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LakeQuality

Highlands-Grassy Lake

Highlands County, FloridaView mapDirections

Florida DEP publishes the water-quality measurements for Highlands-Grassy Lake. Here is what has been measured.

Clarity
5 ft
Typical for Florida
Secchi · sampled 2024
Phosphorus
12.5 µg/L
Less phosphorus than most
Measured by Florida DEP
Type
Mesotrophic
Trophic class
  • Mesotrophic
  • Impaired · Mercury

Highlands-Grassy Lake in Highlands County, Florida has water-quality measurements published by Florida DEP, shown here as reported. Water clarity: 5 ft visibility. Phosphorus: 12.5 µg/L.

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Highlands-Grassy Lake is a mesotrophic lake in Highlands County, Florida. Water clarity is declining over recent sampling years. Compared to the 72 other monitored lakes in Highlands County, Highlands-Grassy Lake ranks #55 for water quality.

Source: EPA Water Quality Portal sampling records, FDEP, last sampled 2024-11-21. Methodology: how these readings are compared.

Swimming conditions

Readings only

Low algae

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. Highlands-Grassy Lake is listed impaired under Clean Water Act §303(d) (IR 4A) for mercury. Check local advisories before you swim.

Whether Highlands-Grassy Lake is safe to swim in today is a call for the Florida Department of Environmental Protection and the county health department, who post current advisories. LakeQuality does not issue swimming clearances.

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Water quality measurements for Highlands-Grassy Lake

These are the measurements Florida DEP publishes for Highlands-Grassy 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 5 ft. Phosphorus 12.5 µg/L. TSI 47.

Water quality readings
MeasureReadingWhere it sits
Water clarity (Secchi depth)5ftMeasured, not scored

How deep a black-and-white disk stays visible from the surface. Higher is clearer.

Total phosphorus12.5µg/LGood
GoodFairPoor
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.47Mesotrophic
OligotrophicMesotrophicEutrophicHypereutrophic

Moderate nutrients, good water quality

Ask about Highlands-Grassy Lake

Answers come straight from the public measurements and survey records on this page.

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Stays near Highlands-Grassy Lake

Compare lakeside cabins, hotels, and vacation rentals near Highlands-Grassy Lake in Highlands County, Florida — 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.

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Fishing Highlands-Grassy Lake

2 seasons of samples on record (2023–2024). Calling a direction takes at least 4 years of the same measurement.

  • Water clarity

    Worsening

    2 years

  • Phosphorus

    Improving

    -2 µg/L/yr2 years

EPA Impairment Status

Highlands-Grassy Lake is officially listed as impaired under Clean Water Act §303(d) in the 2022 EPA reporting cycle (IR category 4A).

Causes of impairment

Mercury

Designated uses not supporting: Fish consumption.

A Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) plan has been approved.

Source: EPA ATTAINS assessment unit FL1932A · Official waterbody report

Nearby Lakes in Highlands County

Frequently asked questions about Highlands-Grassy Lake

Where is Highlands-Grassy Lake?

Highlands-Grassy Lake is a lake in Highlands County, Florida. Its water-quality measurements are published by Florida DEP and shown on this page as reported.

What is the water quality of Highlands-Grassy Lake?

Highlands-Grassy Lake in Highlands County, Florida has water-quality measurements published by Florida DEP, shown here as reported. Water clarity: 5 ft visibility. Phosphorus: 12.5 µg/L.

Measurements on this page ↑

Is Highlands-Grassy Lake safe to swim in?

Nutrient and algae readings are not a swimming clearance. Highlands-Grassy Lake is listed impaired under Clean Water Act §303(d) (IR 4A) for mercury. Check local advisories before you swim.

Swimming on this page ↑

Where this data comes from

94 measurements from 3 monitoring stations, 2023–2024. Retrieved from the EPA Water Quality Portal on 2026-08-02.

Collected and reported by

  • FLORIDA LAKEWATCH21FLKWAT_WQX94 samples · 2023–2024
Monitoring station identifiers (3)

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