Townes Reservoir
Patrick County, Virginia40 acresView mapDirections
Virginia DEQ publishes the water-quality measurements for Townes Reservoir. Here is what has been measured.
- Eutrophic
- Impaired · Pathogens (E. coli, fecal)
Townes Reservoir in Patrick County, Virginia has water-quality measurements published by Virginia DEQ, shown here as reported. Water clarity: 5.2 ft visibility. Phosphorus: 20 µg/L. Chlorophyll-a (algae): 8.9 µg/L. Surface area: 40 acres.
Townes Reservoir is a 40-acre productive, nutrient-rich eutrophic lake in Patrick County, Virginia. Overall water quality is declining over recent sampling years. Compared to the 5 other monitored lakes in Patrick County, Townes Reservoir ranks #6 for water quality.
Source: EPA Water Quality Portal sampling records, Virginia DEQ, last sampled 2022-10-17. Methodology: how these readings are compared.
Swimming conditions
Readings onlyBacteria advisory
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. Townes Reservoir is listed impaired under Clean Water Act §303(d) (IR 5) for pathogens (E. coli, fecal), pH / acidity. Check local advisories before you swim.
Whether Townes 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 Townes Reservoir
These are the measurements Virginia DEQ publishes for Townes Reservoir, 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 5.2 ft. Phosphorus 20 µg/L. Chlorophyll-a 8.9 µg/L. TSI 51.
| Measure | Reading | Where it sits |
|---|---|---|
| Water clarity (Secchi depth) | 5.2ft | 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) | 8.9µg/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. | 51 | Eutrophic OligotrophicMesotrophicEutrophicHypereutrophic |
High nutrients, frequent algae, reduced clarity
Ask about Townes Reservoir
Answers come straight from the public measurements and survey records on this page.
Lake Details
Surface area
40 acres
No bathymetric survey has been published for Townes Reservoir, so its depth is not documented here.
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Fishing Townes Reservoir
Water Quality Trend: Worsening
Based on 4 years of monitoring (2015–2022).
Water clarity
Improving4 years
Phosphorus
Worsening+1.42 µg/L/yr4 years
Chlorophyll-a
Worsening+0.7 µg/L/yr4 years
Reservoir Info (USACE NID)
Townes Reservoir is a man-made reservoir impounded by the Townes (completed 1938), built primarily for hydroelectric on the Dan; arch-type dam, 133 ft tall and 575 ft long.
- Surface area
- 40 ac
- Normal storage
- 1,325 ac-ft
- Max storage
- 1,400 ac-ft
- Drainage area
- 33 sq mi
- Hazard class
- High
- Owner
- Northbrook Carolina Hydro II, LLC
Source: USACE National Inventory of Dams, NID ID VA141002 · Operator website
EPA Impairment Status
Townes Reservoir 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.
A Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) plan has been approved.
Source: EPA ATTAINS assessment unit VAW-L42L_DAN02A02 · Official waterbody report
Nearby Lakes in Patrick County
Frequently asked questions about Townes Reservoir
Where is Townes Reservoir?
- Townes Reservoir is a lake in Patrick County, Virginia. Its water-quality measurements are published by Virginia DEQ and shown on this page as reported.
What is the water quality of Townes Reservoir?
- Townes Reservoir in Patrick County, Virginia has water-quality measurements published by Virginia DEQ, shown here as reported. Water clarity: 5.2 ft visibility. Phosphorus: 20 µg/L. Chlorophyll-a (algae): 8.9 µg/L. Surface area: 40 acres.
Is Townes Reservoir safe to swim in?
- Nutrient and algae readings are not a swimming clearance. Townes Reservoir is listed impaired under Clean Water Act §303(d) (IR 5) for pathogens (E. coli, fecal), pH / acidity. Check local advisories before you swim.
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Where this data comes from
124 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
21VASWCB124 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
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