Little Creek Reservoir
Rich County, UtahView mapDirections
Utah DWQ publishes the water-quality measurements for Little Creek Reservoir. Here is what has been measured.
- Impaired · pH / acidity
- 13 ft max depth
- Limited data
Little Creek Reservoir in Rich County, Utah has water-quality measurements published by Utah DWQ, shown here as reported. Water clarity: 9.8 ft visibility. Phosphorus: 11.6 µg/L. Chlorophyll-a (algae): 2.5 µg/L.
Little Creek Reservoir is a lake in Rich County, Utah with an estimated average depth of about 13 feet.
Source: EPA Water Quality Portal sampling records, Utah DWQ, last sampled 2021-07-13. Methodology: how these readings are compared.
What Little Creek Reservoir is good for
From access and monitoring records, not editorial picks.
- Clear water9.8 ft of visibility
- Camping1 public campground nearby
Swimming conditions
No readingLimited data
Nutrient and algae readings are not a swimming clearance. Little Creek Reservoir is listed impaired under Clean Water Act §303(d) (IR 5) for pH / acidity, temperature. Check local advisories before you swim.
Whether Little Creek Reservoir is safe to swim in today is a call for the Utah Division of Water Quality and the county health department, who post current advisories. LakeQuality does not issue swimming clearances.
Water quality measurements for Little Creek Reservoir
These are the measurements Utah DWQ publishes for Little Creek Reservoir, shown as reported. The condition class beside each reading is the EPA National Lakes Assessment class for this lake’s ecoregion.
Moderate clarity, visible to about 9.8 ft. Phosphorus 11.6 µg/L. Chlorophyll-a 2.5 µg/L. TSI 41.
| Measure | Reading | Where it sits |
|---|---|---|
| Water clarity (Secchi depth) | 9.8ft | Measured, not scored How deep a black-and-white disk stays visible from the surface. Higher is clearer. |
| Total phosphorus | 11.6µg/L | Measured, not scored The nutrient that most limits algae growth in freshwater. More phosphorus, more algae potential. |
| Chlorophyll-a (algae) | 2.5µg/L | Measured, not scored 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. | 41 | Mesotrophic OligotrophicMesotrophicEutrophicHypereutrophic |
Moderate nutrients, good water quality
Ask about Little Creek Reservoir
Answers come straight from the public measurements and survey records on this page.
Lake Details
Max depth
~13 ft est.
Depth marked “est.” is a modeled maximum from GLOBathy (Khazaei et al. 2022, CC0), not a measured survey. Utah has not published bathymetry for Little Creek Reservoir.
Lake Size & Watershed
Watershed (drainage) area
34 sq mi
HydroLAKES / HydroSHEDS
Surface area
47 acres
HydroLAKES / HydroSHEDS
Shoreline
1.1 mi
HydroLAKES / HydroSHEDS
Elevation
6,394 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
Public campgrounds near Little Creek Reservoir
- Little Creek0.4 km
Nearest public campgrounds in the USGS National Map inventory, within about 3 miles. An empty list means USGS records no campground that close, which is not the same as camping being unavailable. Where the source gives an official reservation link, it is used; the cabin and hotel search does not cover campsites. More camping lakes
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Stays near Little Creek Reservoir
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Fishing Little Creek Reservoir
Water quality readings over time
2 seasons of samples on record (2015–2021). Calling a direction takes at least 4 years of the same measurement.
Water clarity
Stable2 years
Reservoir Info (USACE NID)
Little Creek Reservoir is a man-made reservoir impounded by the Little Creek (completed 1929), built primarily for irrigation on the Little Creek; earth-type dam, 22 ft tall and 1,850 ft long.
- Normal storage
- 852 ac-ft
- Max storage
- 1,108 ac-ft
- Drainage area
- 32 sq mi
- Hazard class
- Significant
- Owner
- LITTLE CREEK IRRIGATION & RESERVOIR CO.
Source: USACE National Inventory of Dams, NID ID UT00179 · Operator website
EPA Impairment Status
Little Creek Reservoir 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 UT-L-16010101-007_00 · Official waterbody report
Nearby Lakes in Rich County
Frequently asked questions about Little Creek Reservoir
Where is Little Creek Reservoir?
- Little Creek Reservoir is a lake in Rich County, Utah. Its water-quality measurements are published by Utah DWQ and shown on this page as reported.
What is the water quality of Little Creek Reservoir?
- Little Creek Reservoir in Rich County, Utah has water-quality measurements published by Utah DWQ, shown here as reported. Water clarity: 9.8 ft visibility. Phosphorus: 11.6 µg/L. Chlorophyll-a (algae): 2.5 µg/L.
Is Little Creek Reservoir safe to swim in?
- Nutrient and algae readings are not a swimming clearance. Little Creek Reservoir is listed impaired under Clean Water Act §303(d) (IR 5) for pH / acidity, temperature. Check local advisories before you swim.
How deep is Little Creek Reservoir?
- No published bathymetric survey covers Little Creek Reservoir, so its depth has not been measured. The HydroLAKES global model estimates an average depth of about 13 feet, but that is a modelled estimate derived from surrounding terrain rather than a measurement on the water, so treat it as approximate.
Are there campgrounds on Little Creek Reservoir?
- Little Creek Reservoir has 1 public campground from USGS The National Map within 5 km, including Little Creek. This is a location join, not a booking. Cabins and hotels are listed separately; campsite reservations use the official link when the source provides one.
Explore Little Creek Reservoir across LakeQuality
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Where this data comes from
11 measurements from 1 monitoring station, 2015–2021. Retrieved from the EPA Water Quality Portal on 2026-08-02.
Collected and reported by
- Utah Department Of Environmental Quality
UTAHDWQ_WQX11 samples · 2015–2021
Analytical methods
- Field Measurements
- Phosphorus by Colorimetry
- 10200 H ~ Chlorophyll a-b-c Determination
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)
Public campgrounds from USGS The National Map Structures, within about 3 miles