Sta Lake
Virginia Beach city County, VirginiaView 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 Sta Lake. Here is what has been measured.
- Hypereutrophic
Sta Lake in Virginia Beach city County, Virginia has water-quality measurements published by Virginia DEQ, shown here as reported. Water clarity: 1 ft visibility. Phosphorus: 150 µg/L. Chlorophyll-a (algae): 85.6 µg/L.
Sta Lake is a highly nutrient-loaded hypereutrophic lake in Virginia Beach city County, Virginia. Overall water quality is declining over recent sampling years. Compared to the 2 other monitored lakes in Virginia Beach city County, Sta Lake ranks #3 for water quality.
Source: EPA Water Quality Portal sampling records, Virginia DEQ, last sampled 2026-06-23. Methodology: how these readings are compared.
Swimming conditions
Readings onlyAlgae risk
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 Sta Lake 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 Sta Lake
These are the measurements Virginia DEQ publishes for Sta Lake, 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 1 ft of visibility. Phosphorus 150 µg/L. Chlorophyll-a 85.6 µg/L. TSI 76.
| Measure | Reading | Where it sits |
|---|---|---|
| Water clarity (Secchi depth) | 1ft | Measured, not scored How deep a black-and-white disk stays visible from the surface. Higher is clearer. |
| Total phosphorus | 150µg/L | Poor GoodFairPoor |
| Chlorophyll-a (algae) | 85.6µg/L | Poor GoodFairPoor |
| Trophic state (TSI)Carlson's 0–100 index of how much algae a lake can support, from clarity, phosphorus and chlorophyll-a. | 76 | Hypereutrophic OligotrophicMesotrophicEutrophicHypereutrophic |
Very high nutrients, dense algae, poor clarity
Ask about Sta Lake
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Stays via Stay22
Stays near Sta Lake
Compare lakeside cabins, hotels, and vacation rentals near Sta Lake in Virginia Beach city County, Virginia — 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. The water-quality readings cover nutrients and algae, not lodging. Cabins and rentals around Sta Lake are listed below.
Top-rated places to stay near Sta Lake
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Fishing Sta Lake
Water Quality Trend: Worsening
Based on 6 years of monitoring (2014–2026).
Water clarity
Stable6 years
Phosphorus
Worsening+3.83 µg/L/yr4 years
Chlorophyll-a
Stable-0.94 µg/L/yr4 years
Nearby Lakes in Virginia Beach city County
Frequently asked questions about Sta Lake
Where is Sta Lake?
- Sta Lake is in Virginia Beach city 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 Sta Lake?
- Sta Lake in Virginia Beach city County, Virginia has water-quality measurements published by Virginia DEQ, shown here as reported. Water clarity: 1 ft visibility. Phosphorus: 150 µg/L. Chlorophyll-a (algae): 85.6 µg/L.
Is Sta Lake safe to swim in?
- Nutrient and algae readings are not a swimming clearance. Check local advisories before you swim.
Explore Sta Lake across LakeQuality
More lakes in Virginia
Other Lakes in Virginia
Hypereutrophic Lakes in Virginia
Where this data comes from
453 measurements from 5 monitoring stations, 2014–2026. Retrieved from the EPA Water Quality Portal on 2026-08-02.
Collected and reported by
- VIRGINIA DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY
21VASWCB453 samples · 2014–2026
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
- 446.0 ~ EPA; Chlorophylls and Pheopigments in Phytoplankton by Spectrophotometry
- 2130 B ~ Nephelometric Method
Monitoring station identifiers (5)
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.