Mcphee Reservoir
Montezuma County, Colorado4,918 acresView mapDirections
Colorado WQCD publishes the water-quality measurements for Mcphee Reservoir. Here is what has been measured.
- Impaired · Mercury
- 139 ft max depth
- Limited data
Mcphee Reservoir in Montezuma County, Colorado has water-quality measurements published by Colorado WQCD, shown here as reported. Water clarity: 10.5 ft visibility. Phosphorus: 105 µg/L. Chlorophyll-a (algae): 0.9 µg/L. Surface area: 4918 acres.
Mcphee Reservoir is a 4,918-acre lake in Montezuma County, Colorado with an estimated average depth of about 139 feet.
Source: EPA Water Quality Portal sampling records, CDPHE, last sampled 2021-07-07. Methodology: how these readings are compared.
Mcphee Reservoir covers about 4,900 acres in Montezuma County. For a place on the water, look through cabin and lake-house rentals near Mcphee Reservoir on Vrbo. For a hotel or motel room, Booking.com and Expedia both search around the lake.
What Mcphee Reservoir is good for
From access and monitoring records, not editorial picks.
- Clear water10.5 ft of visibility
- Camping3 public campgrounds nearby
- Big water4,918 acres
Swimming conditions
No readingLimited data
Nutrient and algae readings are not a swimming clearance. Mcphee Reservoir is listed impaired under Clean Water Act §303(d) (IR 4A) for mercury. Check local advisories before you swim.
Whether Mcphee Reservoir is safe to swim in today is a call for the Water Quality Control Division of the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment and the county health department, who post current advisories. LakeQuality does not issue swimming clearances.
Water quality measurements for Mcphee Reservoir
These are the measurements Colorado WQCD publishes for Mcphee Reservoir, shown as reported. The condition class beside each reading is the EPA National Lakes Assessment class for this lake’s ecoregion.
Good clarity, visible to about 10.5 ft. Phosphorus 105 µg/L. Chlorophyll-a 0.9 µg/L. TSI 48.
| Measure | Reading | Where it sits |
|---|---|---|
| Water clarity (Secchi depth) | 10.5ft | Measured, not scored How deep a black-and-white disk stays visible from the surface. Higher is clearer. |
| Total phosphorus | 105µg/L | Measured, not scored The nutrient that most limits algae growth in freshwater. More phosphorus, more algae potential. |
| Chlorophyll-a (algae) | 0.9µg/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. | 48 | Mesotrophic OligotrophicMesotrophicEutrophicHypereutrophic |
Moderate nutrients, good water quality
Ask about Mcphee Reservoir
Answers come straight from the public measurements and survey records on this page.
Lake Details
Max depth
~139 ft est.
Surface area
4,918 acres
Depth marked “est.” is a modeled maximum from GLOBathy (Khazaei et al. 2022, CC0), not a measured survey. Colorado has not published bathymetry for Mcphee Reservoir.
Lake Size & Watershed
Watershed (drainage) area
805 sq mi
HydroLAKES / HydroSHEDS
Shoreline
34.4 mi
HydroLAKES / HydroSHEDS
Elevation
6,926 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 Mcphee Reservoir
- House Creek Cg1.0 km
- Mcphee Recreation Complex1.4 kmReserve
- Mcphee Cg1.8 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 Mcphee Reservoir
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Top-rated places to stay near Mcphee Reservoir
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Fishing Mcphee Reservoir
Reservoir Info (USACE NID)
Mcphee Reservoir is a man-made reservoir impounded by the Mcphee Great Cut Dike (completed 1983), built primarily for fish and wildlife pond on the Delores River; earth-type dam, 75 ft tall and 1,900 ft long.
- Surface area
- 4,918 ac
- Normal storage
- 381,000 ac-ft
- Max storage
- 399,200 ac-ft
- Hazard class
- High
- Owner
- BUREAU OF RECLAMATION
All listed purposes: Fish and Wildlife Pond;Irrigation;Recreation;Hydroelectric;Water Supply.
Source: USACE National Inventory of Dams, NID ID CO02707 · Operator website
EPA Impairment Status
Mcphee Reservoir is officially listed as impaired under Clean Water Act §303(d) in the 2024 EPA reporting cycle (IR category 4A).
Causes of impairment
Designated uses not supporting: Aquatic life.
A Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) plan has been approved.
Source: EPA ATTAINS assessment unit COSJDO04b_B · Official waterbody report
Nearby Lakes in Montezuma County
Frequently asked questions about Mcphee Reservoir
Where is Mcphee Reservoir?
- Mcphee Reservoir is a lake in Montezuma County, Colorado. Its water-quality measurements are published by Colorado WQCD and shown on this page as reported.
What is the water quality of Mcphee Reservoir?
- Mcphee Reservoir in Montezuma County, Colorado has water-quality measurements published by Colorado WQCD, shown here as reported. Water clarity: 10.5 ft visibility. Phosphorus: 105 µg/L. Chlorophyll-a (algae): 0.9 µg/L. Surface area: 4918 acres.
Is Mcphee Reservoir safe to swim in?
- Nutrient and algae readings are not a swimming clearance. Mcphee Reservoir is listed impaired under Clean Water Act §303(d) (IR 4A) for mercury. Check local advisories before you swim.
How deep is Mcphee Reservoir?
- No published bathymetric survey covers Mcphee Reservoir, so its depth has not been measured. The HydroLAKES global model estimates an average depth of about 139 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 4918 acres.
Are there campgrounds on Mcphee Reservoir?
- Mcphee Reservoir has 3 public campgrounds from USGS The National Map within 5 km, including House Creek Cg, Mcphee Recreation Complex, Mcphee Cg. 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.
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Where this data comes from
6 measurements from 2 monitoring stations, 2021. Retrieved from the EPA Water Quality Portal on 2026-08-02.
Collected and reported by
- Colorado Dept. of Public Health & Environment-WQCD
21COL001_WQX6 samples · 2021
Analytical methods
- Secchi disk depth measurement
- Phosphorus by Colorimetry
- 10200 H ~ Chlorophyll a-b-c Determination
- Nitrogen in Water by Pyrolysis Detection
Monitoring station identifiers (2)
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