Lower Gooseberry Reservoir
Sanpete County, Utah52 acresView mapDirections
Utah DWQ publishes the water-quality measurements for Lower Gooseberry Reservoir. Here is what has been measured.
- Mesotrophic
- Impaired · Nutrients (phosphorus, nitrogen)
- 12 ft max depth
- Limited data
Lower Gooseberry Reservoir in Sanpete County, Utah has water-quality measurements published by Utah DWQ, shown here as reported. Water clarity: 7.4 ft visibility. Phosphorus: 34 µg/L. Chlorophyll-a (algae): 3.3 µg/L. Surface area: 52 acres.
Lower Gooseberry Reservoir is a 52-acre mesotrophic lake in Sanpete County, Utah with an estimated average depth of about 12 feet. Overall water quality is declining over recent sampling years. Compared to the 10 other monitored lakes in Sanpete County, Lower Gooseberry Reservoir ranks #7 for water quality.
Source: EPA Water Quality Portal sampling records, Utah DWQ, last sampled 2025-09-22. Methodology: how these readings are compared.
What Lower Gooseberry Reservoir is good for
From access and monitoring records, not editorial picks.
- Camping1 public campground nearby
Swimming conditions
Readings onlyLimited data
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. Lower Gooseberry Reservoir is listed impaired under Clean Water Act §303(d) (IR 5) for nutrients (phosphorus, nitrogen). Check local advisories before you swim.
Whether Lower Gooseberry 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 Lower Gooseberry Reservoir
These are the measurements Utah DWQ publishes for Lower Gooseberry 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 7.4 ft. Phosphorus 34 µg/L. Chlorophyll-a 3.3 µg/L. TSI 49.
| Measure | Reading | Where it sits |
|---|---|---|
| Water clarity (Secchi depth) | 7.4ft | Measured, not scored How deep a black-and-white disk stays visible from the surface. Higher is clearer. |
| Total phosphorus | 34µg/L | Fair GoodFairPoor |
| Chlorophyll-a (algae) | 3.3µg/L | Fair GoodFairPoor |
| Trophic state (TSI)Carlson's 0–100 index of how much algae a lake can support, from clarity, phosphorus and chlorophyll-a. | 49 | Mesotrophic OligotrophicMesotrophicEutrophicHypereutrophic |
Moderate nutrients, good water quality
Ask about Lower Gooseberry Reservoir
Answers come straight from the public measurements and survey records on this page.
Lake Details
Max depth
~12 ft est.
Surface area
52 acres
Depth marked “est.” is a modeled maximum from GLOBathy (Khazaei et al. 2022, CC0), not a measured survey. Utah has not published bathymetry for Lower Gooseberry Reservoir.
Lake Size & Watershed
Watershed (drainage) area
16 sq mi
HydroLAKES / HydroSHEDS
Shoreline
2.1 mi
HydroLAKES / HydroSHEDS
Elevation
8,432 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 Lower Gooseberry Reservoir
- Gooseberry Reservoir Campground0.4 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
Stays via Stay22
Stays near Lower Gooseberry Reservoir
Compare lakeside cabins, hotels, and vacation rentals near Lower Gooseberry Reservoir in Sanpete County, Utah — 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.
Top-rated places to stay near Lower Gooseberry Reservoir
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Fishing Lower Gooseberry Reservoir
Water Quality Trend: Worsening
Based on 6 years of monitoring (2012–2025).
Water clarity
Worsening6 years
Chlorophyll-a
Worsening+0.18 µg/L/yr4 years
Reservoir Info (USACE NID)
Lower Gooseberry Reservoir is a man-made reservoir impounded by the Gooseberry (Lower) Dam (Fs) (completed 1937), built primarily for recreation on the Gooseberry Creek; earth-type dam, 29 ft tall and 520 ft long.
- Surface area
- 52 ac
- Normal storage
- 190 ac-ft
- Max storage
- 820 ac-ft
- Drainage area
- 15 sq mi
- Hazard class
- Significant
- Owner
- USDA FS
All listed purposes: Recreation;Fish and Wildlife Pond.
Source: USACE National Inventory of Dams, NID ID UT10142 · Operator website · Matched by proximity (0.2 km)
EPA Impairment Status
Lower Gooseberry 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-14060007-004_00 · Official waterbody report
Nearby Lakes in Sanpete County
Frequently asked questions about Lower Gooseberry Reservoir
Where is Lower Gooseberry Reservoir?
- Lower Gooseberry Reservoir is a lake in Sanpete County, Utah. Its water-quality measurements are published by Utah DWQ and shown on this page as reported.
What is the water quality of Lower Gooseberry Reservoir?
- Lower Gooseberry Reservoir in Sanpete County, Utah has water-quality measurements published by Utah DWQ, shown here as reported. Water clarity: 7.4 ft visibility. Phosphorus: 34 µg/L. Chlorophyll-a (algae): 3.3 µg/L. Surface area: 52 acres.
Is Lower Gooseberry Reservoir safe to swim in?
- Nutrient and algae readings are not a swimming clearance. Lower Gooseberry Reservoir is listed impaired under Clean Water Act §303(d) (IR 5) for nutrients (phosphorus, nitrogen). Check local advisories before you swim.
How deep is Lower Gooseberry Reservoir?
- No published bathymetric survey covers Lower Gooseberry Reservoir, so its depth has not been measured. The HydroLAKES global model estimates an average depth of about 12 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 52 acres.
Are there campgrounds on Lower Gooseberry Reservoir?
- Lower Gooseberry Reservoir has 1 public campground from USGS The National Map within 5 km, including Gooseberry Reservoir Campground. 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 Lower Gooseberry Reservoir across LakeQuality
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Other Lakes in Utah
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Where this data comes from
37 measurements from 1 monitoring station, 2013–2025. Retrieved from the EPA Water Quality Portal on 2026-08-02.
Collected and reported by
- Utah Department Of Environmental Quality
UTAHDWQ_WQX37 samples · 2013–2025
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