Talawanda Lake
Pittsburg County, Oklahoma91 acresView mapDirections
Oklahoma DEQ publishes the water-quality measurements for Talawanda Lake. Here is what has been measured.
- Limited data
Talawanda Lake in Pittsburg County, Oklahoma has water-quality measurements published by Oklahoma DEQ, shown here as reported. Water clarity: 5.1 ft visibility. Surface area: 91 acres.
Talawanda Lake is a 91-acre lake in Pittsburg County, Oklahoma. Overall water quality is declining over recent sampling years.
Source: EPA Water Quality Portal sampling records, ODEQ, last sampled 2021-08-11. Methodology: how these readings are compared.
Swimming conditions
No readingLimited data
Nutrient and algae readings are not a swimming clearance. Check local advisories before you swim.
Whether Talawanda 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 Talawanda Lake
These are the measurements Oklahoma DEQ publishes for Talawanda 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 5.1 ft. TSI 54.
| Measure | Reading | Where it sits |
|---|---|---|
| Water clarity (Secchi depth) | 5.1ft | 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. | 54 | Eutrophic OligotrophicMesotrophicEutrophicHypereutrophic |
High nutrients, frequent algae, reduced clarity
Ask about Talawanda Lake
Answers come straight from the public measurements and survey records on this page.
Lake Details
Surface area
91 acres
No bathymetric survey has been published for Talawanda Lake, so its depth is not documented here.
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Stays near Talawanda Lake
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Fishing Talawanda Lake
Water Quality Trend: Worsening
Based on 9 years of monitoring (2016–2025).
Water clarity
Worsening2 years
Phosphorus
Worsening+10.65 µg/L/yr8 years
Reservoir Info (USACE NID)
Talawanda Lake is a man-made reservoir impounded by the Talawanda No. 1 (completed 1902), built primarily for water supply on the Tr-Coal Cr, 38 ft tall and 700 ft long.
- Surface area
- 91 ac
- Normal storage
- 1,200 ac-ft
- Max storage
- 1,578 ac-ft
- Hazard class
- Low
- Owner
- City of Mcalester
Source: USACE National Inventory of Dams, NID ID OK01341 · Operator website · Matched by proximity (0.47 km)
Nearby Lakes in Pittsburg County
Frequently asked questions about Talawanda Lake
Where is Talawanda Lake?
- Talawanda Lake is a lake in Pittsburg County, Oklahoma. Its water-quality measurements are published by Oklahoma DEQ and shown on this page as reported.
What is the water quality of Talawanda Lake?
- Talawanda Lake in Pittsburg County, Oklahoma has water-quality measurements published by Oklahoma DEQ, shown here as reported. Water clarity: 5.1 ft visibility. Surface area: 91 acres.
Is Talawanda Lake safe to swim in?
- Nutrient and algae readings are not a swimming clearance. Check local advisories before you swim.
Explore Talawanda Lake across LakeQuality
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Where this data comes from
24 measurements from 4 monitoring stations, 2016–2021. Retrieved from the EPA Water Quality Portal on 2026-08-02.
Collected and reported by
- OWRB Lakes Monitoring
OKWRB-LAKES_WQX24 samples · 2016–2021
Analytical methods
- OWRB Lakes Field Data Collection
- Determination of Turbidity
Monitoring station identifiers (4)
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.