Fluvanna Ruritan Lake
Fluvanna County, Virginia60 acresView mapDirections
Virginia DEQ publishes the water-quality measurements for Fluvanna Ruritan Lake. Here is what has been measured.
- Eutrophic
- Impaired · Algal growth
- 37 ft max depth
- Public access
Fluvanna Ruritan Lake in Fluvanna County, Virginia has water-quality measurements published by Virginia DEQ, shown here as reported. Water clarity: 3.3 ft visibility. Phosphorus: 40 µg/L. Chlorophyll-a (algae): 30 µg/L. Surface area: 60 acres.
Fluvanna Ruritan Lake is a 60-acre productive, nutrient-rich eutrophic lake in Fluvanna County, Virginia with an estimated average depth of about 37 feet. 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, Virginia DEQ, last sampled 2022-10-27. Methodology: how these readings are compared.
Swimming conditions
Readings onlyAlgae risk
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. Fluvanna Ruritan Lake is listed impaired under Clean Water Act §303(d) (IR 5) for algal growth, oxygen depletion (low DO). Check local advisories before you swim.
Whether Fluvanna Ruritan 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 Fluvanna Ruritan Lake
These are the measurements Virginia DEQ publishes for Fluvanna Ruritan 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 3.3 ft of visibility. Phosphorus 40 µg/L. Chlorophyll-a 30 µg/L. TSI 60.
| Measure | Reading | Where it sits |
|---|---|---|
| Water clarity (Secchi depth) | 3.3ft | Measured, not scored How deep a black-and-white disk stays visible from the surface. Higher is clearer. |
| Total phosphorus | 40µg/L | Poor GoodFairPoor |
| Chlorophyll-a (algae) | 30µg/L | Poor GoodFairPoor |
| Trophic state (TSI)Carlson's 0–100 index of how much algae a lake can support, from clarity, phosphorus and chlorophyll-a. | 60 | Eutrophic OligotrophicMesotrophicEutrophicHypereutrophic |
High nutrients, frequent algae, reduced clarity
Ask about Fluvanna Ruritan Lake
Answers come straight from the public measurements and survey records on this page.
Lake Details
Max depth
~37 ft est.
Surface area
60 acres
Public access
Yes
Listed by Virginia DEQ
Depth marked “est.” is a modeled maximum from GLOBathy (Khazaei et al. 2022, CC0), not a measured survey. Virginia has not published bathymetry for Fluvanna Ruritan Lake.
Lake Size & Watershed
Watershed (drainage) area
5 sq mi
HydroLAKES / HydroSHEDS
Shoreline
1.7 mi
HydroLAKES / HydroSHEDS
Elevation
407 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.
Stays via Stay22
Stays near Fluvanna Ruritan Lake
Compare lakeside cabins, hotels, and vacation rentals near Fluvanna Ruritan Lake in Fluvanna 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. The water-quality readings cover nutrients and algae, not lodging. Cabins and rentals around Fluvanna Ruritan Lake are listed below.
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Fishing Fluvanna Ruritan Lake
Water Quality Trend: Improving
Based on 5 years of monitoring (2015–2022).
Water clarity
Stable5 years
Phosphorus
Stable-0.73 µg/L/yr5 years
Chlorophyll-a
Improving-3.35 µg/L/yr5 years
Reservoir Info (USACE NID)
Fluvanna Ruritan Lake is a man-made reservoir impounded by the Fluvanna Ruritan Dam, built primarily for recreation; earth-type dam, 43 ft tall and 790 ft long.
- Surface area
- 60 ac
- Normal storage
- 890 ac-ft
- Max storage
- 1,500 ac-ft
- Drainage area
- 4.86 sq mi
- Hazard class
- High
- Owner
- Virginia Department of Wildlife Resources (DWR)
Source: USACE National Inventory of Dams, NID ID VA065002 · Operator website
EPA Impairment Status
Fluvanna Ruritan 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 VAV-H32L_00 · Official waterbody report
Nearby Lakes in Fluvanna County
Frequently asked questions about Fluvanna Ruritan Lake
Where is Fluvanna Ruritan Lake?
- Fluvanna Ruritan Lake is a lake in Fluvanna County, Virginia. Its water-quality measurements are published by Virginia DEQ and shown on this page as reported.
What is the water quality of Fluvanna Ruritan Lake?
- Fluvanna Ruritan Lake in Fluvanna County, Virginia has water-quality measurements published by Virginia DEQ, shown here as reported. Water clarity: 3.3 ft visibility. Phosphorus: 40 µg/L. Chlorophyll-a (algae): 30 µg/L. Surface area: 60 acres.
Is Fluvanna Ruritan Lake safe to swim in?
- Nutrient and algae readings are not a swimming clearance. Fluvanna Ruritan Lake is listed impaired under Clean Water Act §303(d) (IR 5) for algal growth, oxygen depletion (low DO). Check local advisories before you swim.
How deep is Fluvanna Ruritan Lake?
- No published bathymetric survey covers Fluvanna Ruritan Lake, so its depth has not been measured. The HydroLAKES global model estimates an average depth of about 37 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 60 acres.
Can I fish at Fluvanna Ruritan Lake?
- Public access to Fluvanna Ruritan 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
133 measurements from 1 monitoring station, 2015–2022. Retrieved from the EPA Water Quality Portal on 2026-08-02.
Collected and reported by
- VIRGINIA DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY
21VASWCB133 samples · 2015–2022
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
Lake size & watershed from HydroLAKES (HydroSHEDS)