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County water report

Lee County Water Report

Drinking-water compliance, watershed health, monitoring records, and river conditions for Lee County, Virginia.

Water grade

C

Water score

54.6

State rank

#56

of 95

Health violations

2

EPA SDWIS, 5-year lookback

Watershed impaired

37.9%

103 water bodies assessed

Monitoring sites

38

4,415 recent measurements

Live streamflow

33%

POWELL RIVER NEAR JONESVILLE, VA

Water at a glance

Key Water Indicators for Lee County

EPA SDWIS

Safety Grade

C

Score: 54.6 / 100

EPA SDWIS

Active Violations

2

5-year health-based lookback

EPA ATTAINS

Watershed Health

38% impaired

103 bodies assessed

USGS NWIS

Streamflow Snapshot

33% of mean

POWELL RIVER NEAR JONESVILLE, VA

EPA WQP

Monitoring Sites

38

4,415 recent readings

Source: EPA SDWIS · Safe Drinking Water Information System

Drinking Water Compliance

Compliance grade

C

Based on EPA SDWIS compliance history.

Water score

Higher scores indicate cleaner recent compliance records.

54.6/100

Health violations

2

Health-based violations

Violations per 100K served

10.7

Population-normalized SDWIS rate

Editorial analysis

Understanding Lee County’s Water

Drinking Water Quality Overview

EPA SDWIS

Lee County's drinking water earned a C grade, scoring 54.6 out of 100. Over the past five years, EPA SDWIS records 2 health-based violations — a small cluster that warrants attention.

Watershed Conditions

EPA ATTAINS

Under the Clean Water Act §303(d), EPA ATTAINS tracks whether waterways meet quality standards for drinking, recreation, and aquatic life (reporting cycle: 2022). A substantial 37.9% of assessed waterways are impaired (39 of 103 water bodies) across Lee County's watersheds. The leading impairment causes are escherichia coli (e. coli) and benthic macroinvertebrates bioassessments. Impairment does not mean tap water is unsafe — it measures ambient waterway conditions upstream of treatment, not finished drinking water.

River & Streamflow Status

USGS NWIS

USGS NWIS gauge data (as of 2026-05-14T14:45:00.000-04:00) puts POWELL RIVER at 177.0 cfs — well below its long-term average at 33% of mean — low-flow conditions worth noting for water-dependent ecosystems. Streamflow is a leading indicator of drought stress, sediment load, and dilution capacity: low flows concentrate pollutants and warm water temperatures, stressing aquatic life and, in surface-water-dependent systems, the source water quality for treatment plants.

Monitoring Network

EPA WQP

EPA's Water Quality Portal (WQP) aggregates monitoring data from federal, state, and tribal agencies. Lee County has moderate coverage with 38 active monitoring sites with 4,415 recent measurements on record. Predominant monitoring categories include physical and nutrient. More monitoring sites generally indicate greater scientific attention to local water conditions — and provide the baseline data that regulators use to set future impairment listings.

Editorial advisory

What the data suggests for Lee County

Water Verdict

Lee County, Virginia receives a below-average water quality assessment with a grade of C and a score of 54.6 out of 100. Residents should review their utility's Consumer Confidence Report and may want to consider additional water filtration for drinking. Separately, EPA ATTAINS assessments cover 103 water bodies in the county's watershed, with 37.9% listed as impaired under the Clean Water Act — a source-water measure that is tracked independently of tap-water compliance. At the most recent USGS reading, local streamflow was below its historical mean at 32.6% — worth watching in drier seasons.

Violation Context

EPA SDWIS records for Lee County, Virginia show 2 health-based violations, indicating multiple instances where federal contaminant limits or treatment requirements were not met. At 10.7 violations per 100,000 people served, this rate is high and signals significant water quality management issues. For independent context, 4,415 water-quality monitoring results have been recorded across the county in the EPA Water Quality Portal over the past five years.

Consumer Guidance

Tap water in Lee County meets baseline standards but the compliance record shows room for improvement, with a Grade C rating. Lee County's drinking-water compliance score is 54.6 out of 100. The violation rate for Lee County is 10.7 per 100,000 people served. Residents who are immunocompromised, pregnant, or have young children may benefit from using an NSF 53-certified filter. Contacting your local utility for the current Consumer Confidence Report will confirm which specific violations were recorded and whether they have been resolved. E. coli is the leading impairment cause in Lee County's watershed. With 38 active water-quality monitoring sites in Lee County, data coverage is strong. A pipeline streamflow snapshot from the POWELL RIVER gauge is also available on this page.

Regional Context

Lee County has water quality close to the average county in Virginia. Its water score is within 3.1 points of the state average, meaning its overall water system performance is broadly representative of Virginia as a whole.

Advisory text summarizes county-level public records and is not a replacement for your utility's current Consumer Confidence Report or direct local notices.

Contaminants & Resources

Key issues flagged in Lee County's water environment

Watershed Impairment Causes (EPA ATTAINS)

  • 1

    E. coli (bacteria)

    Impairment cause per EPA Clean Water Act §303(d) assessment

  • 2

    Benthic Macroinvertebrates Bioassessments

    Impairment cause per EPA Clean Water Act §303(d) assessment

  • 3

    Elevated temperature

    Impairment cause per EPA Clean Water Act §303(d) assessment

Source: EPA ATTAINS · Reporting cycle 2022

Official EPA Resources for Lee County

EPA How's My Waterway

Interactive watershed health data for Lee County

EPA ECHO: Drinking Water Systems

Search water utilities and violation records for Lee County

Consumer Confidence Reports (VA)

Annual water quality reports from utilities in Virginia

Clean Water Act §303(d)

Watershed Health

Impaired Water Bodies

37.9%

39 of 103 assessed

Moderate concern

Top Impairment Causes

  • 1

    ESCHERICHIA COLI (E. COLI)

  • 2

    BENTHIC MACROINVERTEBRATES BIOASSESSMENTS

  • 3

    TEMPERATURE

Source: EPA ATTAINS · Reporting cycle 2022

Impairment is determined under the Clean Water Act §303(d): a water body is impaired when it fails to meet state-defined quality standards for designated uses (drinking, recreation, aquatic life). Assessment coverage varies by state; counties without assessed water bodies are not shown.

Past 5 years

Water Quality Monitoring

Monitoring Sites

38

Active in the past 5 years

Measurements Recorded

4.4K

4,415 total readings

Most Measured

  • Physical
  • Nutrient
  • Microbiological

Categories measured most frequently

Data from the EPA Water Quality Portal (WQP), aggregating monitoring records from federal, state, and tribal sources. Each measurement represents a single sample analyzed for a specific characteristic (e.g., E. coli, pH, dissolved oxygen, nitrogen).

Live USGS Streamgage

River & Stream Conditions

Current Discharge

177cfs

May 14, 6:45 PM UTC

vs Long-Term Average

33%

Well below typical

Primary Streamgage

POWELL RIVER NEAR JONESVILLE, VA

USGS site
03531500
Drainage area
319 sq mi
Long-term mean
542 cfs

One representative streamgage (the one with the largest drainage area in the county). Many counties have multiple gauges; this view summarizes the primary one. The long-term mean is the full-record annual average; the percent-of-typical value compares the latest reading against that average.

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Water Cost Estimate

3

3 people  ·  ~225 gal/day

Annual Total

$558

Monthly

$47

Water Bill

$558/yr

Filter Cost

$0/yr

Safety Grade for Lee County:C — Moderate

Some violations or watershed impairment detected.

Estimates use the national average residential water rate ($0.0068/gal, EPA/AWWA 2023) and EPA WaterSense per-person consumption baseline (75 gal/person/day). Actual bills vary by utility, usage tier, and local infrastructure fees. For informational purposes only.

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Frequently Asked Questions

What is the water quality in Lee County, Virginia?
Lee County, Virginia has a drinking-water quality grade of C with a score of 54.6/100, based on EPA SDWIS compliance data. The county has 2 health-based drinking water violations over the past 5 years. Watershed health, monitoring records, and streamflow snapshots are reported separately on this page.
Are there any water violations in Lee County?
Lee County has 2 health-based drinking water violations recorded by the EPA over the past 5 years. Health-based violations indicate instances where contaminant levels exceeded EPA Maximum Contaminant Levels (MCLs). Violations may have been resolved — check with your local water utility for current status.
How healthy are the watersheds in Lee County?
EPA ATTAINS assessments under Clean Water Act §303(d) indicate 37.9% of Lee County's 103 assessed water bodies are classified as impaired (39 impaired). The top reported causes are ESCHERICHIA COLI (E. COLI), BENTHIC MACROINVERTEBRATES BIOASSESSMENTS, TEMPERATURE. Impairment means the water body fails to meet state quality standards for at least one designated use — drinking water source, recreation, aquatic life, or fish consumption. Note: watershed impairment doesn't always translate to tap-water issues; treatment plants can remove most regulated contaminants.
How much water-quality monitoring happens in Lee County?
EPA's Water Quality Portal records 4,415 measurements from 38 monitoring sites in Lee County over the past five years. The most frequently measured characteristic groups are Physical, Nutrient, Microbiological. Each measurement is a single sample analyzed for one characteristic (E. coli, pH, dissolved oxygen, etc.). High monitoring density means more scientific evidence behind any reported signal — it does not by itself indicate water quality.
What's happening with rivers in Lee County right now?
Lee County's primary USGS streamgage on the POWELL RIVER has a pipeline snapshot of 177 cubic feet per second — 33% of the long-term mean of 542.16 cfs. This is well below typical — often a signal of drought stress on source water. For the latest gauge feed, visit waterdata.usgs.gov.
How does Lee County water compare to the Virginia average?
Lee County's SDWIS water quality score of 54.6/100 is lower than the Virginia state average of 57.7. The average water quality grade across Virginia is D, based on data from 95 counties with available SDWIS data.
Is tap water safe to drink in Lee County?
Based on EPA SDWIS data, Lee County has a water quality grade of C (54.6/100). This indicates moderate compliance. Some violations have been recorded but overall standards are maintained. The grade speaks to the public water system, not the watershed — for watershed-level concerns, see the Watershed Health zone. For the most up-to-date information, contact your local water utility or review your Consumer Confidence Report (CCR).
Does Lee County have clean drinking water?
Lee County has 2 health-based drinking water violations according to EPA records. With a water quality score of 54.6/100 and grade C, the county's drinking water has had some compliance issues but continues to be monitored. Note: drinking-water compliance speaks to the public water system, not necessarily to the watershed itself — check the Watershed Health zone for ATTAINS §303(d) data.
How does Lee County rank for water quality in Virginia?
Lee County ranks #56 out of 95 counties in Virginia by SDWIS water quality score (1 = best). With a score of 54.6/100, it falls in the middle third of counties statewide. The ranking reflects EPA SDWIS compliance only — not watershed impairment, monitoring density, or streamflow, which are tracked separately on this page.

Counties with Similar Water Quality

Rockingham County

Virginia

C

54.4

Water score

Botetourt County

Virginia

C

58.3

Water score

Wise County

Virginia

C

58.4

Water score

Data Sources

Drinking-water compliance data from the EPA Safe Drinking Water Information System (SDWIS) via the ECHO enforcement database. Scores reflect compliance history and health-based violation counts.

Watershed health and impaired-waterway data from the EPA ATTAINS Clean Water Act §303(d) assessments, state-reported and EPA-finalized.

Water-quality monitoring counts from the EPA Water Quality Portal (WQP), federated USGS, EPA, and state agency sampling records over a rolling 5-year window.

Live streamflow from the USGS National Water Information System (NWIS), continuous discharge measurements from the largest-drainage gauge in each county, compared against the full-record long-term annual mean.

Disclaimer: This data is informational only. It is not health, legal, or professional advice. For concerns about your specific water supply, contact your local water utility.

By Evan Brooks, Data EditorUpdated Reviewed by Evan Brooks, Data Editor

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