Hillsborough-Josephine Lake
Hillsborough County, Florida284 acresView mapDirections
No nutrient or algae sampling on record from Florida DEP for this lake.
- 29 ft max depth
- Limited data
Hillsborough-Josephine Lake in Hillsborough County, Florida has water-quality measurements published by Florida DEP, shown here as reported. Surface area: 284 acres.
Hillsborough-Josephine Lake is a 284-acre lake in Hillsborough County, Florida with an estimated average depth of about 29 feet. Water clarity is declining over recent sampling years.
Source: EPA Water Quality Portal sampling records, FDEP, last sampled 2022-03-02. Methodology: how these readings are compared.
Swimming conditions
No readingLimited data
Nutrient and algae readings are not a swimming clearance. Check local advisories before you swim.
Whether Hillsborough-Josephine 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-Josephine Lake
These are the measurements Florida DEP publishes for Hillsborough-Josephine Lake, shown as reported. The condition class beside each reading is the EPA National Lakes Assessment class for this lake’s ecoregion.
No clarity data.
Ask about Hillsborough-Josephine Lake
Answers come straight from the public measurements and survey records on this page.
Water Temperature
Hillsborough-Josephine Lake typically sits around 80°F at the surface in October. Summer average is about 86°F. Usually warmest in Jun (about 86°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 (86°F).
Typical surface water temperature by month, from 65 field readings (2015–2017) via the EPA Water Quality Portal. See the full Hillsborough-Josephine Lake water temperature breakdown →
Lake Details
Max depth
~29 ft est.
Surface area
284 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-Josephine Lake.
Lake Size & Watershed
Watershed (drainage) area
23 sq mi
HydroLAKES / HydroSHEDS
Shoreline
1 mi
HydroLAKES / HydroSHEDS
Elevation
62 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-Josephine Lake
Compare lakeside cabins, hotels, and vacation rentals near Hillsborough-Josephine Lake in Hillsborough 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.
Top-rated places to stay near Hillsborough-Josephine Lake
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Fishing Hillsborough-Josephine Lake
Water Quality Trend: Stable
Based on 6 years of monitoring (2020–2025).
Water clarity
Worsening6 years
Phosphorus
Improving-1.09 µg/L/yr6 years
Reservoir Info (USACE NID)
Hillsborough-Josephine Lake is a man-made reservoir impounded by the Lake Pretty Water Conservation Structure, built primarily for flood risk reduction on the Lake Armistead/Rocky Creek; other-type dam, 5 ft tall and 32.83 ft long.
- Surface area
- 284 ac
- Normal storage
- 2,016 ac-ft
- Max storage
- 2,016 ac-ft
- Drainage area
- 2.7 sq mi
- Hazard class
- Significant
- Owner
- SWFWMD
All listed purposes: Flood Risk Reduction;Recreation;Water Supply.
Source: USACE National Inventory of Dams, NID ID FL12026 · Operator website · Matched by proximity (0.78 km)
Nearby Lakes in Hillsborough County
Frequently asked questions about Hillsborough-Josephine Lake
Where is Hillsborough-Josephine Lake?
- Hillsborough-Josephine 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-Josephine Lake?
- Hillsborough-Josephine Lake in Hillsborough County, Florida has water-quality measurements published by Florida DEP, shown here as reported. Surface area: 284 acres.
Is Hillsborough-Josephine Lake safe to swim in?
- Nutrient and algae readings are not a swimming clearance. Check local advisories before you swim.
What is the water temperature of Hillsborough-Josephine Lake?
- Hillsborough-Josephine Lake typically sits around 80°F at the surface in October, from 65 EPA Water Quality Portal field readings (2015–2017). That is a typical value for the month, not a live reading.
How deep is Hillsborough-Josephine Lake?
- No published bathymetric survey covers Hillsborough-Josephine Lake, so its depth has not been measured. The HydroLAKES global model estimates an average depth of about 29 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 284 acres.
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Where this data comes from
6 measurements from 3 monitoring stations, 2022. Retrieved from the EPA Water Quality Portal on 2026-08-02.
Collected and reported by
- FLORIDA LAKEWATCH
21FLKWAT_WQX6 samples · 2022
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)