Skip to main content
LakeQuality

Vancouver Lake

Clark County, WashingtonView mapDirections

NR
Not rated

Not enough samples to grade — the only measurement available is water clarity, which is not a water-quality indicator on its own — EPA's National Lakes Assessment does not grade clarity. No letter yet. Here is what we do have.

Water temp
No reading
No gauge
Clarity
1.4 ft
Secchi · sampled 2012
Max depth
~310 ft est.
GLOBathy model
Level
No reading
No gauge
Trend
No reading
Not enough history
  • Impaired · Nutrients (phosphorus, nitrogen)
  • 310 ft max depth
  • Limited data

Vancouver Lake in Clark County, Washington is not rated for water quality — its monitoring record does not meet the evidence bar. Water clarity: 1.4 ft visibility. Phosphorus: 80 µg/L. Chlorophyll-a (algae): 28.6 µg/L.

Clarity
1.4 ft
Max depth
~310 ft est.
Phosphorus
80 µg/L
Chlorophyll-a
28.6 µg/L
Loading map…

Stays via Stay22

Stays near Vancouver Lake

Compare lakeside cabins, hotels, and vacation rentals near Vancouver Lake in Clark County, Washington — 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.

Top-rated places to stay near Vancouver Lake

Prices for Sep 11–13, 4 adults. Change dates on the map below.

Availability and prices from Stay22 partners (Booking.com, Vrbo, Expedia). We may earn a commission from bookings, at no extra cost to you.

Planning a whole trip? See where to stay at Washington’s top lakes →

Watch Vancouver Lake’s letter

Email me if this lake’s grade moves. Grades stay free.


Or email

Why Vancouver Lake has no grade

We grade a lake only when the monitoring record supports a letter: at least three phosphorus or chlorophyll-a samples in the last ten years, scored against EPA National Lakes Assessment thresholds for this lake’s ecoregion. For Vancouver Lake, the only measurement available is water clarity, which is not a water-quality indicator on its own — EPA's National Lakes Assessment does not grade clarity. Sampling here has recorded water clarity, phosphorus and algae (chlorophyll-a).

Not Rated is not an F. It is EPA Integrated Reporting Category 3 — insufficient information. The water here may be excellent or poor; nobody has measured enough of it to say. Everything below that has been measured is still reported on this page.

Sampling is run by WA Ecology and volunteer programs, and published through the EPA Water Quality Portal. Read the full grading methodology.

Vancouver Lake is a lake in Clark County, Washington with an estimated average depth of about 310 feet.

Source: EPA Water Quality Portal sampling records, WA Ecology, last sampled 2012-10-25. Grade methodology: LakeQuality methodology.

Swimming Safety

Not rated

Limited data

The letter is not a swimming clearance. Vancouver Lake is listed impaired under Clean Water Act §303(d) (IR 5) for nutrients (phosphorus, nitrogen). Check local advisories before you swim.

Get alerts for Vancouver Lake

Water quality measurements for Vancouver Lake

These readings exist but are not enough for an A–F grade — see why.

Very murky, less than 1.4 ft of visibility. Phosphorus 80 µg/L. Chlorophyll-a 28.6 µg/L. TSI 68.

MetricValueGrade
Water Clarity (Secchi Depth)1.4 ftNot graded
Phosphorus80 µg/LNot graded
Chlorophyll-a (Algae)28.6 µg/LNot graded
Trophic State Index (TSI)68Eutrophic

High nutrients, frequent algae, reduced clarity

Lake Details

CharacteristicValue
Maximum Depth~310 ft est.
Average Depth~19 ft est.

Depth marked “est.” is a modeled maximum from GLOBathy (Khazaei et al. 2022, CC0), not a measured survey. Washington has not published bathymetry for Vancouver Lake.

Lake Size & Watershed

Watershed (drainage) area
32 sq mi
Surface area
2,219 acres
Shoreline
10.3 mi
Elevation
0 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.

Fishing Vancouver Lake

EPA Impairment Status

Vancouver Lake is officially listed as impaired under Clean Water Act §303(d) in the 2018 EPA reporting cycle (IR category 5).

Causes of impairment

Nutrients (phosphorus, nitrogen)

Source: EPA ATTAINS assessment unit WA45122G7I0_01_01 · Official waterbody report

Graded lakes near Vancouver Lake

Vancouver Lake has no grade, but these lakes within a short drive do.

Nearby Lakes in Clark County

Frequently asked questions about Vancouver Lake

Where is Vancouver Lake?

Vancouver Lake is a lake in Clark County, Washington. LakeQuality has not rated this lake (UNRATED) — the only measurement available is water clarity, which is not a water-quality indicator on its own — EPA's National Lakes Assessment does not grade clarity.

What is the water quality grade for Vancouver Lake?

Vancouver Lake in Clark County, Washington is not rated for water quality — its monitoring record does not meet the evidence bar. Water clarity: 1.4 ft visibility. Phosphorus: 80 µg/L. Chlorophyll-a (algae): 28.6 µg/L.

Is Vancouver Lake safe to swim in?

The letter is not a swimming clearance. Vancouver Lake is listed impaired under Clean Water Act §303(d) (IR 5) for nutrients (phosphorus, nitrogen). Check local advisories before you swim.

How deep is Vancouver Lake?

No published bathymetric survey covers Vancouver Lake, so its depth has not been measured. The HydroLAKES global model estimates an average depth of about 310 feet, but that is a modelled estimate derived from surrounding terrain rather than a measurement on the water, so treat it as approximate.

Eutrophic Lakes in Washington

Where this data comes from

103 measurements from 2 monitoring stations, 2012. Retrieved from the EPA Water Quality Portal on 2026-08-02.

Collected and reported by

  • USGS Washington Water Science CenterUSGS-WA103 samples · 2012

Analytical methods

  • Secchi disk method
  • P, wu, WCA, persulfate CF color
  • Particulate-P, phosphomolybdate
  • Plant pigments, sonication & 445
Monitoring station identifiers (2)

Grade thresholds from the EPA National Lakes Assessment (EPA 841-R-24-006, Table 6-3), applied by ecoregion. See how grades are calculated and data sources.

Other records on this page

Impairment status from EPA ATTAINS 303(d) database

Lake size & watershed from HydroLAKES (HydroSHEDS)