Lake Linville
Rockcastle County, Kentucky373 acresView mapDirections
Kentucky DOW publishes the water-quality measurements for Lake Linville. Here is what has been measured.
- Impaired · Nutrients (phosphorus, nitrogen)
- Public access
- Limited data
Lake Linville in Rockcastle County, Kentucky has water-quality measurements published by Kentucky DOW, shown here as reported. Water clarity: 3 ft visibility. Surface area: 373.1 acres.
Lake Linville is a 373-acre lake in Rockcastle County, Kentucky. Overall water quality is declining over recent sampling years. Limited fish-species data available. Public access is available.
Source: EPA Water Quality Portal sampling records, KY DOW, last sampled 2019-07-08. Methodology: how these readings are compared.
Swimming conditions
No readingLimited data
Nutrient and algae readings are not a swimming clearance. Lake Linville is listed impaired under Clean Water Act §303(d) (IR 5) for nutrients (phosphorus, nitrogen). Check local advisories before you swim.
Whether Lake Linville is safe to swim in today is a call for the Kentucky Division of Water and the county health department, who post current advisories. LakeQuality does not issue swimming clearances.
Water quality measurements for Lake Linville
These are the measurements Kentucky DOW publishes for Lake Linville, 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 ft of visibility. TSI 61.
| Measure | Reading | Where it sits |
|---|---|---|
| Water clarity (Secchi depth) | 3ft | 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. | 61 | Eutrophic OligotrophicMesotrophicEutrophicHypereutrophic |
High nutrients, frequent algae, reduced clarity
Ask about Lake Linville
Answers come straight from the public measurements and survey records on this page.
Lake Details
Surface area
373 acres
Public access
Yes
Listed by Kentucky DOW
No bathymetric survey has been published for Lake Linville, so its depth is not documented here.
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Stays near Lake Linville
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Fishing Lake Linville
Water quality readings over time
3 seasons of samples on record (2013–2021). Calling a direction takes at least 4 years of the same measurement.
Water clarity
Worsening2 years
Phosphorus
Worsening+2.31 µg/L/yr3 years
Reservoir Info (USACE NID)
Lake Linville is a man-made reservoir impounded by the Renfro Dam (completed 1968), built primarily for water supply on the Little Renfro Creek; earth-type dam, 72 ft tall and 1,100 ft long.
- Surface area
- 373.1 ac
- Normal storage
- 6,107 ac-ft
- Drainage area
- 15.3 sq mi
- Hazard class
- High
- Owner
- KENTUCKY TRANSPORTATION CABINET
Source: USACE National Inventory of Dams, NID ID KY00101 · Operator website
EPA Impairment Status
Lake Linville is officially listed as impaired under Clean Water Act §303(d) in the 2024 EPA reporting cycle (IR category 5).
Causes of impairment
Designated uses not supporting: Aquatic life.
Source: EPA ATTAINS assessment unit KY-2368 · Official waterbody report
Nearby Lakes in Rockcastle County
Frequently asked questions about Lake Linville
Where is Lake Linville?
- Lake Linville is a lake in Rockcastle County, Kentucky. Its water-quality measurements are published by Kentucky DOW and shown on this page as reported.
What is the water quality of Lake Linville?
- Lake Linville in Rockcastle County, Kentucky has water-quality measurements published by Kentucky DOW, shown here as reported. Water clarity: 3 ft visibility. Surface area: 373.1 acres.
Is Lake Linville safe to swim in?
- Nutrient and algae readings are not a swimming clearance. Lake Linville is listed impaired under Clean Water Act §303(d) (IR 5) for nutrients (phosphorus, nitrogen). Check local advisories before you swim.
Can I fish at Lake Linville?
- Public access to Lake Linville is listed as yes on the lake record. Seasons, size and bag limits, and whether you need a license are set by Kentucky's fish and wildlife agency, so check its current regulations before you go.
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Where this data comes from
22 measurements from 1 monitoring station, 2018–2019. Retrieved from the EPA Water Quality Portal on 2026-08-02.
Collected and reported by
- North American Lake Management Society
NALMS22 samples · 2018–2019
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