Bragg Lake
Ouachita County, Arkansas167 acresView mapDirections
Arkansas DEQ publishes the water-quality measurements for Bragg Lake. Here is what has been measured.
- Eutrophic
- 37 ft max depth
- Limited data
Bragg Lake in Ouachita County, Arkansas has water-quality measurements published by Arkansas DEQ, shown here as reported. Phosphorus: 110 µg/L. Chlorophyll-a (algae): 29.8 µg/L. Surface area: 166.5 acres.
Bragg Lake is a 167-acre productive, nutrient-rich eutrophic lake in Ouachita County, Arkansas with an estimated average depth of about 37 feet. Overall water quality is improving over recent sampling years. Compared to the 2 other monitored lakes in Ouachita County, Bragg Lake ranks #3 for water quality.
Source: EPA Water Quality Portal sampling records, ADEQ, last sampled 2025-10-28. Methodology: how these readings are compared.
Swimming conditions
Readings onlyLimited data
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. Check local advisories before you swim.
Whether Bragg Lake is safe to swim in today is a call for the Arkansas Division of Environmental Quality and the county health department, who post current advisories. LakeQuality does not issue swimming clearances.
Water quality measurements for Bragg Lake
These are the measurements Arkansas DEQ publishes for Bragg Lake, shown as reported. The condition class beside each reading is the EPA National Lakes Assessment class for this lake’s ecoregion.
No clarity data. Phosphorus 110 µg/L. Chlorophyll-a 29.8 µg/L. TSI 68.
| Measure | Reading | Where it sits |
|---|---|---|
| Water clarity (Secchi depth) | No reading How deep a black-and-white disk stays visible from the surface. Higher is clearer. | |
| Total phosphorus | 110µg/L | Measured, not scored The nutrient that most limits algae growth in freshwater. More phosphorus, more algae potential. |
| Chlorophyll-a (algae) | 29.8µg/L | Poor GoodFairPoor |
| Trophic state (TSI)Carlson's 0–100 index of how much algae a lake can support, from clarity, phosphorus and chlorophyll-a. | 68 | Eutrophic OligotrophicMesotrophicEutrophicHypereutrophic |
High nutrients, frequent algae, reduced clarity
Ask about Bragg Lake
Answers come straight from the public measurements and survey records on this page.
Lake Details
Max depth
~37 ft est.
Surface area
167 acres
Depth marked “est.” is a modeled maximum from GLOBathy (Khazaei et al. 2022, CC0), not a measured survey. Arkansas has not published bathymetry for Bragg Lake.
Lake Size & Watershed
Watershed (drainage) area
10 sq mi
HydroLAKES / HydroSHEDS
Shoreline
2.6 mi
HydroLAKES / HydroSHEDS
Elevation
174 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.
Stays via Stay22
Stays near Bragg Lake
Compare lakeside cabins, hotels, and vacation rentals near Bragg Lake in Ouachita County, Arkansas — live availability and prices for your trip. Switch the map to Satellite to see the lake and how close each stay is to the water. The water-quality readings cover nutrients and algae, not lodging. Cabins and rentals around Bragg Lake are listed below.
Top-rated places to stay near Bragg Lake
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Fishing Bragg Lake
Water quality readings over time
3 seasons of samples on record (2023–2025). Calling a direction takes at least 4 years of the same measurement.
Chlorophyll-a
Improving-15.15 µg/L/yr3 years
Reservoir Info (USACE NID)
Bragg Lake is a man-made reservoir impounded by the Bragg Lake Dam (completed 1940), built primarily for recreation on the Bragg Mill Creek; earth-type dam, 17 ft tall and 775 ft long.
- Surface area
- 166.5 ac
- Normal storage
- 507 ac-ft
- Max storage
- 2,181 ac-ft
- Drainage area
- 8.5 sq mi
- Hazard class
- Low
- Owner
- Ouachita County
Source: USACE National Inventory of Dams, NID ID AR00645 · Operator website
Nearby Lakes in Ouachita County
Frequently asked questions about Bragg Lake
Where is Bragg Lake?
- Bragg Lake is a lake in Ouachita County, Arkansas. Its water-quality measurements are published by Arkansas DEQ and shown on this page as reported.
What is the water quality of Bragg Lake?
- Bragg Lake in Ouachita County, Arkansas has water-quality measurements published by Arkansas DEQ, shown here as reported. Phosphorus: 110 µg/L. Chlorophyll-a (algae): 29.8 µg/L. Surface area: 166.5 acres.
Is Bragg Lake safe to swim in?
- Nutrient and algae readings are not a swimming clearance. Check local advisories before you swim.
How deep is Bragg Lake?
- No published bathymetric survey covers Bragg Lake, so its depth has not been measured. The HydroLAKES global model estimates an average depth of about 37 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 166.5 acres.
Explore Bragg Lake across LakeQuality
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Eutrophic Lakes in Arkansas
Where this data comes from
36 measurements from 1 monitoring station, 2023–2025. Retrieved from the EPA Water Quality Portal on 2026-08-02.
Collected and reported by
- Arkansas Department of Environmental Quality
ARDEQH2O_WQX36 samples · 2023–2025
Analytical methods
- 4500 P J ~ Persulfate Method for Simultaneous Determination of Total Nitrogen and Total Phosphorus
- 445.0 ~ EPA; Chlorophyll and Pheophytin in Algae by Fluorescence
- Turbidity by Nephelometry
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
Lake size & watershed from HydroLAKES (HydroSHEDS)