Lake Thunderbird
Sharp County, Arkansas73 acresView mapDirections
Arkansas DEQ publishes the water-quality measurements for Lake Thunderbird. Here is what has been measured.
- 58 ft max depth
- Limited data
Lake Thunderbird in Sharp County, Arkansas has water-quality measurements published by Arkansas DEQ, shown here as reported. Phosphorus: 20 µg/L. Chlorophyll-a (algae): 1.2 µg/L. Surface area: 73 acres.
Lake Thunderbird is a 73-acre lake in Sharp County, Arkansas with an estimated average depth of about 58 feet. Overall water quality is declining over recent sampling years.
Source: EPA Water Quality Portal sampling records, ADEQ, last sampled 2016-04-12. Methodology: how these readings are compared.
Swimming conditions
No readingLimited data
Nutrient and algae readings are not a swimming clearance. Check local advisories before you swim.
Whether Lake Thunderbird 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 Thunderbird
These are the measurements Arkansas DEQ publishes for Lake Thunderbird, shown as reported. The condition class beside each reading is the EPA National Lakes Assessment class for this lake’s ecoregion.
No clarity data. Phosphorus 20 µg/L. Chlorophyll-a 1.2 µg/L. TSI 40.
| Measure | Reading | Where it sits |
|---|---|---|
| Water clarity (Secchi depth) | No reading How deep a black-and-white disk stays visible from the surface. Higher is clearer. | |
| Total phosphorus | 20µg/L | Measured, not scored The nutrient that most limits algae growth in freshwater. More phosphorus, more algae potential. |
| Chlorophyll-a (algae) | 1.2µg/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. | 40 | Mesotrophic OligotrophicMesotrophicEutrophicHypereutrophic |
Moderate nutrients, good water quality
Ask about Lake Thunderbird
Answers come straight from the public measurements and survey records on this page.
Lake Details
Max depth
~58 ft est.
Surface area
73 acres
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 Thunderbird.
Lake Size & Watershed
Watershed (drainage) area
9 sq mi
HydroLAKES / HydroSHEDS
Shoreline
4.2 mi
HydroLAKES / HydroSHEDS
Elevation
486 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.
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Stays near Lake Thunderbird
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Fishing Lake Thunderbird
Water Quality Trend: Worsening
Based on 4 years of monitoring (2012–2015).
Phosphorus
Stable+0.05 µg/L/yr4 years
Chlorophyll-a
Worsening+0.26 µg/L/yr4 years
Reservoir Info (USACE NID)
Lake Thunderbird is a man-made reservoir impounded by the Sequoyah Lake Dam (completed 1958), built primarily for recreation on the Little Otter Creek; earth-type dam, 57 ft tall and 1,050 ft long.
- Surface area
- 73 ac
- Normal storage
- 2,050 ac-ft
- Max storage
- 3,000 ac-ft
- Drainage area
- 2.9 sq mi
- Hazard class
- High
- Owner
- Cherokee Village SID
Source: USACE National Inventory of Dams, NID ID AR00249 · Operator website · Matched by proximity (0.72 km)
Nearby Lakes in Sharp County
Frequently asked questions about Lake Thunderbird
Where is Lake Thunderbird?
- Lake Thunderbird is a lake in Sharp 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 Thunderbird?
- Lake Thunderbird in Sharp County, Arkansas has water-quality measurements published by Arkansas DEQ, shown here as reported. Phosphorus: 20 µg/L. Chlorophyll-a (algae): 1.2 µg/L. Surface area: 73 acres.
Is Lake Thunderbird safe to swim in?
- Nutrient and algae readings are not a swimming clearance. Check local advisories before you swim.
How deep is Lake Thunderbird?
- No published bathymetric survey covers Lake Thunderbird, so its depth has not been measured. The HydroLAKES global model estimates an average depth of about 58 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 73 acres.
Explore Lake Thunderbird across LakeQuality
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Where this data comes from
40 measurements from 1 monitoring station, 2012–2016. Retrieved from the EPA Water Quality Portal on 2026-08-02.
Collected and reported by
- Arkansas Department of Environmental Quality
ARDEQH2O_WQX40 samples · 2012–2016
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)