Lake Fort Smith
Crawford County, Arkansas470 acresView mapDirections
Arkansas DEQ publishes the water-quality measurements for Lake Fort Smith. Here is what has been measured.
- Mesotrophic
- Limited data
Lake Fort Smith in Crawford County, Arkansas has water-quality measurements published by Arkansas DEQ, shown here as reported. Water clarity: 6.5 ft visibility. Phosphorus: 20 µg/L. Chlorophyll-a (algae): 5.1 µg/L. Surface area: 470 acres.
Lake Fort Smith is a 470-acre mesotrophic lake in Crawford County, Arkansas. Compared to the 1 other monitored lakes in Crawford County, Lake Fort Smith ranks #1 for water quality.
Source: EPA Water Quality Portal sampling records, ADEQ, last sampled 2019-02-05. Methodology: how these readings are compared.
Lake Fort Smith covers about 470 acres in Crawford County. If you are planning to stay, you can search lake houses and cabins around Lake Fort Smith on Vrbo, or look for a hotel room near the lake on Booking.com or Expedia.
Swimming conditions
Readings onlyLimited data
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 Lake Fort Smith 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 Fort Smith
These are the measurements Arkansas DEQ publishes for Lake Fort Smith, 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 6.5 ft. Phosphorus 20 µg/L. Chlorophyll-a 5.1 µg/L. TSI 48.
| Measure | Reading | Where it sits |
|---|---|---|
| Water clarity (Secchi depth) | 6.5ft | Measured, not scored How deep a black-and-white disk stays visible from the surface. Higher is clearer. |
| Total phosphorus | 20µg/L | Fair GoodFairPoor |
| Chlorophyll-a (algae) | 5.1µg/L | Good GoodFairPoor |
| Trophic state (TSI)Carlson's 0–100 index of how much algae a lake can support, from clarity, phosphorus and chlorophyll-a. | 48 | Mesotrophic OligotrophicMesotrophicEutrophicHypereutrophic |
Moderate nutrients, good water quality
Ask about Lake Fort Smith
Answers come straight from the public measurements and survey records on this page.
Lake Details
Surface area
470 acres
No bathymetric survey has been published for Lake Fort Smith, so its depth is not documented here.
Stays via Stay22
Stays near Lake Fort Smith
Compare lakeside cabins, hotels, and vacation rentals near Lake Fort Smith in Crawford 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.
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Fishing Lake Fort Smith
Reservoir Info (USACE NID)
Lake Fort Smith is a man-made reservoir impounded by the Lake Shepherd Springs Dam (Breached) (Deleted) (completed 1954), built primarily for water supply on the Frog Bayou; earth-type dam, 99 ft tall and 2,100 ft long.
- Surface area
- 470 ac
- Normal storage
- 12,300 ac-ft
- Max storage
- 19,163 ac-ft
- Drainage area
- 62.7 sq mi
- Hazard class
- High
- Owner
- City of Fort Smith
Source: USACE National Inventory of Dams, NID ID AR00445 · Operator website · Matched by proximity (0.8 km)
Nearby Lakes in Crawford County
Frequently asked questions about Lake Fort Smith
Where is Lake Fort Smith?
- Lake Fort Smith is a lake in Crawford 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 Fort Smith?
- Lake Fort Smith in Crawford County, Arkansas has water-quality measurements published by Arkansas DEQ, shown here as reported. Water clarity: 6.5 ft visibility. Phosphorus: 20 µg/L. Chlorophyll-a (algae): 5.1 µg/L. Surface area: 470 acres.
Is Lake Fort Smith safe to swim in?
- Nutrient and algae readings are not a swimming clearance. Check local advisories before you swim.
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Where this data comes from
175 measurements from 2 monitoring stations, 2012–2019. Retrieved from the EPA Water Quality Portal on 2026-08-02.
Collected and reported by
- Arkansas Department of Environmental Quality
ARDEQH2O_WQX175 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 (2)
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.