Lake Catherine
Garland County, Arkansas6,897 acresView mapDirections
Arkansas DEQ publishes the water-quality measurements for Lake Catherine. Here is what has been measured.
- 19 ft max depth
- Public access
- Limited data
Lake Catherine in Garland County, Arkansas has water-quality measurements published by Arkansas DEQ, shown here as reported. Water clarity: 6 ft visibility. Phosphorus: 29 µg/L. Chlorophyll-a (algae): 3.1 µg/L. Surface area: 6897 acres.
Lake Catherine is a 6,897-acre lake in Garland County, Arkansas with an estimated average depth of about 19 feet. Overall water quality is declining over recent sampling years. Limited fish-species data available. Public access is available with 1 public boat landing.
Source: EPA Water Quality Portal sampling records, ADEQ, last sampled 2019-04-23. Methodology: how these readings are compared.
At about 6,900 acres, Lake Catherine is large enough that where you stay decides which shore you see most of. It has one public boat landing. For a place on the water, look through cabin and lake-house rentals near Lake Catherine on Vrbo. For a hotel or motel room, Booking.com and Expedia both search around the lake.
What Lake Catherine is good for
From access and monitoring records, not editorial picks.
- Boat launch1 documented ramp
- Big water6,897 acres
Swimming conditions
No readingLimited data
Nutrient and algae readings are not a swimming clearance. Check local advisories before you swim.
Whether Lake Catherine 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 Lake Catherine
These are the measurements Arkansas DEQ publishes for Lake Catherine, 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 6 ft. Phosphorus 29 µg/L. Chlorophyll-a 3.1 µg/L. TSI 49.
| Measure | Reading | Where it sits |
|---|---|---|
| Water clarity (Secchi depth) | 6ft | Measured, not scored How deep a black-and-white disk stays visible from the surface. Higher is clearer. |
| Total phosphorus | 29µg/L | Measured, not scored The nutrient that most limits algae growth in freshwater. More phosphorus, more algae potential. |
| Chlorophyll-a (algae) | 3.1µg/L | Measured, not scored 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. | 49 | Mesotrophic OligotrophicMesotrophicEutrophicHypereutrophic |
Moderate nutrients, good water quality
Ask about Lake Catherine
Answers come straight from the public measurements and survey records on this page.
Lake Details
Max depth
~19 ft est.
Surface area
6,897 acres
Public access
Yes
Listed by Arkansas DEQ
Depth marked “est.” is a modeled maximum from GLOBathy (Khazaei et al. 2022, CC0), not a measured survey. Arkansas has not published bathymetry for Lake Catherine.
Lake Size & Watershed
Watershed (drainage) area
1,455 sq mi
HydroLAKES / HydroSHEDS
Shoreline
1.1 mi
HydroLAKES / HydroSHEDS
Elevation
335 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.
Recreation & Access
- Carpenter Dam ParkPublic
Named access points in the USGS National Boat Ramps inventory, within about 3 miles. More lakes with boat ramps
Stays via Stay22
Stays near Lake Catherine
Compare lakeside cabins, hotels, and vacation rentals near Lake Catherine in Garland 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.
Top-rated places to stay near Lake Catherine
Prices for Oct 30–Nov 1, 4 adults. Change dates on the map below.
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Fishing Lake Catherine
Water Quality Trend: Worsening
Based on 7 years of monitoring (2012–2019).
Water clarity
Stable4 years
Phosphorus
Worsening+0.48 µg/L/yr6 years
Chlorophyll-a
Worsening+0.87 µg/L/yr7 years
Reservoir Info (USACE NID)
Lake Catherine is a man-made reservoir impounded by the Carpenter (completed 1932), built primarily for hydroelectric on the Ouachita River; gravity-type dam, 110 ft tall and 1,165 ft long.
- Surface area
- 6,897 ac
- Normal storage
- 183,160 ac-ft
- Max storage
- 235,500 ac-ft
- Drainage area
- 1,441 sq mi
- Hazard class
- High
- Owner
- Entergy Arkansas, Inc.
All listed purposes: Hydroelectric;Fish and Wildlife Pond;Recreation;Water Supply.
Source: USACE National Inventory of Dams, NID ID AR00534 · Operator website · Matched by proximity (0.52 km)
Nearby Lakes in Garland County
Frequently asked questions about Lake Catherine
Where is Lake Catherine?
- Lake Catherine is a lake in Garland County, Arkansas. Its water-quality measurements are published by Arkansas DEQ and shown on this page as reported.
What is the water quality of Lake Catherine?
- Lake Catherine in Garland County, Arkansas has water-quality measurements published by Arkansas DEQ, shown here as reported. Water clarity: 6 ft visibility. Phosphorus: 29 µg/L. Chlorophyll-a (algae): 3.1 µg/L. Surface area: 6897 acres.
Is Lake Catherine safe to swim in?
- Nutrient and algae readings are not a swimming clearance. Check local advisories before you swim.
How deep is Lake Catherine?
- No published bathymetric survey covers Lake Catherine, so its depth has not been measured. The HydroLAKES global model estimates an average depth of about 19 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 6897 acres.
Are there boat ramps on Lake Catherine?
- Lake Catherine has 1 documented boat landing in the USGS National Boat Ramps inventory. Named access points include Carpenter Dam Park. Public access is listed as yes.
Can I fish at Lake Catherine?
- Lake Catherine has 1 documented boat landing in the USGS National Boat Ramps inventory. Seasons, size and bag limits, and whether you need a license are set by Arkansas's fish and wildlife agency, so check its current regulations before you go.
Explore Lake Catherine across LakeQuality
Planning a trip around Hot Springs?
Lake Catherine is about 6 miles from Hot Springs National Park. Crowds there swing hard by season, so the month you pick changes both how busy the park is and what lodging costs.
Best time to visit Hot Springs →More lakes in Arkansas
Other Lakes in Arkansas
Mesotrophic Lakes in Arkansas
Where this data comes from
44 measurements from 1 monitoring station, 2012–2019. Retrieved from the EPA Water Quality Portal on 2026-08-02.
Collected and reported by
- Arkansas Department of Environmental Quality
ARDEQH2O_WQX44 samples · 2012–2019
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
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
Lake size & watershed from HydroLAKES (HydroSHEDS)
Named boat-access points from the USGS National Boat Ramps inventory