Hillsborough-Island Ford Lake
Hillsborough County, Florida431 acresView mapDirections
Florida DEP publishes the water-quality measurements for Hillsborough-Island Ford Lake. Here is what has been measured.
- Mesotrophic
- 46 ft max depth
Hillsborough-Island Ford Lake in Hillsborough County, Florida has water-quality measurements published by Florida DEP, shown here as reported. Water clarity: 5.5 ft visibility. Phosphorus: 14 µg/L. Surface area: 431 acres.
Hillsborough-Island Ford Lake is a 431-acre mesotrophic lake in Hillsborough County, Florida with an estimated average depth of about 46 feet. Overall water quality is declining over recent sampling years. Compared to the 123 other monitored lakes in Hillsborough County, Hillsborough-Island Ford Lake ranks #8 for water quality.
Source: EPA Water Quality Portal sampling records, FDEP, last sampled 2025-05-02. Methodology: how these readings are compared.
Swimming conditions
Readings onlyLow 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. Check local advisories before you swim.
Whether Hillsborough-Island Ford 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-Island Ford Lake
These are the measurements Florida DEP publishes for Hillsborough-Island Ford 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 5.5 ft. Phosphorus 14 µg/L. TSI 47.
| Measure | Reading | Where it sits |
|---|---|---|
| Water clarity (Secchi depth) | 5.5ft | Measured, not scored How deep a black-and-white disk stays visible from the surface. Higher is clearer. |
| Total phosphorus | 14µg/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-Island Ford Lake
Answers come straight from the public measurements and survey records on this page.
Lake Details
Max depth
~46 ft est.
Surface area
431 acres
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-Island Ford Lake.
Lake Size & Watershed
Watershed (drainage) area
0 sq mi
HydroLAKES / HydroSHEDS
Shoreline
1.3 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-Island Ford Lake
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Fishing Hillsborough-Island Ford Lake
Water Quality Trend: Worsening
Based on 6 years of monitoring (2020–2025).
Water clarity
Worsening6 years
Phosphorus
Worsening+1.03 µg/L/yr6 years
Reservoir Info (USACE NID)
Hillsborough-Island Ford Lake is a man-made reservoir impounded by the Keystone Lake Water Conservation Structure, built primarily for flood risk reduction on the Keystone Lake; other-type dam, 6 ft tall and 24.25 ft long.
- Surface area
- 431 ac
- Normal storage
- 510 ac-ft
- Max storage
- 1,851 ac-ft
- Hazard class
- Significant
- Owner
- SWFWMD
All listed purposes: Flood Risk Reduction;Recreation;Water Supply.
Source: USACE National Inventory of Dams, NID ID FL12038 · Operator website · Matched by proximity (0.47 km)
Nearby Lakes in Hillsborough County
Frequently asked questions about Hillsborough-Island Ford Lake
Where is Hillsborough-Island Ford Lake?
- Hillsborough-Island Ford 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-Island Ford Lake?
- Hillsborough-Island Ford Lake in Hillsborough County, Florida has water-quality measurements published by Florida DEP, shown here as reported. Water clarity: 5.5 ft visibility. Phosphorus: 14 µg/L. Surface area: 431 acres.
Is Hillsborough-Island Ford Lake safe to swim in?
- Nutrient and algae readings are not a swimming clearance. Check local advisories before you swim.
How deep is Hillsborough-Island Ford Lake?
- No published bathymetric survey covers Hillsborough-Island Ford Lake, so its depth has not been measured. The HydroLAKES global model estimates an average depth of about 46 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 431 acres.
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Where this data comes from
340 measurements from 3 monitoring stations, 2020–2025. Retrieved from the EPA Water Quality Portal on 2026-08-02.
Collected and reported by
- FLORIDA LAKEWATCH
21FLKWAT_WQX340 samples · 2020–2025
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
Lake size & watershed from HydroLAKES (HydroSHEDS)