Totier Creek Reservoir
Albemarle County, Virginia58 acresView mapDirections
Virginia DEQ publishes the water-quality measurements for Totier Creek Reservoir. Here is what has been measured.
- Eutrophic
- 24 ft max depth
- Public access
Totier Creek Reservoir in Albemarle County, Virginia has water-quality measurements published by Virginia DEQ, shown here as reported. Water clarity: 3 ft visibility. Phosphorus: 50 µg/L. Chlorophyll-a (algae): 25.8 µg/L. Surface area: 58.4 acres.
Totier Creek Reservoir is a 58-acre productive, nutrient-rich eutrophic lake in Albemarle County, Virginia with an estimated average depth of about 24 feet. Overall water quality is declining over recent sampling years. Limited fish-species data available. Public access is available. Compared to the 7 other monitored lakes in Albemarle County, Totier Creek Reservoir ranks #7 for water quality.
Source: EPA Water Quality Portal sampling records, Virginia DEQ, last sampled 2022-10-27. 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 Totier Creek Reservoir 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 Totier Creek Reservoir
These are the measurements Virginia DEQ publishes for Totier Creek Reservoir, 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 3 ft of visibility. Phosphorus 50 µg/L. Chlorophyll-a 25.8 µg/L. TSI 62.
| Measure | Reading | Where it sits |
|---|---|---|
| Water clarity (Secchi depth) | 3ft | Measured, not scored How deep a black-and-white disk stays visible from the surface. Higher is clearer. |
| Total phosphorus | 50µg/L | Poor GoodFairPoor |
| Chlorophyll-a (algae) | 25.8µg/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. | 62 | Eutrophic OligotrophicMesotrophicEutrophicHypereutrophic |
High nutrients, frequent algae, reduced clarity
Ask about Totier Creek Reservoir
Answers come straight from the public measurements and survey records on this page.
Lake Details
Max depth
~24 ft est.
Surface area
58 acres
Public access
Yes
Listed by Virginia DEQ
Depth marked “est.” is a modeled maximum from GLOBathy (Khazaei et al. 2022, CC0), not a measured survey. Virginia has not published bathymetry for Totier Creek Reservoir.
Lake Size & Watershed
Watershed (drainage) area
29 sq mi
HydroLAKES / HydroSHEDS
Shoreline
2.1 mi
HydroLAKES / HydroSHEDS
Elevation
325 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 Totier Creek Reservoir
Compare lakeside cabins, hotels, and vacation rentals near Totier Creek Reservoir in Albemarle 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 Totier Creek Reservoir are listed below.
Top-rated places to stay near Totier Creek Reservoir
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Fishing Totier Creek Reservoir
Water Quality Trend: Worsening
Based on 4 years of monitoring (2015–2022).
Water clarity
Worsening4 years
Phosphorus
Worsening+6.49 µg/L/yr4 years
Chlorophyll-a
Worsening+2.93 µg/L/yr4 years
Reservoir Info (USACE NID)
Totier Creek Reservoir is a man-made reservoir impounded by the Totier Creek Dam, built primarily for water supply on the Totier Creek; earth-type dam, 35 ft tall and 277 ft long.
- Surface area
- 58.4 ac
- Normal storage
- 561 ac-ft
- Max storage
- 875 ac-ft
- Drainage area
- 30 sq mi
- Hazard class
- Low
- Owner
- Rivanna Water and Sewer Authority
All listed purposes: Water Supply;Recreation.
Source: USACE National Inventory of Dams, NID ID VA003127 · Operator website
Nearby Lakes in Albemarle County
Frequently asked questions about Totier Creek Reservoir
Where is Totier Creek Reservoir?
- Totier Creek Reservoir is a lake in Albemarle County, Virginia. Its water-quality measurements are published by Virginia DEQ and shown on this page as reported.
What is the water quality of Totier Creek Reservoir?
- Totier Creek Reservoir in Albemarle County, Virginia has water-quality measurements published by Virginia DEQ, shown here as reported. Water clarity: 3 ft visibility. Phosphorus: 50 µg/L. Chlorophyll-a (algae): 25.8 µg/L. Surface area: 58.4 acres.
Is Totier Creek Reservoir safe to swim in?
- Nutrient and algae readings are not a swimming clearance. Check local advisories before you swim.
How deep is Totier Creek Reservoir?
- No published bathymetric survey covers Totier Creek Reservoir, so its depth has not been measured. The HydroLAKES global model estimates an average depth of about 24 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 58.4 acres.
Can I fish at Totier Creek Reservoir?
- Public access to Totier Creek Reservoir is listed as yes on the lake record. Seasons, size and bag limits, and whether you need a license are set by Virginia's fish and wildlife agency, so check its current regulations before you go.
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Where this data comes from
122 measurements from 1 monitoring station, 2015–2022. Retrieved from the EPA Water Quality Portal on 2026-08-02.
Collected and reported by
- VIRGINIA DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY
21VASWCB122 samples · 2015–2022
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
- 2130 B ~ Nephelometric Method
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
Lake size & watershed from HydroLAKES (HydroSHEDS)