Hillsborough-Hiawatha Lake
Hillsborough County, FloridaView mapDirections
Florida DEP publishes the water-quality measurements for Hillsborough-Hiawatha Lake. Here is what has been measured.
- Mesotrophic
- Impaired · Algal growth
- 37 ft max depth
Hillsborough-Hiawatha Lake in Hillsborough County, Florida has water-quality measurements published by Florida DEP, shown here as reported. Water clarity: 9 ft visibility. Phosphorus: 22 µg/L.
Hillsborough-Hiawatha Lake is a mesotrophic lake in Hillsborough County, Florida with an estimated average depth of about 37 feet. Overall water quality is improving over recent sampling years. Compared to the 123 other monitored lakes in Hillsborough County, Hillsborough-Hiawatha Lake ranks #45 for water quality.
Source: EPA Water Quality Portal sampling records, FDEP, last sampled 2024-11-17. Methodology: how these readings are compared.
Swimming conditions
Readings onlyRecreation use not supported
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. Hillsborough-Hiawatha Lake is listed impaired under Clean Water Act §303(d) (IR 5) for algal growth, nutrients (phosphorus, nitrogen). Check local advisories before you swim.
Whether Hillsborough-Hiawatha 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.
Water quality measurements for Hillsborough-Hiawatha Lake
These are the measurements Florida DEP publishes for Hillsborough-Hiawatha Lake, shown as reported. The condition class beside each reading is the EPA National Lakes Assessment class for this lake’s ecoregion.
Moderate clarity, visible to about 9 ft. Phosphorus 22 µg/L. TSI 47.
| Measure | Reading | Where it sits |
|---|---|---|
| Water clarity (Secchi depth) | 9ft | Measured, not scored How deep a black-and-white disk stays visible from the surface. Higher is clearer. |
| Total phosphorus | 22µg/L | Good 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. | 47 | Mesotrophic OligotrophicMesotrophicEutrophicHypereutrophic |
Moderate nutrients, good water quality
Ask about Hillsborough-Hiawatha Lake
Answers come straight from the public measurements and survey records on this page.
Water Temperature
Hillsborough-Hiawatha Lake typically sits around 78°F at the surface in October. Summer average is about 83°F. Usually warmest in Jun (about 84°F) and coldest in Feb (about 66°F). These are typical values by month — not a live reading.
Column height runs from this lake’s coldest month (66°F) to its warmest (84°F).
Typical surface water temperature by month, from 49 field readings (2011–2017) via the EPA Water Quality Portal. See the full Hillsborough-Hiawatha Lake water temperature breakdown →
Lake Details
Max depth
~37 ft est.
Depth marked “est.” is a modeled maximum from GLOBathy (Khazaei et al. 2022, CC0), not a measured survey. Florida has not published bathymetry for Hillsborough-Hiawatha Lake.
Lake Size & Watershed
Watershed (drainage) area
1 sq mi
HydroLAKES / HydroSHEDS
Surface area
106 acres
HydroLAKES / HydroSHEDS
Shoreline
1.7 mi
HydroLAKES / HydroSHEDS
Elevation
52 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 Hillsborough-Hiawatha Lake
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Fishing Hillsborough-Hiawatha Lake
Water Quality Trend: Improving
Based on 5 years of monitoring (2020–2024).
Water clarity
Improving5 years
Phosphorus
Improving-0.6 µg/L/yr5 years
EPA Impairment Status
Hillsborough-Hiawatha Lake is officially listed as impaired under Clean Water Act §303(d) in the 2022 EPA reporting cycle (IR category 5).
Causes of impairment
Designated uses not supporting: Aquatic life, Recreation.
Source: EPA ATTAINS assessment unit FL1464V · Official waterbody report
Nearby Lakes in Hillsborough County
Frequently asked questions about Hillsborough-Hiawatha Lake
Where is Hillsborough-Hiawatha Lake?
- Hillsborough-Hiawatha Lake is a lake in Hillsborough County, Florida. Its water-quality measurements are published by Florida DEP and shown on this page as reported.
What is the water quality of Hillsborough-Hiawatha Lake?
- Hillsborough-Hiawatha Lake in Hillsborough County, Florida has water-quality measurements published by Florida DEP, shown here as reported. Water clarity: 9 ft visibility. Phosphorus: 22 µg/L.
Is Hillsborough-Hiawatha Lake safe to swim in?
- Nutrient and algae readings are not a swimming clearance. Hillsborough-Hiawatha Lake is listed impaired under Clean Water Act §303(d) (IR 5) for algal growth, nutrients (phosphorus, nitrogen). Check local advisories before you swim.
What is the water temperature of Hillsborough-Hiawatha Lake?
- Hillsborough-Hiawatha Lake typically sits around 78°F at the surface in October, from 49 EPA Water Quality Portal field readings (2011–2017). That is a typical value for the month, not a live reading.
How deep is Hillsborough-Hiawatha Lake?
- No published bathymetric survey covers Hillsborough-Hiawatha Lake, so its depth has not been measured. The HydroLAKES global model estimates an average depth of about 37 feet, but that is a modelled estimate derived from surrounding terrain rather than a measurement on the water, so treat it as approximate.
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Where this data comes from
99 measurements from 3 monitoring stations, 2020–2024. Retrieved from the EPA Water Quality Portal on 2026-08-02.
Collected and reported by
- FLORIDA LAKEWATCH
21FLKWAT_WQX99 samples · 2020–2024
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
Lake size & watershed from HydroLAKES (HydroSHEDS)