Lake Mcalester
Pittsburg County, Oklahoma1,521 acresView mapDirections
Oklahoma DEQ publishes the water-quality measurements for Lake Mcalester. Here is what has been measured.
- Impaired · Mercury
- 34 ft max depth
- Limited data
Ask about Lake Mcalester
Answers come straight from the public measurements and survey records on this page.
Lake Mcalester in Pittsburg County, Oklahoma has water-quality measurements published by Oklahoma DEQ, shown here as reported. Water clarity: 0.6 ft visibility. Surface area: 1521 acres.
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Lake Mcalester is a 1,521-acre lake in Pittsburg County, Oklahoma with an estimated average depth of about 34 feet. Overall water quality is improving over recent sampling years.
Source: EPA Water Quality Portal sampling records, ODEQ, last sampled 2024-11-05. Grade methodology: LakeQuality methodology.
What Lake Mcalester is good for
From access and monitoring records, not editorial picks.
- Big water1,521 acres
Swimming conditions
No readingLimited data
Nutrient and algae readings are not a swimming clearance. Lake Mcalester is listed impaired under Clean Water Act §303(d) (IR 5) for mercury, turbidity. Check local advisories before you swim.
Whether Lake Mcalester is safe to swim in today is a call for the Oklahoma Department of Environmental Quality and the county health department, who post current advisories. LakeQuality does not issue swimming clearances.
Water quality measurements for Lake Mcalester
These are the measurements Oklahoma DEQ publishes for Lake Mcalester, 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 0.6 ft of visibility. TSI 84.
| Metric | Value | EPA condition class |
|---|---|---|
| Water Clarity (Secchi Depth) | 0.6 ft | Measured, not scored |
| Phosphorus | No recent samples | |
| Chlorophyll-a (Algae) | No recent samples | |
| Trophic State Index (TSI) | 84 | Hypereutrophic |
Very high nutrients, dense algae, poor clarity
Lake Details
| Characteristic | Value |
|---|---|
| Maximum Depth | ~34 ft est. |
| Average Depth | ~13 ft est. |
| Surface Area | 1,521 acres |
Depth marked “est.” is a modeled maximum from GLOBathy (Khazaei et al. 2022, CC0), not a measured survey. Oklahoma has not published bathymetry for Lake Mcalester.
Lake Size & Watershed
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.
Fishing Lake Mcalester
Water Quality Trend: ↑ Improving
Based on 2 years of monitoring data (2020-2025).
| Metric | Trend | Change/Year | Years |
|---|---|---|---|
| Water Clarity | ↑ Improving | +3.5 m/yr | 2 |
Reservoir Info (USACE NID)
Lake Mcalester is a man-made reservoir impounded by the Mcalester Lake (completed 1930), built primarily for water supply on the Bull Creek; gravity-type dam, 35 ft tall and 700 ft long.
- Surface area
- 1,521 ac
- Normal storage
- 13,398 ac-ft
- Max storage
- 16,170 ac-ft
- Hazard class
- Low
- Owner
- CITY OF MCALESTER
Source: USACE National Inventory of Dams, NID ID OK02576 · Operator website
EPA Impairment Status
Lake Mcalester is officially listed as impaired under Clean Water Act §303(d) in the 2022 EPA reporting cycle (IR category 5).
Causes of impairment
Source: EPA ATTAINS assessment unit OK220600020030_00 · Official waterbody report
Nearby Lakes in Pittsburg County
Frequently asked questions about Lake Mcalester
Where is Lake Mcalester?
- Lake Mcalester is a lake in Pittsburg County, Oklahoma. Its water-quality measurements are published by Oklahoma DEQ and shown on this page as reported.
What is the water quality of Lake Mcalester?
- Lake Mcalester in Pittsburg County, Oklahoma has water-quality measurements published by Oklahoma DEQ, shown here as reported. Water clarity: 0.6 ft visibility. Surface area: 1521 acres.
Is Lake Mcalester safe to swim in?
- Nutrient and algae readings are not a swimming clearance. Lake Mcalester is listed impaired under Clean Water Act §303(d) (IR 5) for mercury, turbidity. Check local advisories before you swim.
How deep is Lake Mcalester?
- No published bathymetric survey covers Lake Mcalester, so its depth has not been measured. The HydroLAKES global model estimates an average depth of about 34 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 1521 acres.
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Where this data comes from
49 measurements from 3 monitoring stations, 2017–2024. Retrieved from the EPA Water Quality Portal on 2026-08-02.
Collected and reported by
- OWRB Lakes Monitoring
OKWRB-LAKES_WQX49 samples · 2017–2024
Analytical methods
- OWRB Lakes Field Data Collection
- Determination of Turbidity
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
Impairment status from EPA ATTAINS 303(d) database
Lake size & watershed from HydroLAKES (HydroSHEDS)