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LakeQuality

Rock Creek Reservoir

Carter County, Oklahoma248 acresView mapDirections

Oklahoma DEQ publishes the water-quality measurements for Rock Creek Reservoir. Here is what has been measured.

Clarity
3.2 ft
Secchi · sampled 2023
Max depth
~37 ft est.
GLOBathy model
Area
248 acres
Surface area
  • Impaired · Turbidity
  • 37 ft max depth
  • Limited data

Ask about Rock Creek Reservoir

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

Rock Creek Reservoir in Carter County, Oklahoma has water-quality measurements published by Oklahoma DEQ, shown here as reported. Water clarity: 3.2 ft visibility. Surface area: 248 acres.

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Rock Creek Reservoir is a 248-acre lake in Carter County, Oklahoma with an estimated average depth of about 37 feet.

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

Swimming conditions

No reading

Limited data

Nutrient and algae readings are not a swimming clearance. Rock Creek Reservoir is listed impaired under Clean Water Act §303(d) (IR 5) for turbidity. Check local advisories before you swim.

Whether Rock Creek Reservoir 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 Rock Creek Reservoir

These are the measurements Oklahoma DEQ publishes for Rock Creek Reservoir, 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.

MetricValueEPA condition class
Water Clarity (Secchi Depth)3.2 ftMeasured, not scored
PhosphorusNo recent samples
Chlorophyll-a (Algae)No recent samples
Trophic State Index (TSI)60Eutrophic

High nutrients, frequent algae, reduced clarity

Lake Details

CharacteristicValue
Maximum Depth~37 ft est.
Average Depth~12 ft est.
Surface Area248 acres

Depth marked “est.” is a modeled maximum from GLOBathy (Khazaei et al. 2022, CC0), not a measured survey. Oklahoma has not published bathymetry for Rock Creek Reservoir.

Lake Size & Watershed

Watershed (drainage) area
5 sq mi
Shoreline
3 mi
Elevation
820 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.

Fishing Rock Creek Reservoir

Reservoir Info (USACE NID)

Rock Creek Reservoir is a man-made reservoir impounded by the SCS-Caddo Creek Site -18 (completed 1979), built primarily for water supply on the Rock Creek; earth-type dam, 53 ft tall and 1,030 ft long.

Surface area
248 ac
Normal storage
2,573 ac-ft
Max storage
5,377 ac-ft
Drainage area
5.61 sq mi
Hazard class
High
Owner
ARBUCKLES CONSERVATION DISTRICT

Source: USACE National Inventory of Dams, NID ID OK00438 · Operator website

EPA Impairment Status

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

Causes of impairment

Turbidity

Source: EPA ATTAINS assessment unit OK410400030120_00 · Official waterbody report

Nearby Lakes in Carter County

Frequently asked questions about Rock Creek Reservoir

Where is Rock Creek Reservoir?

Rock Creek Reservoir 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 Rock Creek Reservoir?

Rock Creek Reservoir in Carter County, Oklahoma has water-quality measurements published by Oklahoma DEQ, shown here as reported. Water clarity: 3.2 ft visibility. Surface area: 248 acres.

Is Rock Creek Reservoir safe to swim in?

Nutrient and algae readings are not a swimming clearance. Rock Creek Reservoir is listed impaired under Clean Water Act §303(d) (IR 5) for turbidity. Check local advisories before you swim.

How deep is Rock Creek Reservoir?

No published bathymetric survey covers Rock Creek Reservoir, so its depth has not been measured. The HydroLAKES global model estimates an average depth of about 37 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 248 acres.

Planning a trip around Chickasaw?

Rock Creek Reservoir is about 18 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

23 measurements from 3 monitoring stations, 2019–2023. Retrieved from the EPA Water Quality Portal on 2026-08-02.

Collected and reported by

  • OWRB Lakes MonitoringOKWRB-LAKES_WQX23 samples · 2019–2023

Analytical methods

  • OWRB Lakes Field Data Collection
  • Determination of Turbidity
Monitoring station identifiers (3)

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)