South Fourche Lake
Perry County, Arkansas104 acresView mapDirections
Arkansas DEQ publishes the water-quality measurements for South Fourche Lake. Here is what has been measured.
- Impaired · Mercury
- 22 ft max depth
- Limited data
South Fourche Lake in Perry County, Arkansas has water-quality measurements published by Arkansas DEQ, shown here as reported. Water clarity: 4.1 ft visibility. Surface area: 104 acres.
South Fourche Lake is a 104-acre lake in Perry County, Arkansas with an estimated average depth of about 22 feet.
Source: EPA Water Quality Portal sampling records, ADEQ, last sampled 2020-08-08. Methodology: how these readings are compared.
Swimming conditions
No readingLimited data
Nutrient and algae readings are not a swimming clearance. South Fourche Lake is listed impaired under Clean Water Act §303(d) (IR 4A) for mercury. Check local advisories before you swim.
Whether South Fourche Lake is safe to swim in today is a call for the Arkansas Division of Environmental Quality and the county health department, who post current advisories. LakeQuality does not issue swimming clearances.
Water quality measurements for South Fourche Lake
These are the measurements Arkansas DEQ publishes for South Fourche Lake, 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 4.1 ft. TSI 57.
| Measure | Reading | Where it sits |
|---|---|---|
| Water clarity (Secchi depth) | 4.1ft | 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. | 57 | Eutrophic OligotrophicMesotrophicEutrophicHypereutrophic |
High nutrients, frequent algae, reduced clarity
Ask about South Fourche Lake
Answers come straight from the public measurements and survey records on this page.
Lake Details
Max depth
~22 ft est.
Surface area
104 acres
Depth marked “est.” is a modeled maximum from GLOBathy (Khazaei et al. 2022, CC0), not a measured survey. Arkansas has not published bathymetry for South Fourche Lake.
Lake Size & Watershed
Watershed (drainage) area
35 sq mi
HydroLAKES / HydroSHEDS
Shoreline
2.2 mi
HydroLAKES / HydroSHEDS
Elevation
584 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.
Stays via Stay22
Stays near South Fourche Lake
Compare lakeside cabins, hotels, and vacation rentals near South Fourche Lake in Perry County, Arkansas — 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.
Top-rated places to stay near South Fourche Lake
Prices for Oct 30–Nov 1, 4 adults. Change dates on the map below.
Availability and prices from Stay22 partners (Booking.com, Vrbo, Expedia). We may earn a commission from bookings, at no extra cost to you.
Planning a whole trip? See where to stay at Arkansas’s top lakes →
Follow South Fourche Lake’s readings
Email me when new measurements post for this lake. Updates stay free.
Or email
Fishing South Fourche Lake
Reservoir Info (USACE NID)
South Fourche Lake is a man-made reservoir impounded by the South Fourche Lafave Wid Site 1 (completed 1976), built primarily for flood risk reduction on the Dry Fork Fourche Lavave River; earth-type dam, 75 ft tall and 3,010 ft long.
- Surface area
- 104 ac
- Normal storage
- 1,242 ac-ft
- Max storage
- 17,726 ac-ft
- Drainage area
- 34.2 sq mi
- Hazard class
- Low
- Owner
- Fourche La Fave Watershed Improvement District
Source: USACE National Inventory of Dams, NID ID AR01194 · Operator website · Matched by proximity (0.47 km)
EPA Impairment Status
South Fourche Lake is officially listed as impaired under Clean Water Act §303(d) in the 2022 EPA reporting cycle (IR category 4A).
Causes of impairment
Designated uses not supporting: Fish consumption.
A Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) plan has been approved.
Source: EPA ATTAINS assessment unit AR_11110206_4060 · Official waterbody report
Nearby Lakes in Perry County
Frequently asked questions about South Fourche Lake
Where is South Fourche Lake?
- South Fourche Lake is a lake in Perry County, Arkansas. Its water-quality measurements are published by Arkansas DEQ and shown on this page as reported.
What is the water quality of South Fourche Lake?
- South Fourche Lake in Perry County, Arkansas has water-quality measurements published by Arkansas DEQ, shown here as reported. Water clarity: 4.1 ft visibility. Surface area: 104 acres.
Is South Fourche Lake safe to swim in?
- Nutrient and algae readings are not a swimming clearance. South Fourche Lake is listed impaired under Clean Water Act §303(d) (IR 4A) for mercury. Check local advisories before you swim.
How deep is South Fourche Lake?
- No published bathymetric survey covers South Fourche Lake, so its depth has not been measured. The HydroLAKES global model estimates an average depth of about 22 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 104 acres.
Explore South Fourche Lake across LakeQuality
Planning a trip around Hot Springs?
South Fourche Lake is about 25 miles from Hot Springs National Park. 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 Hot Springs →More lakes in Arkansas
Other Lakes in Arkansas
Eutrophic Lakes in Arkansas
Where this data comes from
1 measurement from 1 monitoring station, 2020. Retrieved from the EPA Water Quality Portal on 2026-08-02.
Collected and reported by
- North American Lake Management Society
NALMS1 sample · 2020
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)