Spring Lake
Yell County, Arkansas90 acresView mapDirections
Arkansas DEQ publishes the water-quality measurements for Spring Lake. Here is what has been measured.
- Impaired · Mercury
- 17 ft max depth
- Limited data
Spring Lake in Yell County, Arkansas has water-quality measurements published by Arkansas DEQ, shown here as reported. Water clarity: 6.1 ft visibility. Phosphorus: 26.5 µg/L. Chlorophyll-a (algae): 9.2 µg/L. Surface area: 90 acres.
Spring Lake is a 90-acre lake in Yell County, Arkansas with an estimated average depth of about 17 feet.
Source: EPA Water Quality Portal sampling records, ADEQ, last sampled 2012-10-01. Methodology: how these readings are compared.
What Spring Lake is good for
From access and monitoring records, not editorial picks.
- Camping1 public campground nearby
Swimming conditions
No readingLimited data
Nutrient and algae readings are not a swimming clearance. Spring Lake is listed impaired under Clean Water Act §303(d) (IR 4A) for mercury. Check local advisories before you swim.
Whether Spring 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 Spring Lake
These are the measurements Arkansas DEQ publishes for Spring 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 6.1 ft. Phosphorus 26.5 µg/L. Chlorophyll-a 9.2 µg/L. TSI 52.
| Measure | Reading | Where it sits |
|---|---|---|
| Water clarity (Secchi depth) | 6.1ft | Measured, not scored How deep a black-and-white disk stays visible from the surface. Higher is clearer. |
| Total phosphorus | 26.5µg/L | Measured, not scored The nutrient that most limits algae growth in freshwater. More phosphorus, more algae potential. |
| Chlorophyll-a (algae) | 9.2µg/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. | 52 | Eutrophic OligotrophicMesotrophicEutrophicHypereutrophic |
High nutrients, frequent algae, reduced clarity
Ask about Spring Lake
Answers come straight from the public measurements and survey records on this page.
Lake Details
Max depth
~17 ft est.
Surface area
90 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 Spring Lake.
Lake Size & Watershed
Watershed (drainage) area
11 sq mi
HydroLAKES / HydroSHEDS
Shoreline
1.7 mi
HydroLAKES / HydroSHEDS
Elevation
538 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.
Recreation & Access
Public campgrounds near Spring Lake
- Spring Lake Recreation Area0.4 km
Nearest public campgrounds in the USGS National Map inventory, within about 3 miles. An empty list means USGS records no campground that close, which is not the same as camping being unavailable. Where the source gives an official reservation link, it is used; the cabin and hotel search does not cover campsites. More camping lakes
Stays via Stay22
Stays near Spring Lake
Compare lakeside cabins, hotels, and vacation rentals near Spring Lake in Yell 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 Spring Lake
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Fishing Spring Lake
Reservoir Info (USACE NID)
Spring Lake is a man-made reservoir impounded by the Spring Lake (completed 1939), built primarily for fish and wildlife pond on the Spring Creek; masonry-type dam, 59 ft tall and 300 ft long.
- Surface area
- 90 ac
- Normal storage
- 2,580 ac-ft
- Max storage
- 2,580 ac-ft
- Drainage area
- 15 sq mi
- Hazard class
- High
- Owner
- USDA FS
All listed purposes: Fish and Wildlife Pond;Recreation.
Source: USACE National Inventory of Dams, NID ID AR00754 · Operator website
EPA Impairment Status
Spring 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_11110204_4070 · Official waterbody report
Nearby Lakes in Yell County
Frequently asked questions about Spring Lake
Where is Spring Lake?
- Spring Lake is a lake in Yell County, Arkansas. Its water-quality measurements are published by Arkansas DEQ and shown on this page as reported.
What is the water quality of Spring Lake?
- Spring Lake in Yell County, Arkansas has water-quality measurements published by Arkansas DEQ, shown here as reported. Water clarity: 6.1 ft visibility. Phosphorus: 26.5 µg/L. Chlorophyll-a (algae): 9.2 µg/L. Surface area: 90 acres.
Is Spring Lake safe to swim in?
- Nutrient and algae readings are not a swimming clearance. Spring Lake is listed impaired under Clean Water Act §303(d) (IR 4A) for mercury. Check local advisories before you swim.
How deep is Spring Lake?
- No published bathymetric survey covers Spring Lake, so its depth has not been measured. The HydroLAKES global model estimates an average depth of about 17 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 90 acres.
Are there campgrounds on Spring Lake?
- Spring Lake has 1 public campground from USGS The National Map within 5 km, including Spring Lake Recreation Area. This is a location join, not a booking. Cabins and hotels are listed separately; campsite reservations use the official link when the source provides one.
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Where this data comes from
24 measurements from 1 monitoring station, 2012. Retrieved from the EPA Water Quality Portal on 2026-08-02.
Collected and reported by
- USGS Arkansas Water Science Center
USGS-AR24 samples · 2012
Analytical methods
- Secchi disk method
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)
Public campgrounds from USGS The National Map Structures, within about 3 miles