Bwcd Lake
DeKalb County, Alabama68 acresView mapDirections
ADEM publishes the water-quality measurements for Bwcd Lake. Here is what has been measured.
- Eutrophic
- 28 ft max depth
Bwcd Lake in DeKalb County, Alabama has water-quality measurements published by ADEM, shown here as reported. Water clarity: 4.3 ft visibility. Phosphorus: 39 µg/L. Chlorophyll-a (algae): 18.5 µg/L. Surface area: 68 acres.
Bwcd Lake is a 68-acre productive, nutrient-rich eutrophic lake in DeKalb County, Alabama with an estimated average depth of about 28 feet. Overall water quality is improving over recent sampling years. Compared to the 1 other monitored lakes in DeKalb County, Bwcd Lake ranks #2 for water quality.
Source: EPA Water Quality Portal sampling records, ADEM, last sampled 2025-10-29. Methodology: how these readings are compared.
Swimming conditions
Readings onlyAlgae risk
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 Bwcd Lake is safe to swim in today is a call for the Alabama Department of Environmental Management and the county health department, who post current advisories. LakeQuality does not issue swimming clearances.
Water quality measurements for Bwcd Lake
These are the measurements ADEM publishes for Bwcd 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 4.3 ft. Phosphorus 39 µg/L. Chlorophyll-a 18.5 µg/L. TSI 57.
| Measure | Reading | Where it sits |
|---|---|---|
| Water clarity (Secchi depth) | 4.3ft | Measured, not scored How deep a black-and-white disk stays visible from the surface. Higher is clearer. |
| Total phosphorus | 39µg/L | Poor GoodFairPoor |
| Chlorophyll-a (algae) | 18.5µg/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. | 57 | Eutrophic OligotrophicMesotrophicEutrophicHypereutrophic |
High nutrients, frequent algae, reduced clarity
Ask about Bwcd Lake
Answers come straight from the public measurements and survey records on this page.
Lake Details
Max depth
~28 ft est.
Surface area
68 acres
Depth marked “est.” is a modeled maximum from GLOBathy (Khazaei et al. 2022, CC0), not a measured survey. Alabama has not published bathymetry for Bwcd Lake.
Lake Size & Watershed
Watershed (drainage) area
19 sq mi
HydroLAKES / HydroSHEDS
Shoreline
1.9 mi
HydroLAKES / HydroSHEDS
Elevation
889 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 Bwcd Lake
Compare lakeside cabins, hotels, and vacation rentals near Bwcd Lake in DeKalb County, Alabama — 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 Bwcd Lake are listed below.
Top-rated places to stay near Bwcd Lake
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Fishing Bwcd Lake
Water quality readings over time
2 seasons of samples on record (2022–2025). Calling a direction takes at least 4 years of the same measurement.
Water clarity
Improving2 years
Phosphorus
Worsening+4.83 µg/L/yr2 years
Chlorophyll-a
Improving-0.63 µg/L/yr2 years
Reservoir Info (USACE NID)
Bwcd Lake is a man-made reservoir impounded by the Fort Payne Dam #2, built primarily for recreation on the Big Wills Creek, 8 ft tall and 495 ft long.
- Surface area
- 68 ac
- Normal storage
- 0 ac-ft
- Max storage
- 410 ac-ft
- Drainage area
- 17.39 sq mi
- Hazard class
- High
- Owner
- CITY OF FORT PAYNE ALA.
All listed purposes: Recreation;Water Supply.
Source: USACE National Inventory of Dams, NID ID AL83481 · Operator website · Matched by proximity (0.09 km)
Nearby Lakes in DeKalb County
Frequently asked questions about Bwcd Lake
Where is Bwcd Lake?
- Bwcd Lake is a lake in DeKalb County, Alabama. Its water-quality measurements are published by ADEM and shown on this page as reported.
What is the water quality of Bwcd Lake?
- Bwcd Lake in DeKalb County, Alabama has water-quality measurements published by ADEM, shown here as reported. Water clarity: 4.3 ft visibility. Phosphorus: 39 µg/L. Chlorophyll-a (algae): 18.5 µg/L. Surface area: 68 acres.
Is Bwcd Lake safe to swim in?
- Nutrient and algae readings are not a swimming clearance. Check local advisories before you swim.
How deep is Bwcd Lake?
- No published bathymetric survey covers Bwcd Lake, so its depth has not been measured. The HydroLAKES global model estimates an average depth of about 28 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 68 acres.
Explore Bwcd Lake across LakeQuality
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Where this data comes from
91 measurements from 1 monitoring station, 2022–2025. Retrieved from the EPA Water Quality Portal on 2026-08-02.
Collected and reported by
- ALABAMA DEPT. OF ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT - WATER QUALITY DATA
21AWIC91 samples · 2022–2025
Analytical methods
- Phosphorus by Colorimetry
- 10200 H ~ Chlorophyll a-b-c Determination
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)