Chief Lake
Manistee County, Michigan117 acresView mapDirections
EGLE publishes the water-quality measurements for Chief Lake. Here is what has been measured.
- Limited data
Chief Lake in Manistee County, Michigan has water-quality measurements published by EGLE, shown here as reported. Water clarity: 20 ft visibility. Surface area: 116.9 acres.
Chief Lake is a 117-acre lake in Manistee County, Michigan. The lake supports 1 documented fish species including Pumpkinseed.
Source: EPA Water Quality Portal sampling records, EGLE, last sampled 2018-08-09. Methodology: how these readings are compared.
What Chief Lake is good for
From access and monitoring records, not editorial picks.
- Clear water20 ft of visibility
Swimming conditions
No readingLimited data
Nutrient and algae readings are not a swimming clearance. Check local advisories before you swim.
Whether Chief 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 Chief Lake
These are the measurements EGLE publishes for Chief Lake, shown as reported. The condition class beside each reading is the EPA National Lakes Assessment class for this lake’s ecoregion.
Crystal clear, you can see 20 ft down. TSI 34.
| Measure | Reading | Where it sits |
|---|---|---|
| Water clarity (Secchi depth) | 20ft | 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. | 34 | Oligotrophic OligotrophicMesotrophicEutrophicHypereutrophic |
Low nutrients, clear water. No reading is a swimming clearance.
Ask about Chief Lake
Answers come straight from the public measurements and survey records on this page.
Lake Details
Surface area
117 acres
The available depth estimate for Chief Lake is shallower than its measured water clarity, which cannot be right, so no depth is shown.
Stays via Stay22
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Fish Species
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Fishing Chief Lake
Nearby Lakes in Manistee County
Frequently asked questions about Chief Lake
Where is Chief Lake?
- Chief Lake is a lake in Manistee County, Michigan. Its water-quality measurements are published by EGLE and shown on this page as reported.
What is the water quality of Chief Lake?
- Chief Lake in Manistee County, Michigan has water-quality measurements published by EGLE, shown here as reported. Water clarity: 20 ft visibility. Surface area: 116.9 acres.
Is Chief Lake safe to swim in?
- Nutrient and algae readings are not a swimming clearance. Check local advisories before you swim.
How deep is Chief Lake?
- The available depth estimate for Chief Lake is shallower than its measured water clarity, which cannot be right, so no depth is shown. The lake covers 116.9 acres.
What fish are in Chief Lake?
- Fish species found in Chief Lake include Pumpkinseed. Chief Lake is located in Manistee County, Michigan.
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Where this data comes from
5 measurements from 1 monitoring station, 2018. Retrieved from the EPA Water Quality Portal on 2026-08-26.
Collected and reported by
- North American Lake Management Society
NALMS5 samples · 2018
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.