Banks Lake
Lanier County, Georgia700 acresView mapDirections
Georgia EPD publishes the water-quality measurements for Banks Lake. Here is what has been measured.
- Eutrophic
- Impaired · Mercury
- 42 ft max depth
- Public access
Banks Lake in Lanier County, Georgia has water-quality measurements published by Georgia EPD, shown here as reported. Water clarity: 3.2 ft visibility. Phosphorus: 30 µg/L. Chlorophyll-a (algae): 7.6 µg/L. Surface area: 700 acres.
Banks Lake is a 700-acre productive, nutrient-rich eutrophic lake in Lanier County, Georgia with an estimated average depth of about 42 feet. Overall water quality is declining over recent sampling years. Limited fish-species data available. Public access is available with 1 public boat landing.
Source: EPA Water Quality Portal sampling records, Georgia EPD, last sampled 2025-10-27. Methodology: how these readings are compared.
What Banks Lake is good for
From access and monitoring records, not editorial picks.
- Boat launch1 documented ramp
Swimming conditions
Readings onlyLow algae
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. Banks Lake is listed impaired under Clean Water Act §303(d) (IR 5) for mercury. Check local advisories before you swim.
Whether Banks Lake is safe to swim in today is a call for the Georgia Environmental Protection Division and the county health department, who post current advisories. LakeQuality does not issue swimming clearances.
Water quality measurements for Banks Lake
These are the measurements Georgia EPD publishes for Banks Lake, shown as reported. The condition class beside each reading is the EPA National Lakes Assessment class for this lake’s ecoregion.
Very murky, less than 3.2 ft of visibility. Phosphorus 30 µg/L. Chlorophyll-a 7.6 µg/L. TSI 55.
| Measure | Reading | Where it sits |
|---|---|---|
| Water clarity (Secchi depth) | 3.2ft | Measured, not scored How deep a black-and-white disk stays visible from the surface. Higher is clearer. |
| Total phosphorus | 30µg/L | Good GoodFairPoor |
| Chlorophyll-a (algae) | 7.6µg/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. | 55 | Eutrophic OligotrophicMesotrophicEutrophicHypereutrophic |
High nutrients, frequent algae, reduced clarity
Ask about Banks Lake
Answers come straight from the public measurements and survey records on this page.
Lake Details
Max depth
~42 ft est.
Surface area
700 acres
Public access
Yes
Listed by Georgia EPD
Depth marked “est.” is a modeled maximum from GLOBathy (Khazaei et al. 2022, CC0), not a measured survey. Georgia has not published bathymetry for Banks Lake.
Lake Size & Watershed
Watershed (drainage) area
60 sq mi
HydroLAKES / HydroSHEDS
Shoreline
7.2 mi
HydroLAKES / HydroSHEDS
Elevation
194 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.
Recreation & Access
- Banks LakePublic
Named access points in the USGS National Boat Ramps inventory, within about 3 miles. More lakes with boat ramps
Stays via Stay22
Stays near Banks Lake
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Fishing Banks Lake
Water Quality Trend: Worsening
Based on 14 years of monitoring (2012–2025).
Water clarity
Worsening14 years
Phosphorus
Worsening+3.51 µg/L/yr6 years
Chlorophyll-a
Worsening+0.4 µg/L/yr14 years
Reservoir Info (USACE NID)
Banks Lake is a man-made reservoir impounded by the Banks Lake Dam (completed 1930), built primarily for recreation on the Mill Creek; earth-type dam, 15 ft tall and 360 ft long.
- Surface area
- 700 ac
- Normal storage
- 3,450 ac-ft
- Max storage
- 5,018 ac-ft
- Drainage area
- 6,000 sq mi
- Hazard class
- Low
- Owner
- GA DOT
Source: USACE National Inventory of Dams, NID ID GA03630 · Operator website
EPA Impairment Status
Banks Lake is officially listed as impaired under Clean Water Act §303(d) in the 2024 EPA reporting cycle (IR category 5).
Causes of impairment
Designated uses not supporting: Aquatic life.
A Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) plan has been approved.
Source: EPA ATTAINS assessment unit GAR031102020911 · Official waterbody report
Nearby Lakes in Lanier County
Frequently asked questions about Banks Lake
Where is Banks Lake?
- Banks Lake is a lake in Lanier County, Georgia. Its water-quality measurements are published by Georgia EPD and shown on this page as reported.
What is the water quality of Banks Lake?
- Banks Lake in Lanier County, Georgia has water-quality measurements published by Georgia EPD, shown here as reported. Water clarity: 3.2 ft visibility. Phosphorus: 30 µg/L. Chlorophyll-a (algae): 7.6 µg/L. Surface area: 700 acres.
Is Banks Lake safe to swim in?
- Nutrient and algae readings are not a swimming clearance. Banks Lake is listed impaired under Clean Water Act §303(d) (IR 5) for mercury. Check local advisories before you swim.
How deep is Banks Lake?
- No published bathymetric survey covers Banks Lake, so its depth has not been measured. The HydroLAKES global model estimates an average depth of about 42 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 700 acres.
Are there boat ramps on Banks Lake?
- Banks Lake has 1 documented boat landing in the USGS National Boat Ramps inventory. Named access points include Banks Lake. Public access is listed as yes.
Can I fish at Banks Lake?
- Banks Lake has 1 documented boat landing in the USGS National Boat Ramps inventory. Seasons, size and bag limits, and whether you need a license are set by Georgia's fish and wildlife agency, so check its current regulations before you go.
Explore Banks Lake across LakeQuality
21.7 mi away · cable-pulled, no boat wake
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Where this data comes from
239 measurements from 1 monitoring station, 2012–2025. Retrieved from the EPA Water Quality Portal on 2026-08-02.
Collected and reported by
- Georgia DNR Environmental Protection Division
21GAEPD_WQX239 samples · 2012–2025
Analytical methods
- Phosphorus by Colorimetry
- 445.0 ~ EPA; Chlorophyll and Pheophytin in Algae by Fluorescence
- Turbidity by Nephelometry
- 2120 B ~ Color in Water by Visual Comparison
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)
Named boat-access points from the USGS National Boat Ramps inventory