Prince Edward Lake-Near Dam
Prince Edward County, Virginia27 acresView mapDirections
This is the name Virginia DEQ records for this water. It can describe one sampling location rather than the water as a whole.
Virginia DEQ publishes the water-quality measurements for Prince Edward Lake-Near Dam. Here is what has been measured.
- Eutrophic
- Impaired · Algal growth
- 35 ft max depth
Prince Edward Lake-Near Dam in Prince Edward County, Virginia has water-quality measurements published by Virginia DEQ, shown here as reported. Water clarity: 2.6 ft visibility. Phosphorus: 20 µg/L. Chlorophyll-a (algae): 8.4 µg/L. Surface area: 27 acres.
Prince Edward Lake-Near Dam is a 27-acre productive, nutrient-rich eutrophic lake in Prince Edward County, Virginia with an estimated average depth of about 35 feet. Overall water quality is declining over recent sampling years. Compared to the 5 other monitored lakes in Prince Edward County, Prince Edward Lake-Near Dam ranks #5 for water quality.
Source: EPA Water Quality Portal sampling records, Virginia DEQ, last sampled 2022-10-05. Methodology: how these readings are compared.
Swimming conditions
Readings onlyRecreation use not supported
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. Prince Edward Lake-Near Dam is listed impaired under Clean Water Act §303(d) (IR 5) for algal growth, oxygen depletion (low DO). Check local advisories before you swim.
Whether Prince Edward Lake-Near Dam is safe to swim in today is a call for the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality and the county health department, who post current advisories. LakeQuality does not issue swimming clearances.
Water quality measurements for Prince Edward Lake-Near Dam
These are the measurements Virginia DEQ publishes for Prince Edward Lake-Near Dam, 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 2.6 ft of visibility. Phosphorus 20 µg/L. Chlorophyll-a 8.4 µg/L. TSI 54.
| Measure | Reading | Where it sits |
|---|---|---|
| Water clarity (Secchi depth) | 2.6ft | Measured, not scored How deep a black-and-white disk stays visible from the surface. Higher is clearer. |
| Total phosphorus | 20µg/L | Fair GoodFairPoor |
| Chlorophyll-a (algae) | 8.4µg/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. | 54 | Eutrophic OligotrophicMesotrophicEutrophicHypereutrophic |
High nutrients, frequent algae, reduced clarity
Ask about Prince Edward Lake-Near Dam
Answers come straight from the public measurements and survey records on this page.
Lake Details
Max depth
~35 ft est.
Surface area
27 acres
Depth marked “est.” is a modeled maximum from GLOBathy (Khazaei et al. 2022, CC0), not a measured survey. Virginia has not published bathymetry for Prince Edward Lake-Near Dam.
Lake Size & Watershed
Watershed (drainage) area
2 sq mi
HydroLAKES / HydroSHEDS
Shoreline
1.2 mi
HydroLAKES / HydroSHEDS
Elevation
463 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.
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Fishing Prince Edward Lake-Near Dam
Water Quality Trend: Worsening
Based on 4 years of monitoring (2013–2022).
Water clarity
Worsening4 years
Phosphorus
Worsening+1.85 µg/L/yr3 years
Chlorophyll-a
Worsening+0.88 µg/L/yr3 years
Reservoir Info (USACE NID)
Prince Edward Lake-Near Dam is a man-made reservoir impounded by the Prince Edward Dam (completed 1946), built primarily for recreation on the Tr-Sandy River; earth-type dam, 37 ft tall and 345 ft long.
- Surface area
- 27 ac
- Normal storage
- 370 ac-ft
- Max storage
- 600 ac-ft
- Drainage area
- 1.62 sq mi
- Hazard class
- Low
- Owner
- Department of Conservation & Recreation - Division of State Parks
Source: USACE National Inventory of Dams, NID ID VA147004 · Operator website · Matched by proximity (0.13 km)
EPA Impairment Status
Prince Edward Lake-Near Dam is officially listed as impaired under Clean Water Act §303(d) in the 2022 EPA reporting cycle (IR category 5).
Causes of impairment
Designated uses not supporting: Aquatic life, Recreation.
Source: EPA ATTAINS assessment unit VAP-J03L_SDY02A06 · Official waterbody report
Nearby Lakes in Prince Edward County
Frequently asked questions about Prince Edward Lake-Near Dam
Where is Prince Edward Lake-Near Dam?
- Prince Edward Lake-Near Dam is in Prince Edward County, Virginia. This is the name Virginia DEQ records for this water. It can describe one sampling location rather than the water as a whole. Its water-quality measurements are published by Virginia DEQ and shown on this page as reported.
What is the water quality of Prince Edward Lake-Near Dam?
- Prince Edward Lake-Near Dam in Prince Edward County, Virginia has water-quality measurements published by Virginia DEQ, shown here as reported. Water clarity: 2.6 ft visibility. Phosphorus: 20 µg/L. Chlorophyll-a (algae): 8.4 µg/L. Surface area: 27 acres.
Is Prince Edward Lake-Near Dam safe to swim in?
- Nutrient and algae readings are not a swimming clearance. Prince Edward Lake-Near Dam is listed impaired under Clean Water Act §303(d) (IR 5) for algal growth, oxygen depletion (low DO). Check local advisories before you swim.
How deep is Prince Edward Lake-Near Dam?
- No published bathymetric survey covers Prince Edward Lake-Near Dam, so its depth has not been measured. The HydroLAKES global model estimates an average depth of about 35 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 27 acres.
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Where this data comes from
52 measurements from 1 monitoring station, 2021–2022. Retrieved from the EPA Water Quality Portal on 2026-08-02.
Collected and reported by
- VIRGINIA DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY
21VASWCB52 samples · 2021–2022
Analytical methods
- Tyler, John. 1968. The secchi disk, Limnology and Oceanograpy, 13(1):1-6.
- Total Phosphorus After Block Digestion
- 445.0 ~ EPA; Chlorophyll and Pheophytin in Algae by Fluorescence
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)