1
CNla Lake
Howard County, Arkansas · 28.8 mi from Nla Lake
- +Higher grade (D → C)
- +Lower phosphorus (21 vs 39000 µg/L)
Cleaner Lakes Than Nla Lake
5 higher-graded lakes within 30 miles, ranked by grade improvement and proximity.
Nla Lake carries a Grade D (Poor) water quality score. Within 30 miles, 5 lakes hold a higher grade. Nla Lake (Howard County, Grade C, 28.8 mi away) is the closest meaningful upgrade.
Reviewed by LakeQuality Editorial Team · Updated
2
CDierks Lake
Howard County, Arkansas · 23.9 mi from Nla Lake
- +Higher grade (D → C)
- +Lower phosphorus (45 vs 39000 µg/L)
3
CLake Dequeen
Sevier County, Arkansas · 26.8 mi from Nla Lake
- +Higher grade (D → C)
- +Lower phosphorus (35 vs 39000 µg/L)
4
CGillham Lake
Howard County, Arkansas · 29.8 mi from Nla Lake
- +Higher grade (D → C)
- +Lower phosphorus (36.5 vs 39000 µg/L)
5
DLake Dequeen Upstream of Highway Bridge
Sevier County, Arkansas · 28.9 mi from Nla Lake
- +Higher overall water quality score
- +Lower phosphorus (47 vs 39000 µg/L)
Reading the cohort
5 cleaner lakes sit within 30 miles of Nla Lake in the EPA water-quality dataset. With that many higher-grade neighbors close by, Nla Lake's Grade D reflects something specific to the lake itself — not a regional water-quality ceiling. The neighbor list below isn't a small set of marginal upgrades; it's a real cohort of meaningfully cleaner choices for the same Arkansas weekend.
The nearest cleaner alternative — Nla Lake in Howard County — sits 28.8 miles from Nla Lake, putting it firmly in "destination trip" rather than "neighborhood swap" range. The water-quality gap has to be the deciding factor; for a casual outing, Nla Lake is the practical choice and the cleaner options are reserved for purpose-specific visits.
The EPA water-quality grading combines clarity (Secchi depth), phosphorus, and chlorophyll-a measurements from state environmental sampling. A higher letter grade reflects measurably cleaner water on those indicators, not subjective beauty or access quality — a Grade A lake might have worse boat-launch facilities or shoreline access than a Grade C neighbor, so the ranking is one input alongside the rest of trip planning. See the methodology page for the full grading formula.
How this list is built
Every lake on LakeQuality has a calculated grade from EPA Water Quality Portal samples — secchi depth, total phosphorus, and chlorophyll-a measured against Metropolitan Council thresholds. To suggest cleaner alternatives, we filter lakes within 30 miles to those with a strictly higher numeric score, then rank by grade improvement with a small proximity tiebreak. Cross-state and limited-data lakes are excluded so the list stays locally relevant.