Wrights Reservoir
Worcester County, Massachusetts163 acresView mapDirections
MassDEP publishes the water-quality measurements for Wrights Reservoir. Here is what has been measured.
- Mesotrophic
- Impaired · Mercury
- 36 ft max depth
- Limited data
Wrights Reservoir in Worcester County, Massachusetts has water-quality measurements published by MassDEP, shown here as reported. Chlorophyll-a (algae): 2.4 µg/L. Surface area: 163 acres.
Wrights Reservoir is a 163-acre mesotrophic lake in Worcester County, Massachusetts with an estimated average depth of about 36 feet. Compared to the 23 other monitored lakes in Worcester County, Wrights Reservoir ranks #5 for water quality.
Source: EPA Water Quality Portal sampling records, MassDEP, last sampled 2016-08-24. Methodology: how these readings are compared.
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. Wrights Reservoir is listed impaired under Clean Water Act §303(d) (IR 5) for mercury. Check local advisories before you swim.
Whether Wrights Reservoir is safe to swim in today is a call for the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection and the county health department, who post current advisories. LakeQuality does not issue swimming clearances.
Water quality measurements for Wrights Reservoir
These are the measurements MassDEP publishes for Wrights Reservoir, shown as reported. The condition class beside each reading is the EPA National Lakes Assessment class for this lake’s ecoregion.
No clarity data. Chlorophyll-a 2.4 µg/L. TSI 39.
| 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 | No reading The nutrient that most limits algae growth in freshwater. More phosphorus, more algae potential. | |
| Chlorophyll-a (algae) | 2.4µg/L | Good GoodFairPoor |
| Trophic state (TSI)Carlson's 0–100 index of how much algae a lake can support, from clarity, phosphorus and chlorophyll-a. | 39 | Mesotrophic OligotrophicMesotrophicEutrophicHypereutrophic |
Moderate nutrients, good water quality
Ask about Wrights Reservoir
Answers come straight from the public measurements and survey records on this page.
Lake Details
Max depth
~36 ft est.
Surface area
163 acres
Depth marked “est.” is a modeled maximum from GLOBathy (Khazaei et al. 2022, CC0), not a measured survey. Massachusetts has not published bathymetry for Wrights Reservoir.
Lake Size & Watershed
Watershed (drainage) area
3 sq mi
HydroLAKES / HydroSHEDS
Shoreline
4.2 mi
HydroLAKES / HydroSHEDS
Elevation
1,066 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.
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Fishing Wrights Reservoir
Reservoir Info (USACE NID)
Wrights Reservoir is a man-made reservoir impounded by the Wrights Reservoir Dam & Dike No. 1 & Dike No. 2 (completed 1965), built primarily for flood risk reduction on the Greenwood Brook; earth-type dam, 18 ft tall and 1,000 ft long.
- Surface area
- 163 ac
- Normal storage
- 513 ac-ft
- Max storage
- 2,693 ac-ft
- Drainage area
- 3.1 sq mi
- Hazard class
- High
- Owner
- City of Gardner
Source: USACE National Inventory of Dams, NID ID MA00117 · Operator website · Matched by proximity (0.17 km)
EPA Impairment Status
Wrights 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: Fish consumption.
A Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) plan has been approved.
Source: EPA ATTAINS assessment unit MA35104 · Official waterbody report
Nearby Lakes in Worcester County
Frequently asked questions about Wrights Reservoir
Where is Wrights Reservoir?
- Wrights Reservoir is a lake in Worcester County, Massachusetts. Its water-quality measurements are published by MassDEP and shown on this page as reported.
What is the water quality of Wrights Reservoir?
- Wrights Reservoir in Worcester County, Massachusetts has water-quality measurements published by MassDEP, shown here as reported. Chlorophyll-a (algae): 2.4 µg/L. Surface area: 163 acres.
Is Wrights Reservoir safe to swim in?
- Nutrient and algae readings are not a swimming clearance. Wrights Reservoir is listed impaired under Clean Water Act §303(d) (IR 5) for mercury. Check local advisories before you swim.
How deep is Wrights Reservoir?
- No published bathymetric survey covers Wrights Reservoir, so its depth has not been measured. The HydroLAKES global model estimates an average depth of about 36 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 163 acres.
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Mesotrophic Lakes in Massachusetts
Where this data comes from
3 measurements from 1 monitoring station, 2016. Retrieved from the EPA Water Quality Portal on 2026-08-02.
Collected and reported by
- Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection (MassDEP)
MASSDEP3 samples · 2016
Analytical methods
- 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
Lake size & watershed from HydroLAKES (HydroSHEDS)