Big African Lake
Gogebic County, Michigan85 acresView mapDirections
EGLE publishes the water-quality measurements for Big African Lake. Here is what has been measured.
- Impaired · Mercury
- Limited data
Big African Lake in Gogebic County, Michigan has water-quality measurements published by EGLE, shown here as reported. Water clarity: 5 ft visibility. Surface area: 84.7 acres.
Big African Lake is a 85-acre lake in Gogebic County, Michigan. Overall water quality is improving over recent sampling years.
Source: EPA Water Quality Portal sampling records, EGLE, last sampled 2022-09-19. Methodology: how these readings are compared.
Swimming conditions
No readingLimited data
Nutrient and algae readings are not a swimming clearance. Big African Lake is listed impaired under Clean Water Act §303(d) (IR 4A) for mercury. Check local advisories before you swim.
Whether Big African Lake is safe to swim in today is a call for the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy (EGLE) and the county health department, who post current advisories. LakeQuality does not issue swimming clearances.
Water quality measurements for Big African Lake
These are the measurements EGLE publishes for Big African Lake, shown as reported. The condition class beside each reading is the EPA National Lakes Assessment class for this lake’s ecoregion.
Murky, only visible to about 5 ft. TSI 54.
| Measure | Reading | Where it sits |
|---|---|---|
| Water clarity (Secchi depth) | 5ft | Measured, not scored How deep a black-and-white disk stays visible from the surface. Higher is clearer. |
| Total phosphorus | No reading The nutrient that most limits algae growth in freshwater. More phosphorus, more algae potential. | |
| Chlorophyll-a (algae) | No reading The green pigment in algae — a direct measure of how much algae is in the water. | |
| Trophic state (TSI)Carlson's 0–100 index of how much algae a lake can support, from clarity, phosphorus and chlorophyll-a. | 54 | Eutrophic OligotrophicMesotrophicEutrophicHypereutrophic |
High nutrients, frequent algae, reduced clarity
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Answers come straight from the public measurements and survey records on this page.
Lake Details
Surface area
85 acres
No bathymetric survey has been published for Big African Lake, so its depth is not documented here.
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Fishing Big African Lake
Water Quality Trend: Improving
Based on 7 years of monitoring (2016–2023).
Water clarity
Improving7 years
Phosphorus
Improving-0.93 µg/L/yr7 years
EPA Impairment Status
Big African Lake is officially listed as impaired under Clean Water Act §303(d) in the 2024 EPA reporting cycle (IR category 4A).
Causes of impairment
Designated uses not supporting: Fish consumption.
A Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) plan has been approved.
Source: EPA ATTAINS assessment unit MI040201020101-14 · Official waterbody report
Nearby Lakes in Gogebic County
Frequently asked questions about Big African Lake
Where is Big African Lake?
- Big African Lake is a lake in Gogebic County, Michigan. Its water-quality measurements are published by EGLE and shown on this page as reported.
What is the water quality of Big African Lake?
- Big African Lake in Gogebic County, Michigan has water-quality measurements published by EGLE, shown here as reported. Water clarity: 5 ft visibility. Surface area: 84.7 acres.
Is Big African Lake safe to swim in?
- Nutrient and algae readings are not a swimming clearance. Big African Lake is listed impaired under Clean Water Act §303(d) (IR 4A) for mercury. Check local advisories before you swim.
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Where this data comes from
40 measurements from 1 monitoring station, 2017–2022. Retrieved from the EPA Water Quality Portal on 2026-08-26.
Collected and reported by
- North American Lake Management Society
NALMS40 samples · 2017–2022
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