Shallow Prong Lake
Jefferson County, TexasView mapDirections
TCEQ publishes the water-quality measurements for Shallow Prong Lake. Here is what has been measured.
- Eutrophic
- 40 ft max depth
- Limited data
Shallow Prong Lake in Jefferson County, Texas has water-quality measurements published by TCEQ, shown here as reported. Water clarity: 1.3 ft visibility. Phosphorus: 80 µg/L. Chlorophyll-a (algae): 43.1 µg/L.
Shallow Prong Lake is a productive, nutrient-rich eutrophic lake in Jefferson County, Texas with an estimated average depth of about 40 feet. Overall water quality is improving over recent sampling years.
Source: EPA Water Quality Portal sampling records, TCEQ, last sampled 2025-05-12. Methodology: how these readings are compared.
Swimming conditions
Readings onlyLimited data
Based on clarity and algae readings from past sampling — there is no live water temperature and a current cyanobacteria reading for this lake. Check your state or county health department before you swim.
Nutrient and algae readings are not a swimming clearance. Check local advisories before you swim.
Whether Shallow Prong 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 Shallow Prong Lake
These are the measurements TCEQ publishes for Shallow Prong 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 1.3 ft of visibility. Phosphorus 80 µg/L. Chlorophyll-a 43.1 µg/L. TSI 69.
| Measure | Reading | Where it sits |
|---|---|---|
| Water clarity (Secchi depth) | 1.3ft | Measured, not scored How deep a black-and-white disk stays visible from the surface. Higher is clearer. |
| Total phosphorus | 80µg/L | Poor GoodFairPoor |
| Chlorophyll-a (algae) | 43.1µg/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. | 69 | Eutrophic OligotrophicMesotrophicEutrophicHypereutrophic |
High nutrients, frequent algae, reduced clarity
Ask about Shallow Prong Lake
Answers come straight from the public measurements and survey records on this page.
Lake Details
Max depth
~40 ft est.
Depth marked “est.” is a modeled maximum from GLOBathy (Khazaei et al. 2022, CC0), not a measured survey. Texas has not published bathymetry for Shallow Prong Lake.
Lake Size & Watershed
Watershed (drainage) area
16 sq mi
HydroLAKES / HydroSHEDS
Surface area
116 acres
HydroLAKES / HydroSHEDS
Shoreline
3.5 mi
HydroLAKES / HydroSHEDS
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.
Stays via Stay22
Stays near Shallow Prong Lake
Compare lakeside cabins, hotels, and vacation rentals near Shallow Prong Lake in Jefferson County, Texas — live availability and prices for your trip. Switch the map to Satellite to see the lake and how close each stay is to the water. The water-quality readings cover nutrients and algae, not lodging. Cabins and rentals around Shallow Prong Lake are listed below.
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Fishing Shallow Prong Lake
Water Quality Trend: Improving
Based on 4 years of monitoring (2021–2024).
Water clarity
Worsening4 years
Phosphorus
Improving-20 µg/L/yr3 years
Chlorophyll-a
Improving-11.3 µg/L/yr2 years
Nearby Lakes in Jefferson County
Frequently asked questions about Shallow Prong Lake
Where is Shallow Prong Lake?
- Shallow Prong Lake is a lake in Jefferson County, Texas. Its water-quality measurements are published by TCEQ and shown on this page as reported.
What is the water quality of Shallow Prong Lake?
- Shallow Prong Lake in Jefferson County, Texas has water-quality measurements published by TCEQ, shown here as reported. Water clarity: 1.3 ft visibility. Phosphorus: 80 µg/L. Chlorophyll-a (algae): 43.1 µg/L.
Is Shallow Prong Lake safe to swim in?
- Nutrient and algae readings are not a swimming clearance. Check local advisories before you swim.
How deep is Shallow Prong Lake?
- No published bathymetric survey covers Shallow Prong Lake, so its depth has not been measured. The HydroLAKES global model estimates an average depth of about 40 feet, but that is a modelled estimate derived from surrounding terrain rather than a measurement on the water, so treat it as approximate.
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Where this data comes from
49 measurements from 1 monitoring station, 2020–2025. Retrieved from the EPA Water Quality Portal on 2026-08-02.
Collected and reported by
- Texas Commission on Environmental Quality
TCEQMAIN49 samples · 2020–2025
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)