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LakeQuality

Lake Carey

Wyoming County, Pennsylvania263 acresView mapDirections

NR
Not rated

Not Rated: one monitoring station are on record, but they measured water clarity only. LakeQuality’s A–F method grades total phosphorus, total nitrogen, chlorophyll-a, and turbidity; clarity is shown, not scored.

Water temp
No reading
No gauge
Clarity
5.9 ft
Secchi · sampled 2020
Level
No reading
No gauge
Trend
No reading
Not enough history
  • Impaired · Nutrients (phosphorus, nitrogen)
  • 36 ft max depth
  • Public access
  • Limited data

Lake Carey in Wyoming County, Pennsylvania is not rated for water quality — its monitoring record does not meet the evidence bar. Water clarity: 5.9 ft visibility. Surface area: 263 acres.

Clarity
5.9 ft
Max depth
~36 ft est.
Area
263 acres
Public access
Yes
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Stays near Lake Carey

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Watch Lake Carey’s letter

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Why Lake Carey has no grade

Lake Carey has monitoring on record from one station, but only water clarity was measured. LakeQuality’s A–F letter uses total phosphorus, total nitrogen, chlorophyll-a, and turbidity against EPA National Lakes Assessment condition classes. With none of those grading measurements on record, Lake Carey is Not Rated — not an F. Its 5.9-foot median from 4 readings collected 2020 is still shown as clarity, but clarity alone cannot earn a letter.

Not Rated is EPA Integrated Reporting Category 3 — insufficient information. Everything below that has been measured is still reported on this page.

Sampling is run by PA DEP and volunteer programs, and published through the EPA Water Quality Portal. Read the full grading methodology.

Lake Carey is a 263-acre lake in Wyoming County, Pennsylvania with an estimated average depth of about 36 feet. Limited fish-species data available. Public access is available with 1 public boat landing.

Source: EPA Water Quality Portal sampling records, PA DEP, last sampled 2020-07-12. Grade methodology: LakeQuality methodology.

What Lake Carey is good for

From access and monitoring records, not editorial picks.

  • Boat launch1 documented ramp

Swimming Safety

Not rated

Limited data

The letter is not a swimming clearance. Lake Carey is listed impaired under Clean Water Act §303(d) (IR 4A) for nutrients (phosphorus, nitrogen). Check local advisories before you swim.

Compare the safest swimming lakes near Syracuse

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Water quality measurements for Lake Carey

These readings exist but are not enough for an A–F grade — see why.

Murky, only visible to about 5.9 ft. TSI 52.

MetricValueGrade
Water Clarity (Secchi Depth)5.9 ftNot graded
PhosphorusNo recent samples
Chlorophyll-a (Algae)No recent samples
Trophic State Index (TSI)52Eutrophic

High nutrients, frequent algae, reduced clarity

Lake Details

CharacteristicValue
Maximum Depth~36 ft est.
Average Depth~19 ft est.
Surface Area263 acres
Public AccessYes

Depth marked “est.” is a modeled maximum from GLOBathy (Khazaei et al. 2022, CC0), not a measured survey. Pennsylvania has not published bathymetry for Lake Carey.

Lake Size & Watershed

Watershed (drainage) area
6 sq mi
Shoreline
4.4 mi
Elevation
958 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

1
Boat Landings
Yes
Public Access
  • Frank's MarinaPublic

Named access points in the USGS National Boat Ramps inventory, within about 3 miles. More lakes with boat ramps

Fishing Lake Carey

Reservoir Info (USACE NID)

Lake Carey is a man-made reservoir impounded by the Lake Carey (completed 1876), built primarily for recreation on the BILLINGS MILL BROOK; earth-type dam, 13 ft tall and 109 ft long.

Surface area
263 ac
Normal storage
3,781 ac-ft
Max storage
4,810 ac-ft
Drainage area
7 sq mi
Hazard class
High
Owner
LAKE CAREY WELFARE ASSOCIATION

Source: USACE National Inventory of Dams, NID ID PA00887 · Operator website

EPA Impairment Status

Lake Carey is officially listed as impaired under Clean Water Act §303(d) in the 2024 EPA reporting cycle (IR category 4A).

Causes of impairment

Nutrients (phosphorus, nitrogen)

A Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) plan has been approved.

Source: EPA ATTAINS assessment unit PA-LRP-02050106002805 · Official waterbody report · Matched by proximity (0.09 km)

Regulated Pollution Sources Nearby

9 EPA-permitted facilities operate within about 5 miles of Lake Carey under Clean Water Act (NPDES) discharge permits. 7 facilities have a reported Clean Water Act violation in the past three years.

  • Wyoming Cnty Healthcare Center
    Tunkhannock · 2.5 mi away · NPDES PA0036765
    Recent violation
  • Oakwood Lake Village
    Tunkhannock · 2.9 mi away · NPDES PA0034088
    Recent violation
  • Lake Carey Wwtp
    Tunkhannock · 3.1 mi away · NPDES PA0276073
    Recent violation
  • Tunkhannock Boro Mun Auth
    Tunkhannock · 4.1 mi away · NPDES PA0020940
    Recent violation
  • Washington Park Wwtf
    Tunkhannock · 4.2 mi away · NPDES PA0060658
    Recent violation
  • Westgate Water & Sewer Muni Auth
    Tunkhannock · 4.4 mi away · NPDES PA0029777
    Recent violation

Facilities permitted to discharge under the Clean Water Act within ~5 miles; proximity does not by itself mean a facility affects this lake. Source: EPA ECHO (ICIS-NPDES), as of 2026-07.

Nearby Lakes in Wyoming County

Frequently asked questions about Lake Carey

Where is Lake Carey?

Lake Carey is a lake in Wyoming County, Pennsylvania. LakeQuality has not rated this lake (UNRATED) — the only measurement available is water clarity, which is not a water-quality indicator on its own — EPA's National Lakes Assessment does not grade clarity.

What is the water quality grade for Lake Carey?

Lake Carey in Wyoming County, Pennsylvania is not rated for water quality — its monitoring record does not meet the evidence bar. Water clarity: 5.9 ft visibility. Surface area: 263 acres.

Is Lake Carey safe to swim in?

The letter is not a swimming clearance. Lake Carey is listed impaired under Clean Water Act §303(d) (IR 4A) for nutrients (phosphorus, nitrogen). Check local advisories before you swim.

How deep is Lake Carey?

No published bathymetric survey covers Lake Carey, so its depth has not been measured. The HydroLAKES global model estimates an average depth of about 36 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 263 acres.

Are there boat ramps on Lake Carey?

Lake Carey has 1 documented boat landing in the USGS National Boat Ramps inventory. Named access points include Frank's Marina. Public access is listed as yes.

Eutrophic Lakes in Pennsylvania

Where this data comes from

4 measurements from 1 monitoring station, 2020. Retrieved from the EPA Water Quality Portal on 2026-08-02.

Collected and reported by

  • North American Lake Management SocietyNALMS4 samples · 2020
Monitoring station identifiers (1)

Grade thresholds from the EPA National Lakes Assessment (EPA 841-R-24-006, Table 6-3), applied by ecoregion. See how grades are calculated and data sources.

Other records on this page

Impairment status from EPA ATTAINS 303(d) database

Regulated discharger data from EPA ECHO (ICIS-NPDES)

Lake size & watershed from HydroLAKES (HydroSHEDS)

Named boat-access points from the USGS National Boat Ramps inventory