Earl Lake
Livingston County, Michigan53 acresView mapDirections
EGLE publishes the water-quality measurements for Earl Lake. Here is what has been measured.
- Impaired · PFAS
- Limited data
Earl Lake in Livingston County, Michigan has water-quality measurements published by EGLE, shown here as reported. Water clarity: 6.5 ft visibility. Surface area: 53.2 acres.
Earl Lake is a 53-acre lake in Livingston County, Michigan. Overall water quality is declining over recent sampling years.
Source: EPA Water Quality Portal sampling records, EGLE, last sampled 2021-09-12. Methodology: how these readings are compared.
Swimming conditions
No readingLimited data
Nutrient and algae readings are not a swimming clearance. Earl Lake is listed impaired under Clean Water Act §303(d) (IR 5) for pFAS, pCBs, salinity / chlorides. Check local advisories before you swim.
Whether Earl 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 Earl Lake
These are the measurements EGLE publishes for Earl 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 6.5 ft. TSI 50.
| Measure | Reading | Where it sits |
|---|---|---|
| Water clarity (Secchi depth) | 6.5ft | 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. | 50 | Eutrophic OligotrophicMesotrophicEutrophicHypereutrophic |
High nutrients, frequent algae, reduced clarity
Ask about Earl Lake
Answers come straight from the public measurements and survey records on this page.
Lake Details
Surface area
53 acres
No bathymetric survey has been published for Earl Lake, so its depth is not documented here.
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Fishing Earl Lake
Water Quality Trend: Worsening
Based on 5 years of monitoring (2016–2021).
Water clarity
Stable5 years
Phosphorus
Worsening+2.75 µg/L/yr4 years
Chlorophyll-a
Worsening+2.08 µg/L/yr5 years
EPA Impairment Status
Earl Lake is officially listed as impaired under Clean Water Act §303(d) in the 2024 EPA reporting cycle (IR category 5).
Causes of impairment
Designated uses not supporting: Aquatic life, Fish consumption.
A Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) plan has been approved.
Source: EPA ATTAINS assessment unit MI040802030104-08 · Official waterbody report
Regulated Pollution Sources Nearby
1 EPA-permitted facility operate within about 5 miles of Earl Lake under Clean Water Act (NPDES) discharge permits. 1 facility has a reported Clean Water Act violation in the past three years.
- Chem-Trend Lp-Grand RiverHowell · 0.6 mi away · NPDES MI0041718Recent violation
Facilities permitted to discharge under the Clean Water Act within ~5 miles; proximity does not by itself mean a facility affects this lake. Source: EPA ECHO (ICIS-NPDES), as of 2026-07.
Nearby Lakes in Livingston County
Frequently asked questions about Earl Lake
Where is Earl Lake?
- Earl Lake is a lake in Livingston County, Michigan. Its water-quality measurements are published by EGLE and shown on this page as reported.
What is the water quality of Earl Lake?
- Earl Lake in Livingston County, Michigan has water-quality measurements published by EGLE, shown here as reported. Water clarity: 6.5 ft visibility. Surface area: 53.2 acres.
Is Earl Lake safe to swim in?
- Nutrient and algae readings are not a swimming clearance. Earl Lake is listed impaired under Clean Water Act §303(d) (IR 5) for pFAS, pCBs, salinity / chlorides. Check local advisories before you swim.
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Where this data comes from
90 measurements from 1 monitoring station, 2016–2021. Retrieved from the EPA Water Quality Portal on 2026-08-26.
Collected and reported by
- North American Lake Management Society
NALMS90 samples · 2016–2021
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
Regulated discharger data from EPA ECHO (ICIS-NPDES)