Okemah Lake
Okfuskee County, Oklahoma761 acresView mapDirections
Oklahoma DEQ publishes the water-quality measurements for Okemah Lake. Here is what has been measured.
- Impaired · Mercury
- Limited data
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Answers come straight from the public measurements and survey records on this page.
Okemah Lake in Okfuskee County, Oklahoma has water-quality measurements published by Oklahoma DEQ, shown here as reported. Water clarity: 3.2 ft visibility. Surface area: 761 acres.
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Okemah Lake is a 761-acre lake in Okfuskee County, Oklahoma. Water clarity is improving over recent sampling years.
Source: EPA Water Quality Portal sampling records, ODEQ, last sampled 2024-11-06. Grade methodology: LakeQuality methodology.
Swimming conditions
No readingLimited data
Nutrient and algae readings are not a swimming clearance. Okemah Lake is listed impaired under Clean Water Act §303(d) (IR 5) for mercury. Check local advisories before you swim.
Whether Okemah Lake 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 Okemah Lake
These are the measurements Oklahoma DEQ publishes for Okemah Lake, 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 3.2 ft of visibility. TSI 60.
| Metric | Value | EPA condition class |
|---|---|---|
| Water Clarity (Secchi Depth) | 3.2 ft | Measured, not scored |
| Phosphorus | No recent samples | |
| Chlorophyll-a (Algae) | No recent samples | |
| Trophic State Index (TSI) | 60 | Eutrophic |
High nutrients, frequent algae, reduced clarity
Lake Details
| Characteristic | Value |
|---|---|
| Surface Area | 761 acres |
No bathymetric survey has been published for Okemah Lake, so its depth is not documented here.
Fishing Okemah Lake
Water Quality Trend: → Stable
Based on 5 years of monitoring data (2020-2025).
| Metric | Trend | Change/Year | Years |
|---|---|---|---|
| Water Clarity | ↑ Improving | +9.018 m/yr | 5 |
| Phosphorus | ↓ Declining | +3.68 µg/L/yr | 2 |
| Chlorophyll-a | → Stable | +0.04 µg/L/yr | 2 |
Reservoir Info (USACE NID)
Okemah Lake is a man-made reservoir impounded by the Okemah Lake (completed 1962), built primarily for flood risk reduction on the Buckeye Creek; earth-type dam, 60 ft tall and 1,200 ft long.
- Surface area
- 761 ac
- Normal storage
- 13,100 ac-ft
- Max storage
- 26,200 ac-ft
- Drainage area
- 20.44 sq mi
- Hazard class
- High
- Owner
- City of Okemah
Source: USACE National Inventory of Dams, NID ID OK02395 · Operator website
EPA Impairment Status
Okemah Lake 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 OK520700020290_00 · Official waterbody report
Nearby Lakes in Okfuskee County
Frequently asked questions about Okemah Lake
Where is Okemah Lake?
- Okemah Lake is a lake in Okfuskee County, Oklahoma. Its water-quality measurements are published by Oklahoma DEQ and shown on this page as reported.
What is the water quality of Okemah Lake?
- Okemah Lake in Okfuskee County, Oklahoma has water-quality measurements published by Oklahoma DEQ, shown here as reported. Water clarity: 3.2 ft visibility. Surface area: 761 acres.
Is Okemah Lake safe to swim in?
- Nutrient and algae readings are not a swimming clearance. Okemah Lake is listed impaired under Clean Water Act §303(d) (IR 5) for mercury. Check local advisories before you swim.
Explore Okemah Lake across LakeQuality
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Where this data comes from
53 measurements from 4 monitoring stations, 2016–2024. Retrieved from the EPA Water Quality Portal on 2026-08-02.
Collected and reported by
- OWRB Lakes Monitoring
OKWRB-LAKES_WQX53 samples · 2016–2024
Analytical methods
- OWRB Lakes Field Data Collection
- Phosphorus by Two Reagent Colorimetry
- 10200 H ~ Chlorophyll a-b-c Determination
- Determination of Turbidity
Monitoring station identifiers (4)
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