Phelps Lake
Washington County, North CarolinaView mapDirections
NC DEQ publishes the water-quality measurements for Phelps Lake. Here is what has been measured.
- Mesotrophic
- 318 ft max depth
Phelps Lake in Washington County, North Carolina has water-quality measurements published by NC DEQ, shown here as reported. Water clarity: 3.6 ft visibility. Phosphorus: 50 µg/L. Chlorophyll-a (algae): 6.2 µg/L.
Phelps Lake is a mesotrophic lake in Washington County, North Carolina with an estimated average depth of about 318 feet.
Source: EPA Water Quality Portal sampling records, NCDEQ, last sampled 2025-09-24. Methodology: how these readings are compared.
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Swimming conditions
Readings onlyModerate algae
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. Check local advisories before you swim.
Whether Phelps Lake is safe to swim in today is a call for the North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality and the county health department, who post current advisories. LakeQuality does not issue swimming clearances.
Water quality measurements for Phelps Lake
These are the measurements NC DEQ publishes for Phelps Lake, shown as reported. The condition class beside each reading is the EPA National Lakes Assessment class for this lake’s ecoregion.
Murky, only visible to about 3.6 ft. Phosphorus 50 µg/L. Chlorophyll-a 6.2 µg/L. TSI 56.
| Measure | Reading | Where it sits |
|---|---|---|
| Water clarity (Secchi depth) | 3.6ft | Measured, not scored How deep a black-and-white disk stays visible from the surface. Higher is clearer. |
| Total phosphorus | 50µg/L | Fair GoodFairPoor |
| Chlorophyll-a (algae) | 6.2µg/L | Good GoodFairPoor |
| Trophic state (TSI)Carlson's 0–100 index of how much algae a lake can support, from clarity, phosphorus and chlorophyll-a. | 56 | Mesotrophic OligotrophicMesotrophicEutrophicHypereutrophic |
Moderate nutrients, good water quality
Ask about Phelps Lake
Answers come straight from the public measurements and survey records on this page.
Lake Details
Max depth
~318 ft est.
Depth marked “est.” is a modeled maximum from GLOBathy (Khazaei et al. 2022, CC0), not a measured survey. North Carolina has not published bathymetry for Phelps Lake.
Lake Size & Watershed
Watershed (drainage) area
77 sq mi
HydroLAKES / HydroSHEDS
Surface area
15,585 acres
HydroLAKES / HydroSHEDS
Shoreline
18.9 mi
HydroLAKES / HydroSHEDS
Elevation
7 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.
Stays via Stay22
Stays near Phelps Lake
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Top-rated places to stay near Phelps Lake
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Fishing Phelps Lake
Water quality readings over time
2 seasons of samples on record (2020–2025). Calling a direction takes at least 4 years of the same measurement.
Chlorophyll-a
Stable0 µg/L/yr2 years
Nearby Lakes in Washington County
Frequently asked questions about Phelps Lake
Where is Phelps Lake?
- Phelps Lake is a lake in Washington County, North Carolina. Its water-quality measurements are published by NC DEQ and shown on this page as reported.
What is the water quality of Phelps Lake?
- Phelps Lake in Washington County, North Carolina has water-quality measurements published by NC DEQ, shown here as reported. Water clarity: 3.6 ft visibility. Phosphorus: 50 µg/L. Chlorophyll-a (algae): 6.2 µg/L.
Is Phelps Lake safe to swim in?
- Nutrient and algae readings are not a swimming clearance. Check local advisories before you swim.
How deep is Phelps Lake?
- No published bathymetric survey covers Phelps Lake, so its depth has not been measured. The HydroLAKES global model estimates an average depth of about 318 feet, but that is a modelled estimate derived from surrounding terrain rather than a measurement on the water, so treat it as approximate.
Explore Phelps Lake across LakeQuality
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Where this data comes from
75 measurements from 3 monitoring stations, 2020–2025. Retrieved from the EPA Water Quality Portal on 2026-08-02.
Collected and reported by
- North Carolina Dept of Environmental Quality NCDEQ-DWR WQX
21NC03WQ75 samples · 2020–2025
Analytical methods
- WSSSOP
- Phosphorus by Colorimetry
- 445.0 ~ EPA; Chlorophyll and Pheophytin in Algae by Fluorescence
- 2130 B ~ Nephelometric Method
Monitoring station identifiers (3)
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
Lake size & watershed from HydroLAKES (HydroSHEDS)