Willow Creek Reservoir
Morrow County, Oregon269 acresView mapDirections
Oregon DEQ publishes the water-quality measurements for Willow Creek Reservoir. Here is what has been measured.
- Impaired · Algal growth
- 28 ft max depth
- Public access
- Limited data
Willow Creek Reservoir in Morrow County, Oregon has water-quality measurements published by Oregon DEQ, shown here as reported. Water clarity: 9.8 ft visibility. Surface area: 269 acres.
Willow Creek Reservoir is a 269-acre lake in Morrow County, Oregon with an estimated average depth of about 28 feet. Limited fish-species data available. Public access is available with 1 public boat landing.
Source: EPA Water Quality Portal sampling records, Oregon DEQ, last sampled 2020-07-07. Methodology: how these readings are compared.
Willow Creek Reservoir covers about 270 acres in Morrow County. It has one public boat landing. For a place on the water, look through cabin and lake-house rentals near Willow Creek Reservoir on Vrbo. For a hotel or motel room, Booking.com and Expedia both search around the lake.
What Willow Creek Reservoir is good for
From access and monitoring records, not editorial picks.
- Clear water9.8 ft of visibility
- Boat launch1 documented ramp
- Camping1 public campground nearby
Swimming conditions
No readingBacteria advisory
Nutrient and algae readings are not a swimming clearance. Willow Creek Reservoir is listed impaired under Clean Water Act §303(d) (IR 5) for algal growth, pathogens (E. coli, fecal). Check local advisories before you swim.
Whether Willow Creek Reservoir is safe to swim in today is a call for the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality and the county health department, who post current advisories. LakeQuality does not issue swimming clearances.
Water quality measurements for Willow Creek Reservoir
These are the measurements Oregon DEQ publishes for Willow Creek Reservoir, shown as reported. The condition class beside each reading is the EPA National Lakes Assessment class for this lake’s ecoregion.
Moderate clarity, visible to about 9.8 ft. TSI 44.
| Measure | Reading | Where it sits |
|---|---|---|
| Water clarity (Secchi depth) | 9.8ft | Measured, not scored How deep a black-and-white disk stays visible from the surface. Higher is clearer. |
| Total phosphorus | No reading 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. | 44 | Mesotrophic OligotrophicMesotrophicEutrophicHypereutrophic |
Moderate nutrients, good water quality
Ask about Willow Creek Reservoir
Answers come straight from the public measurements and survey records on this page.
→ Willow Creek Reservoir water level: the live USGS gauge reading
Lake Details
Max depth
~28 ft est.
Surface area
269 acres
Public access
Yes
Listed by Oregon DEQ
Depth marked “est.” is a modeled maximum from GLOBathy (Khazaei et al. 2022, CC0), not a measured survey. Oregon has not published bathymetry for Willow Creek Reservoir.
Lake Size & Watershed
Watershed (drainage) area
99 sq mi
HydroLAKES / HydroSHEDS
Shoreline
2.5 mi
HydroLAKES / HydroSHEDS
Elevation
2,057 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
- Willow Creek LakePublic
Named access points in the USGS National Boat Ramps inventory, within about 3 miles. More lakes with boat ramps
Public campgrounds near Willow Creek Reservoir
- Willow Creek Campground0.8 km
Nearest public campgrounds in the USGS National Map inventory, within about 3 miles. An empty list means USGS records no campground that close, which is not the same as camping being unavailable. Where the source gives an official reservation link, it is used; the cabin and hotel search does not cover campsites. More camping lakes
Stays via Stay22
Stays near Willow Creek Reservoir
Compare lakeside cabins, hotels, and vacation rentals near Willow Creek Reservoir in Morrow County, Oregon — 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 Willow Creek Reservoir
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Fishing Willow Creek Reservoir
Reservoir Info (USACE NID)
Willow Creek Reservoir is a man-made reservoir impounded by the Willow Creek Dam (completed 1982), built primarily for flood risk reduction on the Willow Creek, 160 ft tall and 1,780 ft long.
- Surface area
- 269 ac
- Normal storage
- 4,326 ac-ft
- Max storage
- 14,091 ac-ft
- Drainage area
- 96 sq mi
- Hazard class
- High
- Owner
- USACE - Portland District
All listed purposes: Flood Risk Reduction;Other;Irrigation;Recreation.
Source: USACE National Inventory of Dams, NID ID OR00746 · Operator website
EPA Impairment Status
Willow Creek 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: Drinking water, Fish consumption, Recreation, Other.
A Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) plan has been approved.
Source: EPA ATTAINS assessment unit OR_LK_1707010401_02_100012 · Official waterbody report
Nearby Lakes in Morrow County
Frequently asked questions about Willow Creek Reservoir
Where is Willow Creek Reservoir?
- Willow Creek Reservoir is a lake in Morrow County, Oregon. Its water-quality measurements are published by Oregon DEQ and shown on this page as reported.
What is the water quality of Willow Creek Reservoir?
- Willow Creek Reservoir in Morrow County, Oregon has water-quality measurements published by Oregon DEQ, shown here as reported. Water clarity: 9.8 ft visibility. Surface area: 269 acres.
Is Willow Creek Reservoir safe to swim in?
- Nutrient and algae readings are not a swimming clearance. Willow Creek Reservoir is listed impaired under Clean Water Act §303(d) (IR 5) for algal growth, pathogens (E. coli, fecal). Check local advisories before you swim.
How deep is Willow Creek Reservoir?
- No published bathymetric survey covers Willow Creek Reservoir, so its depth has not been measured. The HydroLAKES global model estimates an average depth of about 28 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 269 acres.
Are there boat ramps on Willow Creek Reservoir?
- Willow Creek Reservoir has 1 documented boat landing in the USGS National Boat Ramps inventory. Named access points include Willow Creek Lake. Public access is listed as yes.
Can I fish at Willow Creek Reservoir?
- Willow Creek Reservoir 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 Oregon's fish and wildlife agency, so check its current regulations before you go.
Are there campgrounds on Willow Creek Reservoir?
- Willow Creek Reservoir has 1 public campground from USGS The National Map within 5 km, including Willow Creek Campground. This is a location join, not a booking. Cabins and hotels are listed separately; campsite reservations use the official link when the source provides one.
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Where this data comes from
1 measurement from 1 monitoring station, 2020. Retrieved from the EPA Water Quality Portal on 2026-08-02.
Collected and reported by
- North American Lake Management Society
NALMS1 sample · 2020
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
Public campgrounds from USGS The National Map Structures, within about 3 miles