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LakeQuality

Lake Murray

Carter County, Oklahoma5,728 acresView mapDirections

Oklahoma DEQ publishes the water-quality measurements for Lake Murray. Here is what has been measured.

Clarity
5 ft
Secchi · sampled 2023
Max depth
~84 ft est.
GLOBathy model
Area
5,728 acres
Surface area
  • Impaired · Mercury
  • 84 ft max depth
  • Public access
  • Limited data

Ask about Lake Murray

Answers come straight from the public measurements and survey records on this page.

Lake Murray in Carter County, Oklahoma has water-quality measurements published by Oklahoma DEQ, shown here as reported. Water clarity: 5 ft visibility. Surface area: 5728 acres.

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Lake Murray is a 5,728-acre lake in Carter County, Oklahoma with an estimated average depth of about 84 feet. Limited fish-species data available. Public access is available with 5 public boat landings.

Source: EPA Water Quality Portal sampling records, ODEQ, last sampled 2023-10-23. Grade methodology: LakeQuality methodology.

What Lake Murray is good for

From access and monitoring records, not editorial picks.

  • Boat launch5 documented ramps
  • Big water5,728 acres

Swimming conditions

No reading

Limited data

Nutrient and algae readings are not a swimming clearance. Lake Murray is listed impaired under Clean Water Act §303(d) (IR 5) for mercury, oxygen depletion (low DO). Check local advisories before you swim.

Whether Lake Murray 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.

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Water quality measurements for Lake Murray

These are the measurements Oklahoma DEQ publishes for Lake Murray, 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 5 ft. TSI 54.

MetricValueEPA condition class
Water Clarity (Secchi Depth)5 ftMeasured, not scored
PhosphorusNo recent samples
Chlorophyll-a (Algae)No recent samples
Trophic State Index (TSI)54Eutrophic

High nutrients, frequent algae, reduced clarity

Lake Details

CharacteristicValue
Maximum Depth~84 ft est.
Average Depth~13 ft est.
Surface Area5,728 acres
Public AccessYes

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 Murray.

Lake Size & Watershed

Watershed (drainage) area
55 sq mi
Shoreline
59.7 mi
Elevation
764 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

5
Boat Landings
Yes
Public Access
  • Marrieta LandingPublic
  • Lake Murray - NorthPublic
  • Elephant RockPublic
  • Tipps PointPublic
  • Lake Murray MarinaSemi-private

Named access points in the USGS National Boat Ramps inventory, within about 3 miles. More lakes with boat ramps

Fishing Lake Murray

Reservoir Info (USACE NID)

Lake Murray is a man-made reservoir impounded by the Lake Murray (completed 1937), built primarily for recreation on the Anadarche Creek; earth-type dam, 74 ft tall and 3,200 ft long.

Surface area
5,728 ac
Normal storage
153,250 ac-ft
Max storage
270,000 ac-ft
Drainage area
54 sq mi
Hazard class
Low
Owner
DEPARTMENT OF TOURISM & RECREATION

Source: USACE National Inventory of Dams, NID ID OK10039 · Operator website

EPA Impairment Status

Lake Murray is officially listed as impaired under Clean Water Act §303(d) in the 2022 EPA reporting cycle (IR category 5).

Causes of impairment

MercuryOxygen depletion (low DO)

Source: EPA ATTAINS assessment unit OK311100020090_00 · Official waterbody report

Nearby Lakes in Carter County

Frequently asked questions about Lake Murray

Where is Lake Murray?

Lake Murray is a lake in Carter 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 Murray?

Lake Murray in Carter County, Oklahoma has water-quality measurements published by Oklahoma DEQ, shown here as reported. Water clarity: 5 ft visibility. Surface area: 5728 acres.

Is Lake Murray safe to swim in?

Nutrient and algae readings are not a swimming clearance. Lake Murray is listed impaired under Clean Water Act §303(d) (IR 5) for mercury, oxygen depletion (low DO). Check local advisories before you swim.

How deep is Lake Murray?

No published bathymetric survey covers Lake Murray, so its depth has not been measured. The HydroLAKES global model estimates an average depth of about 84 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 5728 acres.

Are there boat ramps on Lake Murray?

Lake Murray has 5 documented boat landings in the USGS National Boat Ramps inventory. Named access points include Marrieta Landing, Lake Murray - North, Elephant Rock, Tipps Point, among others. Public access is listed as yes.

Planning a trip around Chickasaw?

Lake Murray is about 27 miles from Chickasaw National Recreation Area. 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 Chickasaw

Where this data comes from

46 measurements from 5 monitoring stations, 2016–2023. Retrieved from the EPA Water Quality Portal on 2026-08-02.

Collected and reported by

  • OWRB Lakes MonitoringOKWRB-LAKES_WQX46 samples · 2016–2023

Analytical methods

  • OWRB Lakes Field Data Collection
  • Determination of Turbidity
Monitoring station identifiers (5)

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