Whitney Reservoir
Summit County, UtahView mapDirections
Utah DWQ publishes the water-quality measurements for Whitney Reservoir. Here is what has been measured.
- Eutrophic
- 18 ft max depth
- Limited data
Whitney Reservoir in Summit County, Utah has water-quality measurements published by Utah DWQ, shown here as reported. Water clarity: 17.7 ft visibility. Phosphorus: 23 µg/L. Chlorophyll-a (algae): 8 µg/L.
Whitney Reservoir is a productive, nutrient-rich eutrophic lake in Summit County, Utah with an estimated average depth of about 18 feet. Overall water quality is declining over recent sampling years. Compared to the 17 other monitored lakes in Summit County, Whitney Reservoir ranks #16 for water quality.
Source: EPA Water Quality Portal sampling records, Utah DWQ, last sampled 2021-09-08. Methodology: how these readings are compared.
For a place on the water, look through cabin and lake-house rentals near Whitney Reservoir on Vrbo. For a hotel or motel room, Booking.com and Expedia both search around the lake.
What Whitney Reservoir is good for
From access and monitoring records, not editorial picks.
- Clear water17.7 ft of visibility
Swimming conditions
Readings onlyLimited data
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 Whitney Reservoir is safe to swim in today is a call for the Utah Division of Water Quality and the county health department, who post current advisories. LakeQuality does not issue swimming clearances.
Water quality measurements for Whitney Reservoir
These are the measurements Utah DWQ publishes for Whitney Reservoir, shown as reported. The condition class beside each reading is the EPA National Lakes Assessment class for this lake’s ecoregion.
Crystal clear, you can see 17.7 ft down. Phosphorus 23 µg/L. Chlorophyll-a 8 µg/L. TSI 45.
| Measure | Reading | Where it sits |
|---|---|---|
| Water clarity (Secchi depth) | 17.7ft | Measured, not scored How deep a black-and-white disk stays visible from the surface. Higher is clearer. |
| Total phosphorus | 23µg/L | Good GoodFairPoor |
| Chlorophyll-a (algae) | 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. | 45 | Eutrophic OligotrophicMesotrophicEutrophicHypereutrophic |
High nutrients, frequent algae, reduced clarity
Ask about Whitney Reservoir
Answers come straight from the public measurements and survey records on this page.
Lake Details
Max depth
~18 ft est.
Depth marked “est.” is a modeled maximum from GLOBathy (Khazaei et al. 2022, CC0), not a measured survey. Utah has not published bathymetry for Whitney Reservoir.
Lake Size & Watershed
Watershed (drainage) area
7 sq mi
HydroLAKES / HydroSHEDS
Surface area
64 acres
HydroLAKES / HydroSHEDS
Shoreline
1.5 mi
HydroLAKES / HydroSHEDS
Elevation
9,249 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 Whitney Reservoir
Compare lakeside cabins, hotels, and vacation rentals near Whitney Reservoir in Summit County, Utah — 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 Whitney Reservoir are listed below.
Top-rated places to stay near Whitney Reservoir
Prices for Oct 30–Nov 1, 4 adults. Change dates on the map below.
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Fishing Whitney Reservoir
Water quality readings over time
2 seasons of samples on record (2015–2021). Calling a direction takes at least 4 years of the same measurement.
Water clarity
Worsening2 years
Reservoir Info (USACE NID)
Whitney Reservoir is a man-made reservoir impounded by the Whitney (completed 1966), built primarily for irrigation on the West Fork of Bear River; earth-type dam, 101 ft tall and 1,300 ft long.
- Normal storage
- 4,700 ac-ft
- Max storage
- 5,820 ac-ft
- Drainage area
- 7 sq mi
- Hazard class
- High
- Owner
- UPPER BEAR RIVER & MILL CREEK WATER
Source: USACE National Inventory of Dams, NID ID UT00324 · Operator website
Nearby Lakes in Summit County
Frequently asked questions about Whitney Reservoir
Where is Whitney Reservoir?
- Whitney Reservoir is a lake in Summit County, Utah. Its water-quality measurements are published by Utah DWQ and shown on this page as reported.
What is the water quality of Whitney Reservoir?
- Whitney Reservoir in Summit County, Utah has water-quality measurements published by Utah DWQ, shown here as reported. Water clarity: 17.7 ft visibility. Phosphorus: 23 µg/L. Chlorophyll-a (algae): 8 µg/L.
Is Whitney Reservoir safe to swim in?
- Nutrient and algae readings are not a swimming clearance. Check local advisories before you swim.
How deep is Whitney Reservoir?
- No published bathymetric survey covers Whitney Reservoir, so its depth has not been measured. The HydroLAKES global model estimates an average depth of about 18 feet, but that is a modelled estimate derived from surrounding terrain rather than a measurement on the water, so treat it as approximate.
Explore Whitney Reservoir across LakeQuality
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Where this data comes from
36 measurements from 1 monitoring station, 2015–2021. Retrieved from the EPA Water Quality Portal on 2026-08-02.
Collected and reported by
- Utah Department Of Environmental Quality
UTAHDWQ_WQX36 samples · 2015–2021
Analytical methods
- Field Measurements
- Phosphorus by Colorimetry
- 10200 H ~ Chlorophyll a-b-c Determination
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)