Lake Mackenzie
Briscoe County, Texas896 acresView mapDirections
TCEQ publishes the water-quality measurements for Lake Mackenzie. Here is what has been measured.
- Impaired · Salinity / chlorides
- 46 ft max depth
- Public access
- Limited data
Lake Mackenzie in Briscoe County, Texas has water-quality measurements published by TCEQ, shown here as reported. Water clarity: 1.8 ft visibility. Chlorophyll-a (algae): 3.9 µg/L. Surface area: 896 acres.
Lake Mackenzie is a 896-acre lake in Briscoe County, Texas with an estimated average depth of about 46 feet. Limited fish-species data available. Public access is available with 2 public boat landings.
Source: EPA Water Quality Portal sampling records, TCEQ, last sampled 2024-08-14. Methodology: how these readings are compared.
Lake Mackenzie covers about 900 acres in Briscoe County. It has 2 public boat landings, so a lakefront rental is not the only way to get a boat on the water. For a place on the water, look through cabin and lake-house rentals near Lake Mackenzie on Vrbo. For a hotel or motel room, Booking.com and Expedia both search around the lake.
What Lake Mackenzie is good for
From access and monitoring records, not editorial picks.
- Boat launch2 documented ramps
Swimming conditions
No readingLimited data
Nutrient and algae readings are not a swimming clearance. Lake Mackenzie is listed impaired under Clean Water Act §303(d) (IR 5) for salinity / chlorides. Check local advisories before you swim.
Whether Lake Mackenzie is safe to swim in today is a call for the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality and the county health department, who post current advisories. LakeQuality does not issue swimming clearances.
Water quality measurements for Lake Mackenzie
These are the measurements TCEQ publishes for Lake Mackenzie, shown as reported. The condition class beside each reading is the EPA National Lakes Assessment class for this lake’s ecoregion.
Very murky, less than 1.8 ft of visibility. Chlorophyll-a 3.9 µg/L. TSI 56.
| Measure | Reading | Where it sits |
|---|---|---|
| Water clarity (Secchi depth) | 1.8ft | Measured, not scored How deep a black-and-white disk stays visible from the surface. Higher is clearer. |
| Total phosphorus | No reading The nutrient that most limits algae growth in freshwater. More phosphorus, more algae potential. | |
| Chlorophyll-a (algae) | 3.9µg/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. | 56 | Eutrophic OligotrophicMesotrophicEutrophicHypereutrophic |
High nutrients, frequent algae, reduced clarity
Ask about Lake Mackenzie
Answers come straight from the public measurements and survey records on this page.
→ Lake Mackenzie water level: the live USGS gauge reading
Lake Details
Max depth
~46 ft est.
Surface area
896 acres
Public access
Yes
Listed by TCEQ
Depth marked “est.” is a modeled maximum from GLOBathy (Khazaei et al. 2022, CC0), not a measured survey. Texas has not published bathymetry for Lake Mackenzie.
Lake Size & Watershed
Watershed (drainage) area
1,043 sq mi
HydroLAKES / HydroSHEDS
Shoreline
4.7 mi
HydroLAKES / HydroSHEDS
Elevation
3,045 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
- Lake MackenziePublic
- Mackenzie Reservoir BoatPublic
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 Mackenzie
Compare lakeside cabins, hotels, and vacation rentals near Lake Mackenzie in Briscoe County, Texas — 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 Mackenzie
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.
Planning a whole trip? See where to stay at Texas’s top lakes →
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Fishing Lake Mackenzie
Reservoir Info (USACE NID)
Lake Mackenzie is a man-made reservoir impounded by the Mackenzie Dam (completed 1974), built primarily for water supply on the Tule Creek; earth-type dam, 180 ft tall and 2,700 ft long.
- Surface area
- 896 ac
- Normal storage
- 46,077 ac-ft
- Max storage
- 69,249 ac-ft
- Drainage area
- 188 sq mi
- Hazard class
- High
- Owner
- MACKENZIE MWA
All listed purposes: Water Supply;Recreation.
Source: USACE National Inventory of Dams, NID ID TX04316 · Operator website
EPA Impairment Status
Lake Mackenzie is officially listed as impaired under Clean Water Act §303(d) in the 2024 EPA reporting cycle (IR category 5).
Causes of impairment
Designated uses not supporting: Other.
Source: EPA ATTAINS assessment unit TX-0228_01 · Official waterbody report
Nearby Lakes in Briscoe County
Frequently asked questions about Lake Mackenzie
Where is Lake Mackenzie?
- Lake Mackenzie is a lake in Briscoe County, Texas. Its water-quality measurements are published by TCEQ and shown on this page as reported.
What is the water quality of Lake Mackenzie?
- Lake Mackenzie in Briscoe County, Texas has water-quality measurements published by TCEQ, shown here as reported. Water clarity: 1.8 ft visibility. Chlorophyll-a (algae): 3.9 µg/L. Surface area: 896 acres.
Is Lake Mackenzie safe to swim in?
- Nutrient and algae readings are not a swimming clearance. Lake Mackenzie is listed impaired under Clean Water Act §303(d) (IR 5) for salinity / chlorides. Check local advisories before you swim.
How deep is Lake Mackenzie?
- No published bathymetric survey covers Lake Mackenzie, 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 896 acres.
Are there boat ramps on Lake Mackenzie?
- Lake Mackenzie has 2 documented boat landings in the USGS National Boat Ramps inventory. Named access points include Lake Mackenzie, Mackenzie Reservoir Boat. Public access is listed as yes.
Can I fish at Lake Mackenzie?
- Lake Mackenzie has 2 documented boat landings in the USGS National Boat Ramps inventory. Seasons, size and bag limits, and whether you need a license are set by Texas's fish and wildlife agency, so check its current regulations before you go.
Explore Lake Mackenzie across LakeQuality
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Where this data comes from
7 measurements from 1 monitoring station, 2020–2024. Retrieved from the EPA Water Quality Portal on 2026-08-02.
Collected and reported by
- Texas Commission on Environmental Quality
TCEQMAIN7 samples · 2020–2024
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
Lake size & watershed from HydroLAKES (HydroSHEDS)
Named boat-access points from the USGS National Boat Ramps inventory