Thread Lake
Genesee County, Michigan80 acresView mapDirections
EGLE publishes the water-quality measurements for Thread Lake. Here is what has been measured.
- Impaired · Nutrients (phosphorus, nitrogen)
- Limited data
Thread Lake in Genesee County, Michigan has water-quality measurements published by EGLE, shown here as reported. Water clarity: 1.8 ft visibility. Surface area: 80 acres.
Thread Lake is a 80-acre lake in Genesee County, Michigan. Water clarity is improving over recent sampling years.
Source: EPA Water Quality Portal sampling records, EGLE, last sampled 2022-09-17. Methodology: how these readings are compared.
Swimming conditions
No readingLimited data
Nutrient and algae readings are not a swimming clearance. Thread Lake is listed impaired under Clean Water Act §303(d) (IR 5) for nutrients (phosphorus, nitrogen), pCBs. Check local advisories before you swim.
Whether Thread Lake is safe to swim in today is a call for the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy (EGLE) and the county health department, who post current advisories. LakeQuality does not issue swimming clearances.
Water quality measurements for Thread Lake
These are the measurements EGLE publishes for Thread 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 1.8 ft of visibility. TSI 69.
| Measure | Reading | Where it sits |
|---|---|---|
| Water clarity (Secchi depth) | 1.8ft | 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. | 69 | Eutrophic OligotrophicMesotrophicEutrophicHypereutrophic |
High nutrients, frequent algae, reduced clarity
Ask about Thread Lake
Answers come straight from the public measurements and survey records on this page.
Lake Details
Surface area
80 acres
No bathymetric survey has been published for Thread Lake, so its depth is not documented here.
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Fishing Thread Lake
Water quality readings over time
2 seasons of samples on record (2021–2022). Calling a direction takes at least 4 years of the same measurement.
Water clarity
Improving2 years
Phosphorus
Worsening+7 µg/L/yr2 years
Reservoir Info (USACE NID)
Thread Lake is a man-made reservoir impounded by the Thread Lake Dam (completed 1973), built primarily for recreation on the Thread Creek; gravity-type dam, 9 ft tall and 293 ft long.
- Surface area
- 80 ac
- Normal storage
- 320 ac-ft
- Max storage
- 1,250 ac-ft
- Drainage area
- 57.9 sq mi
- Hazard class
- Significant
- Owner
- City of Flint
Source: USACE National Inventory of Dams, NID ID MI00063 · Operator website
EPA Impairment Status
Thread Lake is officially listed as impaired under Clean Water Act §303(d) in the 2024 EPA reporting cycle (IR category 5).
Causes of impairment
Designated uses not supporting: Aquatic life, Fish consumption.
A Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) plan has been approved.
Source: EPA ATTAINS assessment unit MI040802040306-03 · Official waterbody report
Regulated Pollution Sources Nearby
9 EPA-permitted facilities operate within about 5 miles of Thread Lake under Clean Water Act (NPDES) discharge permits. 7 facilities have a reported Clean Water Act violation in the past three years.
- Bendle Ps MS4-GeneseeBurton · 1.5 mi away · NPDES MI0060346Recent violation
- Burton MS4-GeneseeBurton · 2.9 mi away · NPDES MI0060093Recent violation
- Atherton Ps MS4-GeneseeBurton · 3 mi away · NPDES MI0060357Recent violation
- Grand Blanc Twp MS4-GeneseeGrand Blanc · 3.3 mi away · NPDES MI0060099Recent violation
- Genesee Co MS4Flint · 4.1 mi away · NPDES MI0060015Recent violation
- Bentley Ps MS4-GeneseeBurton · 4.2 mi away · NPDES MI0060350Recent violation
Facilities permitted to discharge under the Clean Water Act within ~5 miles; proximity does not by itself mean a facility affects this lake. Source: EPA ECHO (ICIS-NPDES), as of 2026-07.
Nearby Lakes in Genesee County
Frequently asked questions about Thread Lake
Where is Thread Lake?
- Thread Lake is a lake in Genesee County, Michigan. Its water-quality measurements are published by EGLE and shown on this page as reported.
What is the water quality of Thread Lake?
- Thread Lake in Genesee County, Michigan has water-quality measurements published by EGLE, shown here as reported. Water clarity: 1.8 ft visibility. Surface area: 80 acres.
Is Thread Lake safe to swim in?
- Nutrient and algae readings are not a swimming clearance. Thread Lake is listed impaired under Clean Water Act §303(d) (IR 5) for nutrients (phosphorus, nitrogen), pCBs. Check local advisories before you swim.
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Where this data comes from
17 measurements from 1 monitoring station, 2021–2022. Retrieved from the EPA Water Quality Portal on 2026-08-26.
Collected and reported by
- North American Lake Management Society
NALMS17 samples · 2021–2022
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
Regulated discharger data from EPA ECHO (ICIS-NPDES)