What is the cleanest lake in Alabama?

Smiw Lake in Winston County has the cleanest nutrient and algae readings in Alabama, with 11.5 feet of measured water clarity.

How are these rankings calculated?

Nutrients and algae, total phosphorus, nitrogen, chlorophyll-a and turbidity, are read against EPA National Lakes Assessment 2022 condition classes for that lake’s ecoregion. Water clarity (Secchi depth) is measured and shown separately. Lakes without enough recent samples are listed without a condition class rather than ranked low. Source data comes from the EPA Water Quality Portal.

Cleanest Lakes in Alabama

Smiw Lake in Winston County leads the rankings on measured clarity and nutrients and 11.5 ft of clarity. Below are the top 50 cleanest monitored lakes in Alabama, ranked on EPA nutrient and algae measurements.

Ranked List

#	Lake	County	Clarity	Phosphorus	Algae
1	Smiw Lake	Winston	11.5 ft	8 µg/L	2.7 µg/L
2	Lake Andrews	Houston	5.9 ft	25 µg/L	6.2 µg/L
3	Tust Lake	Tuscaloosa	7.7 ft	12 µg/L	5.3 µg/L
4	Inlb Lake	Blount	11.9 ft	12 µg/L	2.8 µg/L
5	Thue Lake	Elmore	5.8 ft	9 µg/L	2.7 µg/L
6	Clam Lake	Wilcox	3 ft	26 µg/L	6.1 µg/L
7	Clam Lake	Monroe	3 ft	32.5 µg/L	6.1 µg/L
8	Mare Lake	Elmore	10.6 ft	8 µg/L	4.5 µg/L
9	Mare Lake	Randolph	11.5 ft	12 µg/L	5.3 µg/L
10	Yate Lake	Tallapoosa	4.7 ft	9 µg/L	3.2 µg/L
11	Yate Lake	Tallapoosa	7.4 ft	7 µg/L	1.1 µg/L
12	Bclm Lake	Mobile	6.9 ft	28 µg/L	1.2 µg/L
13	Shlb Lake	Baldwin	4.4 ft	32.5 µg/L	1.1 µg/L
14	Warg Lake	Hale	2.8 ft	27.5 µg/L	11.7 µg/L
15	Olit Lake	Tuscaloosa	4.3 ft	19 µg/L	7.5 µg/L
16	Ptac Lake	Covington	3.6 ft	18 µg/L	7.5 µg/L
17	Fjac Lake	Covington	3.9 ft	14 µg/L	8.5 µg/L
18	Gntc Lake	Covington	3.7 ft	20 µg/L	10.7 µg/L
19	Danw Lake	Dallas	3.1 ft	31 µg/L	7.1 µg/L
20	Danw Lake	Wilcox	2.9 ft	23 µg/L	7.5 µg/L
21	Danw Lake	Wilcox	2.9 ft	27 µg/L	8.7 µg/L
22	Danw Lake	Dallas	3 ft	30 µg/L	8.9 µg/L
23	Wdfa Lake	Montgomery	3.7 ft	24 µg/L	8 µg/L
24	Wdfa Lake	Lowndes	3.3 ft	34 µg/L	9.1 µg/L
25	Cofc Lake	Choctaw	2.4 ft	36 µg/L	10.7 µg/L
26	Cofc Lake	Choctaw	1.9 ft	40 µg/L	10.7 µg/L
27	Warg Lake	Hale	2.1 ft	30 µg/L	21.3 µg/L
28	Warg Lake	Tuscaloosa	2.4 ft	25 µg/L	15 µg/L
29	Warg Lake	Hale	2.4 ft	28.5 µg/L	14.8 µg/L
30	Holt Lake	Tuscaloosa	4.5 ft	31 µg/L	8 µg/L
31	Tenr Lake	Limestone	6.5 ft	29 µg/L	6.1 µg/L
32	Rlhr Lake	Randolph	5 ft	25 µg/L	10.8 µg/L
33	Rlhr Lake	Randolph	8.5 ft	10 µg/L	6.7 µg/L
34	Jore Lake	Elmore	5.7 ft	21 µg/L	11.7 µg/L
35	Layc Lake	Shelby	3.4 ft	30.5 µg/L	12.4 µg/L
36	Wdfa Lake	Lowndes	3.3 ft	40 µg/L	13.4 µg/L
37	Mitc Lake	Chilton	5.4 ft	23 µg/L	11.7 µg/L
38	Gaig Lake	Sumter	3 ft	25 µg/L	15 µg/L
39	Gaig Lake	Pickens	2.8 ft	30 µg/L	16 µg/L
40	Gaig Lake	Greene	3.1 ft	25 µg/L	14.2 µg/L
41	Dems Lake	Greene	2.4 ft	29 µg/L	13.8 µg/L
42	Dems Lake	Sumter	2.7 ft	24 µg/L	14.2 µg/L
43	Dems Lake	Greene	2.4 ft	25 µg/L	13.4 µg/L
44	Cofc Lake	Marengo	2 ft	32.5 µg/L	16.5 µg/L
45	Alip Lake	Pickens	2.4 ft	32.5 µg/L	14.1 µg/L
46	Tlst Lake	Talladega	6.3 ft	16 µg/L	6.5 µg/L
47	Bant Lake	Walker	3.3 ft	26 µg/L	18.7 µg/L
48	Purs Lake	Jefferson	3.6 ft	26.1 µg/L	13.9 µg/L
49	Weic Lake	Cherokee	2.6 ft	37.5 µg/L	13.9 µg/L
50	Weic Lake	Cherokee	3.3 ft	32.5 µg/L	21.4 µg/L

Ranked List

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