Horsehead Lake
Johnson County, Arkansas111 acresView mapDirections
Arkansas DEQ publishes the water-quality measurements for Horsehead Lake. Here is what has been measured.
- Eutrophic
- Impaired · pH / acidity
Horsehead Lake in Johnson County, Arkansas has water-quality measurements published by Arkansas DEQ, shown here as reported. Phosphorus: 30 µg/L. Chlorophyll-a (algae): 13.5 µg/L. Surface area: 111 acres.
Horsehead Lake is a 111-acre productive, nutrient-rich eutrophic lake in Johnson County, Arkansas. Overall water quality is declining over recent sampling years.
Source: EPA Water Quality Portal sampling records, ADEQ, last sampled 2023-02-07. Methodology: how these readings are compared.
Horsehead Lake covers about 110 acres in Johnson County. For a place on the water, look through cabin and lake-house rentals near Horsehead Lake on Vrbo. For a hotel or motel room, Booking.com and Expedia both search around the lake.
Swimming conditions
Readings onlyElevated nutrients
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. Horsehead Lake is listed impaired under Clean Water Act §303(d) (IR 5) for pH / acidity. Check local advisories before you swim.
Whether Horsehead Lake is safe to swim in today is a call for the Arkansas Division of Environmental Quality and the county health department, who post current advisories. LakeQuality does not issue swimming clearances.
Water quality measurements for Horsehead Lake
These are the measurements Arkansas DEQ publishes for Horsehead 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. Phosphorus 30 µg/L. Chlorophyll-a 13.5 µg/L. TSI 55.
| Measure | Reading | Where it sits |
|---|---|---|
| Water clarity (Secchi depth) | No reading How deep a black-and-white disk stays visible from the surface. Higher is clearer. | |
| Total phosphorus | 30µg/L | Fair GoodFairPoor |
| Chlorophyll-a (algae) | 13.5µg/L | Poor GoodFairPoor |
| Trophic state (TSI)Carlson's 0–100 index of how much algae a lake can support, from clarity, phosphorus and chlorophyll-a. | 55 | Eutrophic OligotrophicMesotrophicEutrophicHypereutrophic |
High nutrients, frequent algae, reduced clarity
Ask about Horsehead Lake
Answers come straight from the public measurements and survey records on this page.
Lake Details
Surface area
111 acres
No bathymetric survey has been published for Horsehead Lake, so its depth is not documented here.
Stays via Stay22
Stays near Horsehead Lake
Compare lakeside cabins, hotels, and vacation rentals near Horsehead Lake in Johnson County, Arkansas — 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. The water-quality readings cover nutrients and algae, not lodging. Cabins and rentals around Horsehead Lake are listed below.
Top-rated places to stay near Horsehead Lake
Prices for Oct 30–Nov 1, 4 adults. Change dates on the map below.
Availability and prices from Stay22 partners (Booking.com, Vrbo, Expedia). We may earn a commission from bookings, at no extra cost to you.
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Fishing Horsehead Lake
Water Quality Trend: Worsening
Based on 6 years of monitoring (2012–2022).
Phosphorus
Stable-0.26 µg/L/yr6 years
Chlorophyll-a
Worsening+0.62 µg/L/yr6 years
Reservoir Info (USACE NID)
Horsehead Lake is a man-made reservoir impounded by the Horsehead Lake Dam (completed 1950), built primarily for recreation on the Horsehead Creek; earth-type dam, 67 ft tall and 350 ft long.
- Surface area
- 111 ac
- Normal storage
- 3,663 ac-ft
- Max storage
- 4,913 ac-ft
- Drainage area
- 16.9 sq mi
- Hazard class
- High
- Owner
- Arkansas Game and Fish Commission
Source: USACE National Inventory of Dams, NID ID AR00441 · Operator website
EPA Impairment Status
Horsehead 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: Other.
Source: EPA ATTAINS assessment unit AR_11110202_4050 · Official waterbody report
Nearby Lakes in Johnson County
Frequently asked questions about Horsehead Lake
Where is Horsehead Lake?
- Horsehead Lake is a lake in Johnson County, Arkansas. Its water-quality measurements are published by Arkansas DEQ and shown on this page as reported.
What is the water quality of Horsehead Lake?
- Horsehead Lake in Johnson County, Arkansas has water-quality measurements published by Arkansas DEQ, shown here as reported. Phosphorus: 30 µg/L. Chlorophyll-a (algae): 13.5 µg/L. Surface area: 111 acres.
Is Horsehead Lake safe to swim in?
- Nutrient and algae readings are not a swimming clearance. Horsehead Lake is listed impaired under Clean Water Act §303(d) (IR 5) for pH / acidity. Check local advisories before you swim.
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Where this data comes from
69 measurements from 1 monitoring station, 2012–2023. Retrieved from the EPA Water Quality Portal on 2026-08-02.
Collected and reported by
- Arkansas Department of Environmental Quality
ARDEQH2O_WQX69 samples · 2012–2023
Analytical methods
- 4500 P J ~ Persulfate Method for Simultaneous Determination of Total Nitrogen and Total Phosphorus
- 445.0 ~ EPA; Chlorophyll and Pheophytin in Algae by Fluorescence
- Turbidity by Nephelometry
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