Deep Creek Lake
Garrett County, Maryland4,500 acresView mapDirections
MDE publishes the water-quality measurements for Deep Creek Lake. Here is what has been measured.
- Impaired · Mercury
- Public access
- Limited data
Deep Creek Lake in Garrett County, Maryland has water-quality measurements published by MDE, shown here as reported. Water clarity: 4.8 ft visibility. Surface area: 4500 acres.
Deep Creek Lake is a 4,500-acre lake in Garrett County, Maryland. Overall water quality is improving over recent sampling years. Limited fish-species data available. Public access is available.
Source: EPA Water Quality Portal sampling records, your state environmental agency, last sampled 2018-08-19. Methodology: how these readings are compared.
What Deep Creek Lake is good for
From access and monitoring records, not editorial picks.
- Big water4,500 acres
Swimming conditions
No readingLimited data
Nutrient and algae readings are not a swimming clearance. Deep Creek Lake is listed impaired under Clean Water Act §303(d) (IR 4A) for mercury. Check local advisories before you swim.
Whether Deep Creek Lake is safe to swim in today is a call for the Maryland Department of the Environment and the county health department, who post current advisories. LakeQuality does not issue swimming clearances.
Water quality measurements for Deep Creek Lake
These are the measurements MDE publishes for Deep Creek 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 4.8 ft. TSI 55.
| Measure | Reading | Where it sits |
|---|---|---|
| Water clarity (Secchi depth) | 4.8ft | 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. | 55 | Eutrophic OligotrophicMesotrophicEutrophicHypereutrophic |
High nutrients, frequent algae, reduced clarity
Ask about Deep Creek Lake
Answers come straight from the public measurements and survey records on this page.
Lake Details
Surface area
4,500 acres
Public access
Yes
Listed by MDE
No bathymetric survey has been published for Deep Creek Lake, so its depth is not documented here.
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Stays near Deep Creek Lake
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Fishing Deep Creek Lake
Water quality readings over time
2 seasons of samples on record (2017–2018). Calling a direction takes at least 4 years of the same measurement.
Water clarity
Improving2 years
Reservoir Info (USACE NID)
Deep Creek Lake is a man-made reservoir impounded by the Deep Creek Dam (completed 1925), built primarily for hydroelectric on the Deep Creek; earth-type dam, 85 ft tall and 1,300 ft long.
- Surface area
- 4,500 ac
- Normal storage
- 93,000 ac-ft
- Max storage
- 145,000 ac-ft
- Drainage area
- 63 sq mi
- Hazard class
- High
- Owner
- Brookfield Renewable Energy Group
All listed purposes: Hydroelectric;Recreation.
Source: USACE National Inventory of Dams, NID ID MD00004 · Operator website
EPA Impairment Status
Deep Creek Lake is officially listed as impaired under Clean Water Act §303(d) in the 2024 EPA reporting cycle (IR category 4A).
Causes of impairment
Designated uses not supporting: Fish consumption.
A Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) plan has been approved.
Source: EPA ATTAINS assessment unit MD-05020203-Deep_Creek_Lake · Official waterbody report
Nearby Lakes in Garrett County
Frequently asked questions about Deep Creek Lake
Where is Deep Creek Lake?
- Deep Creek Lake is a lake in Garrett County, Maryland. Its water-quality measurements are published by MDE and shown on this page as reported.
What is the water quality of Deep Creek Lake?
- Deep Creek Lake in Garrett County, Maryland has water-quality measurements published by MDE, shown here as reported. Water clarity: 4.8 ft visibility. Surface area: 4500 acres.
Is Deep Creek Lake safe to swim in?
- Nutrient and algae readings are not a swimming clearance. Deep Creek Lake is listed impaired under Clean Water Act §303(d) (IR 4A) for mercury. Check local advisories before you swim.
Can I fish at Deep Creek Lake?
- Public access to Deep Creek Lake is listed as yes on the lake record. Seasons, size and bag limits, and whether you need a license are set by Maryland'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, 2017–2018. Retrieved from the EPA Water Quality Portal on 2026-08-02.
Collected and reported by
- North American Lake Management Society
NALMS6 samples · 2017–2018
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