Rita Blanca Lake
Hartley County, Texas498 acresView mapDirections
TCEQ publishes the water-quality measurements for Rita Blanca Lake. Here is what has been measured.
- Impaired · Oxygen depletion (low DO)
- 30 ft max depth
- Limited data
Rita Blanca Lake in Hartley County, Texas has water-quality measurements published by TCEQ, shown here as reported. Phosphorus: 710 µg/L. Chlorophyll-a (algae): 345 µg/L. Surface area: 498 acres.
Rita Blanca Lake is a 498-acre lake in Hartley County, Texas with an estimated average depth of about 30 feet.
Source: EPA Water Quality Portal sampling records, TCEQ, last sampled 2023-04-17. Methodology: how these readings are compared.
Swimming conditions
No readingLimited data
Nutrient and algae readings are not a swimming clearance. Rita Blanca Lake is listed impaired under Clean Water Act §303(d) (IR 5) for oxygen depletion (low DO), pH / acidity. Check local advisories before you swim.
Whether Rita Blanca Lake 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 Rita Blanca Lake
These are the measurements TCEQ publishes for Rita Blanca Lake, 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 710 µg/L. Chlorophyll-a 345 µg/L. TSI 93.
| 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 | 710µg/L | Measured, not scored The nutrient that most limits algae growth in freshwater. More phosphorus, more algae potential. |
| Chlorophyll-a (algae) | 345µg/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. | 93 | Hypereutrophic OligotrophicMesotrophicEutrophicHypereutrophic |
Very high nutrients, dense algae, poor clarity
Ask about Rita Blanca Lake
Answers come straight from the public measurements and survey records on this page.
Lake Details
Max depth
~30 ft est.
Surface area
498 acres
Depth marked “est.” is a modeled maximum from GLOBathy (Khazaei et al. 2022, CC0), not a measured survey. Texas has not published bathymetry for Rita Blanca Lake.
Lake Size & Watershed
Watershed (drainage) area
1,718 sq mi
HydroLAKES / HydroSHEDS
Shoreline
2 mi
HydroLAKES / HydroSHEDS
Elevation
3,875 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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Fishing Rita Blanca Lake
Reservoir Info (USACE NID)
Rita Blanca Lake is a man-made reservoir impounded by the Rita Blanca Creek Reservoir Dam (completed 1940), built primarily for recreation on the Rita Blanca Creek; earth-type dam, 75 ft tall and 2,200 ft long.
- Surface area
- 498 ac
- Normal storage
- 11,507 ac-ft
- Max storage
- 13,600 ac-ft
- Drainage area
- 1,062 sq mi
- Hazard class
- High
- Owner
- CITY OF DALHART
Source: USACE National Inventory of Dams, NID ID TX03746 · Operator website · Matched by proximity (0.41 km)
EPA Impairment Status
Rita Blanca Lake is officially listed as impaired under Clean Water Act §303(d) in the 2024 EPA reporting cycle (IR category 5).
Causes of impairment
Designated uses not supporting: Aquatic life, Other.
Source: EPA ATTAINS assessment unit TX-0105_01 · Official waterbody report
Nearby Lakes in Hartley County
Frequently asked questions about Rita Blanca Lake
Where is Rita Blanca Lake?
- Rita Blanca Lake is a lake in Hartley County, Texas. Its water-quality measurements are published by TCEQ and shown on this page as reported.
What is the water quality of Rita Blanca Lake?
- Rita Blanca Lake in Hartley County, Texas has water-quality measurements published by TCEQ, shown here as reported. Phosphorus: 710 µg/L. Chlorophyll-a (algae): 345 µg/L. Surface area: 498 acres.
Is Rita Blanca Lake safe to swim in?
- Nutrient and algae readings are not a swimming clearance. Rita Blanca Lake is listed impaired under Clean Water Act §303(d) (IR 5) for oxygen depletion (low DO), pH / acidity. Check local advisories before you swim.
How deep is Rita Blanca Lake?
- No published bathymetric survey covers Rita Blanca Lake, so its depth has not been measured. The HydroLAKES global model estimates an average depth of about 30 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 498 acres.
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Where this data comes from
3 measurements from 1 monitoring station, 2020–2023. Retrieved from the EPA Water Quality Portal on 2026-08-02.
Collected and reported by
- Texas Commission on Environmental Quality
TCEQMAIN3 samples · 2020–2023
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
Impairment status from EPA ATTAINS 303(d) database
Lake size & watershed from HydroLAKES (HydroSHEDS)