/L | Fair GoodFairPoor |
| Chlorophyll-a (algae) | 12.1µg/L | Fair GoodFairPoor |
| Trophic state (TSI)Carlson's 0–100 index of how much algae a lake can support, from clarity, phosphorus and chlorophyll-a. | 54 | Eutrophic OligotrophicMesotrophicEutrophicHypereutrophic |
High nutrients, frequent algae, reduced clarity
Ask about Curtis Lake
Answers come straight from the public measurements and survey records on this page.
Lake Details
Surface area
95 acres
Public access
Yes
Listed by Virginia DEQ
No bathymetric survey has been published for Curtis Lake, so its depth is not documented here.
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Fishing Curtis Lake
Water Quality Trend: Stable
Based on 4 years of monitoring (2016–2024).
Water clarity
Worsening4 years
Phosphorus
Improving-1.8 µg/L/yr4 years
Chlorophyll-a
Stable-0.09 µg/L/yr4 years
Reservoir Info (USACE NID)
Curtis Lake is a man-made reservoir impounded by the Lake Curtis Dam, built primarily for recreation on the Long Branch; earth-type dam, 38 ft tall and 1,350 ft long.
- Surface area
- 95 ac
- Normal storage
- 824 ac-ft
- Max storage
- 2,030 ac-ft
- Drainage area
- 1.63 sq mi
- Hazard class
- High
- Owner
- Virginia Department of Wildlife Resources
Source: USACE National Inventory of Dams, NID ID VA179010 · Operator website
EPA Impairment Status
Curtis 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.
Source: EPA ATTAINS assessment unit VAN-A29L_LOH02A02 · Official waterbody report
Nearby Lakes in Stafford County
Frequently asked questions about Curtis Lake
Where is Curtis Lake?
- Curtis Lake is a lake in Stafford County, Virginia. Its water-quality measurements are published by Virginia DEQ and shown on this page as reported.
What is the water quality of Curtis Lake?
- Curtis Lake in Stafford County, Virginia has water-quality measurements published by Virginia DEQ, shown here as reported. Water clarity: 4.3 ft visibility. Phosphorus: 25 µg/L. Chlorophyll-a (algae): 12.1 µg/L. Surface area: 95 acres.
Is Curtis Lake safe to swim in?
- Nutrient and algae readings are not a swimming clearance. Curtis Lake is listed impaired under Clean Water Act §303(d) (IR 5) for pH / acidity. Check local advisories before you swim.
Can I fish at Curtis Lake?
- Public access to Curtis Lake is listed as yes on the lake record. 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.
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Where this data comes from
114 measurements from 1 monitoring station, 2016–2024. Retrieved from the EPA Water Quality Portal on 2026-08-02.
Collected and reported by
- VIRGINIA DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY
21VASWCB114 samples · 2016–2024
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
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