Buffalo Springs Lake
Lubbock County, Texas200 acresView mapDirections
TCEQ publishes the water-quality measurements for Buffalo Springs Lake. Here is what has been measured.
- Hypereutrophic
- 26 ft max depth
- Public access
- Limited data
Buffalo Springs Lake in Lubbock County, Texas has water-quality measurements published by TCEQ, shown here as reported. Water clarity: 2.4 ft visibility. Phosphorus: 110 µg/L. Chlorophyll-a (algae): 83.3 µg/L. Surface area: 200 acres.
Buffalo Springs Lake is a 200-acre highly nutrient-loaded hypereutrophic lake in Lubbock County, Texas with an estimated average depth of about 26 feet. Overall water quality is declining over recent sampling years. Limited fish-species data available. Public access is available with 2 public boat landings.
Source: EPA Water Quality Portal sampling records, TCEQ, last sampled 2025-11-03. Methodology: how these readings are compared.
Buffalo Springs Lake covers about 200 acres in Lubbock County. It has 2 public boat landings, so a lakefront rental is not the only way to get a boat on the water. If you are planning to stay, you can search lake houses and cabins around Buffalo Springs Lake on Vrbo, or look for a hotel room near the lake on Booking.com or Expedia.
What Buffalo Springs Lake is good for
From access and monitoring records, not editorial picks.
- Boat launch2 documented ramps
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 Buffalo Springs Lake is safe to swim in today is a call for the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality and the county health department, who post current advisories. LakeQuality does not issue swimming clearances.
Water quality measurements for Buffalo Springs Lake
These are the measurements TCEQ publishes for Buffalo Springs 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 2.4 ft of visibility. Phosphorus 110 µg/L. Chlorophyll-a 83.3 µg/L. TSI 70.
| Measure | Reading | Where it sits |
|---|---|---|
| Water clarity (Secchi depth) | 2.4ft | Measured, not scored How deep a black-and-white disk stays visible from the surface. Higher is clearer. |
| Total phosphorus | 110µg/L | Poor GoodFairPoor |
| Chlorophyll-a (algae) | 83.3µg/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. | 70 | Hypereutrophic OligotrophicMesotrophicEutrophicHypereutrophic |
Very high nutrients, dense algae, poor clarity
Ask about Buffalo Springs Lake
Answers come straight from the public measurements and survey records on this page.
Lake Details
Max depth
~26 ft est.
Surface area
200 acres
Public access
Yes
Listed by TCEQ
Depth marked “est.” is a modeled maximum from GLOBathy (Khazaei et al. 2022, CC0), not a measured survey. Texas has not published bathymetry for Buffalo Springs Lake.
Lake Size & Watershed
Watershed (drainage) area
2,740 sq mi
HydroLAKES / HydroSHEDS
Shoreline
4.4 mi
HydroLAKES / HydroSHEDS
Elevation
3,031 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
- Buffalo Springs LakePublic
- Buffalo Bay MarinaSemi-private
Named access points in the USGS National Boat Ramps inventory, within about 3 miles. More lakes with boat ramps
Stays via Stay22
Stays near Buffalo Springs Lake
Compare lakeside cabins, hotels, and vacation rentals near Buffalo Springs Lake in Lubbock County, Texas — 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 Buffalo Springs Lake are listed below.
Top-rated places to stay near Buffalo Springs Lake
Prices for Oct 30–Nov 1, 4 adults. Change dates on the map below.
Availability and prices from Stay22 partners (Booking.com, Vrbo, Expedia). We may earn a commission from bookings, at no extra cost to you.
Planning a whole trip? See where to stay at Texas’s top lakes →
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Fishing Buffalo Springs Lake
Water Quality Trend: Worsening
Based on 6 years of monitoring (2020–2025).
Water clarity
Stable6 years
Phosphorus
Worsening+140.52 µg/L/yr5 years
Chlorophyll-a
Worsening+11.48 µg/L/yr5 years
Reservoir Info (USACE NID)
Buffalo Springs Lake is a man-made reservoir impounded by the Mcmillan Dam (completed 1959), built primarily for water supply on the Double Mountain Fork Brazos R; earth-type dam, 76 ft tall and 1,600 ft long.
- Surface area
- 200 ac
- Normal storage
- 4,200 ac-ft
- Max storage
- 8,280 ac-ft
- Drainage area
- 236 sq mi
- Hazard class
- High
- Owner
- LUBBOCK COUNTY WCID 1
All listed purposes: Water Supply;Recreation.
Source: USACE National Inventory of Dams, NID ID TX04027 · Operator website · Matched by proximity (0.02 km)
Nearby Lakes in Lubbock County
Frequently asked questions about Buffalo Springs Lake
Where is Buffalo Springs Lake?
- Buffalo Springs Lake is a lake in Lubbock County, Texas. Its water-quality measurements are published by TCEQ and shown on this page as reported.
What is the water quality of Buffalo Springs Lake?
- Buffalo Springs Lake in Lubbock County, Texas has water-quality measurements published by TCEQ, shown here as reported. Water clarity: 2.4 ft visibility. Phosphorus: 110 µg/L. Chlorophyll-a (algae): 83.3 µg/L. Surface area: 200 acres.
Is Buffalo Springs Lake safe to swim in?
- Nutrient and algae readings are not a swimming clearance. Check local advisories before you swim.
How deep is Buffalo Springs Lake?
- No published bathymetric survey covers Buffalo Springs Lake, so its depth has not been measured. The HydroLAKES global model estimates an average depth of about 26 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 200 acres.
Are there boat ramps on Buffalo Springs Lake?
- Buffalo Springs Lake has 2 documented boat landings in the USGS National Boat Ramps inventory. Named access points include Buffalo Springs Lake, Buffalo Bay Marina. Public access is listed as yes.
Can I fish at Buffalo Springs Lake?
- Buffalo Springs Lake has 2 documented boat landings in the USGS National Boat Ramps inventory. Seasons, size and bag limits, and whether you need a license are set by Texas's fish and wildlife agency, so check its current regulations before you go.
Explore Buffalo Springs Lake across LakeQuality
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Where this data comes from
47 measurements from 1 monitoring station, 2020–2025. Retrieved from the EPA Water Quality Portal on 2026-08-02.
Collected and reported by
- Texas Commission on Environmental Quality
TCEQMAIN47 samples · 2020–2025
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)
Named boat-access points from the USGS National Boat Ramps inventory