The lake is located in one of the Aragua valleys, between the parallel sub-Serranía del Interior in the Cordillera de la Costa Central, of the Venezuelan Coastal Ranges system.

The lake was formed approximately 2–3 million years ago due to faulting and subsequent damming of the Cabriales River.

The lake suffers from algal blooms caused by continual influx of untreated wastewater from the surrounding urban, agricultural, and industrial land uses.

Despite its picturesque location between the Cordillera de la Costa to the north and the Serrania del Interior to the south, Lake Valencia's poor water quality limits opportunities for tourism and recreational activities.

[5] A lake clean-up scheme with finance from IDB has been described [6] along with information on pollution loads, reuse opportunities and wastewater collection and treatment infrastructure, which was installed between 1991 and 2002.