Spavinaw Lake
Mayes County, Oklahoma1,584 acresView mapDirections
Oklahoma DEQ publishes the water-quality measurements for Spavinaw Lake. Here is what has been measured.
- Eutrophic
- 45 ft max depth
- Limited data
Spavinaw Lake in Mayes County, Oklahoma has water-quality measurements published by Oklahoma DEQ, shown here as reported. Water clarity: 3.3 ft visibility. Phosphorus: 36 µg/L. Surface area: 1584 acres.
Spavinaw Lake is a 1,584-acre productive, nutrient-rich eutrophic lake in Mayes County, Oklahoma with an estimated average depth of about 45 feet. Overall water quality is declining over recent sampling years. Compared to the 5 other monitored lakes in Mayes County, Spavinaw Lake ranks #1 for water quality.
Source: EPA Water Quality Portal sampling records, ODEQ, last sampled 2023-11-06. Methodology: how these readings are compared.
What Spavinaw Lake is good for
From access and monitoring records, not editorial picks.
- Big water1,584 acres
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 Spavinaw Lake 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.
Water quality measurements for Spavinaw Lake
These are the measurements Oklahoma DEQ publishes for Spavinaw 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 3.3 ft of visibility. Phosphorus 36 µg/L. TSI 58.
| Measure | Reading | Where it sits |
|---|---|---|
| Water clarity (Secchi depth) | 3.3ft | Measured, not scored How deep a black-and-white disk stays visible from the surface. Higher is clearer. |
| Total phosphorus | 36µg/L | Poor GoodFairPoor |
| 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. | 58 | Eutrophic OligotrophicMesotrophicEutrophicHypereutrophic |
High nutrients, frequent algae, reduced clarity
Ask about Spavinaw Lake
Answers come straight from the public measurements and survey records on this page.
→ Spavinaw Lake water level: the live USGS gauge reading
Lake Details
Max depth
~45 ft est.
Surface area
1,584 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 Spavinaw Lake.
Lake Size & Watershed
Watershed (drainage) area
394 sq mi
HydroLAKES / HydroSHEDS
Shoreline
10.7 mi
HydroLAKES / HydroSHEDS
Elevation
692 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 Spavinaw Lake
Compare lakeside cabins, hotels, and vacation rentals near Spavinaw Lake in Mayes County, Oklahoma — 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 Spavinaw Lake are listed below.
Top-rated places to stay near Spavinaw Lake
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Fishing Spavinaw Lake
Water quality readings over time
2 seasons of samples on record (2017–2020). Calling a direction takes at least 4 years of the same measurement.
Water clarity
Worsening2 years
Phosphorus
Stable0 µg/L/yr2 years
Reservoir Info (USACE NID)
Spavinaw Lake is a man-made reservoir impounded by the Spavinaw (completed 1922), built primarily for water supply on the Spavinaw Creek; earth-type dam, 75 ft tall and 2,400 ft long.
- Surface area
- 1,584 ac
- Normal storage
- 38,000 ac-ft
- Max storage
- 72,400 ac-ft
- Drainage area
- 390 sq mi
- Hazard class
- High
- Owner
- City of Tulsa
Source: USACE National Inventory of Dams, NID ID OK11025 · Operator website
Nearby Lakes in Mayes County
Frequently asked questions about Spavinaw Lake
Where is Spavinaw Lake?
- Spavinaw Lake is a lake in Mayes County, Oklahoma. Its water-quality measurements are published by Oklahoma DEQ and shown on this page as reported.
What is the water quality of Spavinaw Lake?
- Spavinaw Lake in Mayes County, Oklahoma has water-quality measurements published by Oklahoma DEQ, shown here as reported. Water clarity: 3.3 ft visibility. Phosphorus: 36 µg/L. Surface area: 1584 acres.
Is Spavinaw Lake safe to swim in?
- Nutrient and algae readings are not a swimming clearance. Check local advisories before you swim.
How deep is Spavinaw Lake?
- No published bathymetric survey covers Spavinaw Lake, so its depth has not been measured. The HydroLAKES global model estimates an average depth of about 45 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 1584 acres.
Explore Spavinaw Lake across LakeQuality
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Other Lakes in Oklahoma
Eutrophic Lakes in Oklahoma
Where this data comes from
96 measurements from 8 monitoring stations, 2016–2023. Retrieved from the EPA Water Quality Portal on 2026-08-02.
Collected and reported by
- Cherokee Nation (Tribal)
CHEROKEE_WQX60 samples · 2019–2020 - OWRB Lakes Monitoring
OKWRB-LAKES_WQX36 samples · 2016–2023
Analytical methods
- OWRB Lakes Field Data Collection
- Determination of Turbidity
- CN_QAPP
Monitoring station identifiers (8)
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)