Pinkston Reservoir
Shelby County, Texas549 acresView mapDirections
TCEQ publishes the water-quality measurements for Pinkston Reservoir. Here is what has been measured.
- 47 ft max depth
- Public access
- Limited data
Pinkston Reservoir in Shelby County, Texas has water-quality measurements published by TCEQ, shown here as reported. Water clarity: 4.9 ft visibility. Surface area: 549 acres.
Pinkston Reservoir is a 549-acre lake in Shelby County, Texas with an estimated average depth of about 47 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 2024-10-22. Methodology: how these readings are compared.
What Pinkston Reservoir 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. Check local advisories before you swim.
Whether Pinkston Reservoir 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 Pinkston Reservoir
These are the measurements TCEQ publishes for Pinkston Reservoir, 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 4.9 ft. TSI 54.
| Measure | Reading | Where it sits |
|---|---|---|
| Water clarity (Secchi depth) | 4.9ft | 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) | No reading 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. | 54 | Eutrophic OligotrophicMesotrophicEutrophicHypereutrophic |
High nutrients, frequent algae, reduced clarity
Ask about Pinkston Reservoir
Answers come straight from the public measurements and survey records on this page.
Lake Details
Max depth
~47 ft est.
Surface area
549 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 Pinkston Reservoir.
Lake Size & Watershed
Watershed (drainage) area
14 sq mi
HydroLAKES / HydroSHEDS
Shoreline
8.4 mi
HydroLAKES / HydroSHEDS
Elevation
315 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
- Dam AreaPublic
- Sandy Creek ParkPublic
Named access points in the USGS National Boat Ramps inventory, within about 3 miles. More lakes with boat ramps
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Fishing Pinkston Reservoir
Reservoir Info (USACE NID)
Pinkston Reservoir is a man-made reservoir impounded by the Pinkston Dam (completed 1977), built primarily for water supply on the Sandy Creek; earth-type dam, 62 ft tall and 2,600 ft long.
- Surface area
- 549 ac
- Normal storage
- 7,380 ac-ft
- Max storage
- 13,500 ac-ft
- Drainage area
- 14.05 sq mi
- Hazard class
- High
- Owner
- CITY OF CENTER
Source: USACE National Inventory of Dams, NID ID TX04355 · Operator website
Nearby Lakes in Shelby County
Frequently asked questions about Pinkston Reservoir
Where is Pinkston Reservoir?
- Pinkston Reservoir is a lake in Shelby County, Texas. Its water-quality measurements are published by TCEQ and shown on this page as reported.
What is the water quality of Pinkston Reservoir?
- Pinkston Reservoir in Shelby County, Texas has water-quality measurements published by TCEQ, shown here as reported. Water clarity: 4.9 ft visibility. Surface area: 549 acres.
Is Pinkston Reservoir safe to swim in?
- Nutrient and algae readings are not a swimming clearance. Check local advisories before you swim.
How deep is Pinkston Reservoir?
- No published bathymetric survey covers Pinkston Reservoir, so its depth has not been measured. The HydroLAKES global model estimates an average depth of about 47 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 549 acres.
Are there boat ramps on Pinkston Reservoir?
- Pinkston Reservoir has 2 documented boat landings in the USGS National Boat Ramps inventory. Named access points include Dam Area, Sandy Creek Park. Public access is listed as yes.
Can I fish at Pinkston Reservoir?
- Pinkston Reservoir 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.
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Where this data comes from
2 measurements from 1 monitoring station, 2024. Retrieved from the EPA Water Quality Portal on 2026-08-02.
Collected and reported by
- Texas Commission on Environmental Quality
TCEQMAIN2 samples · 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
Lake size & watershed from HydroLAKES (HydroSHEDS)
Named boat-access points from the USGS National Boat Ramps inventory