Willisburg Lake
Washington County, Kentucky126 acresView mapDirections
Kentucky DOW publishes the water-quality measurements for Willisburg Lake. Here is what has been measured.
- Impaired · Nutrients (phosphorus, nitrogen)
- 27 ft max depth
- Public access
- Limited data
Willisburg Lake in Washington County, Kentucky has water-quality measurements published by Kentucky DOW, shown here as reported. Phosphorus: 25.6 µg/L. Surface area: 126.1 acres.
Willisburg Lake is a 126-acre lake in Washington County, Kentucky with an estimated average depth of about 27 feet. Limited fish-species data available. Public access is available with 1 public boat landing.
Source: EPA Water Quality Portal sampling records, KY DOW, last sampled 2014-10-16. Methodology: how these readings are compared.
Willisburg Lake covers about 130 acres in Washington County. It has one public boat landing. Vrbo is where to look for cabins and lake homes around Willisburg Lake, and Booking.com and Expedia search hotels near the lake for your dates.
What Willisburg Lake is good for
From access and monitoring records, not editorial picks.
- Boat launch1 documented ramp
Swimming conditions
No readingLimited data
Nutrient and algae readings are not a swimming clearance. Willisburg Lake is listed impaired under Clean Water Act §303(d) (IR 5) for nutrients (phosphorus, nitrogen). Check local advisories before you swim.
Whether Willisburg Lake is safe to swim in today is a call for the Kentucky Division of Water and the county health department, who post current advisories. LakeQuality does not issue swimming clearances.
Water quality measurements for Willisburg Lake
These are the measurements Kentucky DOW publishes for Willisburg Lake, shown as reported. The condition class beside each reading is the EPA National Lakes Assessment class for this lake’s ecoregion.
No clarity data. Phosphorus 25.6 µg/L. TSI 51.
| Measure | Reading | Where it sits |
|---|---|---|
| Water clarity (Secchi depth) | No reading How deep a black-and-white disk stays visible from the surface. Higher is clearer. | |
| Total phosphorus | 25.6µg/L | Measured, not scored The nutrient that most limits algae growth in freshwater. More phosphorus, more algae potential. |
| Chlorophyll-a (algae) | No reading The green pigment in algae — a direct measure of how much algae is in the water. | |
| 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 Willisburg Lake
Answers come straight from the public measurements and survey records on this page.
Lake Details
Max depth
~27 ft est.
Surface area
126 acres
Public access
Yes
Listed by Kentucky DOW
Depth marked “est.” is a modeled maximum from GLOBathy (Khazaei et al. 2022, CC0), not a measured survey. Kentucky has not published bathymetry for Willisburg Lake.
Lake Size & Watershed
Watershed (drainage) area
4 sq mi
HydroLAKES / HydroSHEDS
Shoreline
4.3 mi
HydroLAKES / HydroSHEDS
Elevation
748 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.
Recreation & Access
- Willisburg LakePublic
Named access points in the USGS National Boat Ramps inventory, within about 3 miles. More lakes with boat ramps
Stays via Stay22
Stays near Willisburg Lake
Compare lakeside cabins, hotels, and vacation rentals near Willisburg Lake in Washington County, Kentucky — 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 Willisburg Lake
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Fishing Willisburg Lake
Reservoir Info (USACE NID)
Willisburg Lake is a man-made reservoir impounded by the Willisburg Lake Dam (completed 1968), built primarily for water supply on the Lick Creek; earth-type dam, 77 ft tall and 820 ft long.
- Surface area
- 126.1 ac
- Normal storage
- 2,351.5 ac-ft
- Drainage area
- 3.7 sq mi
- Hazard class
- High
- Owner
- COMMONWEALTH OF KENTUCKY
Source: USACE National Inventory of Dams, NID ID KY00103 · Operator website
EPA Impairment Status
Willisburg Lake is officially listed as impaired under Clean Water Act §303(d) in the 2024 EPA reporting cycle (IR category 5).
Causes of impairment
Designated uses not supporting: Aquatic life.
Source: EPA ATTAINS assessment unit KY-2028 · Official waterbody report
Nearby Lakes in Washington County
Frequently asked questions about Willisburg Lake
Where is Willisburg Lake?
- Willisburg Lake is a lake in Washington County, Kentucky. Its water-quality measurements are published by Kentucky DOW and shown on this page as reported.
What is the water quality of Willisburg Lake?
- Willisburg Lake in Washington County, Kentucky has water-quality measurements published by Kentucky DOW, shown here as reported. Phosphorus: 25.6 µg/L. Surface area: 126.1 acres.
Is Willisburg Lake safe to swim in?
- Nutrient and algae readings are not a swimming clearance. Willisburg 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 Willisburg Lake?
- No published bathymetric survey covers Willisburg Lake, so its depth has not been measured. The HydroLAKES global model estimates an average depth of about 27 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 126.1 acres.
Are there boat ramps on Willisburg Lake?
- Willisburg Lake has 1 documented boat landing in the USGS National Boat Ramps inventory. Named access points include Willisburg Lake. Public access is listed as yes.
Can I fish at Willisburg Lake?
- Willisburg Lake has 1 documented boat landing in the USGS National Boat Ramps inventory. Seasons, size and bag limits, and whether you need a license are set by Kentucky's fish and wildlife agency, so check its current regulations before you go.
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Where this data comes from
6 measurements from 1 monitoring station, 2014. Retrieved from the EPA Water Quality Portal on 2026-08-02.
Collected and reported by
- KY WQX
21KY_WQX6 samples · 2014
Analytical methods
- Phosphorus by Colorimetry
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
Lake size & watershed from HydroLAKES (HydroSHEDS)
Named boat-access points from the USGS National Boat Ramps inventory