Tri County Lake
Calhoun County, Arkansas289 acresView mapDirections
Arkansas DEQ publishes the water-quality measurements for Tri County Lake. Here is what has been measured.
- Hypereutrophic
- 29 ft max depth
- Limited data
Tri County Lake in Calhoun County, Arkansas has water-quality measurements published by Arkansas DEQ, shown here as reported. Phosphorus: 80 µg/L. Chlorophyll-a (algae): 32.3 µg/L. Surface area: 288.9 acres.
Tri County Lake is a 289-acre highly nutrient-loaded hypereutrophic lake in Calhoun County, Arkansas with an estimated average depth of about 29 feet. Overall water quality is improving over recent sampling years.
Source: EPA Water Quality Portal sampling records, ADEQ, last sampled 2026-02-10. Methodology: how these readings are compared.
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 Tri County 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 Tri County Lake
These are the measurements Arkansas DEQ publishes for Tri County Lake, shown as reported. The condition class beside each reading is the EPA National Lakes Assessment class for this lake’s ecoregion.
No clarity data. Phosphorus 80 µg/L. Chlorophyll-a 32.3 µg/L. TSI 66.
| Measure | Reading | Where it sits |
|---|---|---|
| Water clarity (Secchi depth) | No reading How deep a black-and-white disk stays visible from the surface. Higher is clearer. | |
| Total phosphorus | 80µg/L | Measured, not scored The nutrient that most limits algae growth in freshwater. More phosphorus, more algae potential. |
| Chlorophyll-a (algae) | 32.3µg/L | Poor GoodFairPoor |
| Trophic state (TSI)Carlson's 0–100 index of how much algae a lake can support, from clarity, phosphorus and chlorophyll-a. | 66 | Hypereutrophic OligotrophicMesotrophicEutrophicHypereutrophic |
Very high nutrients, dense algae, poor clarity
Ask about Tri County Lake
Answers come straight from the public measurements and survey records on this page.
Lake Details
Max depth
~29 ft est.
Surface area
289 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 Tri County Lake.
Lake Size & Watershed
Watershed (drainage) area
18 sq mi
HydroLAKES / HydroSHEDS
Shoreline
2.6 mi
HydroLAKES / HydroSHEDS
Elevation
210 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 Tri County Lake
Compare lakeside cabins, hotels, and vacation rentals near Tri County Lake in Calhoun 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. The water-quality readings cover nutrients and algae, not lodging. Cabins and rentals around Tri County Lake are listed below.
Top-rated places to stay near Tri County Lake
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Fishing Tri County Lake
Water quality readings over time
3 seasons of samples on record (2023–2025). Calling a direction takes at least 4 years of the same measurement.
Chlorophyll-a
Improving-12.3 µg/L/yr3 years
Reservoir Info (USACE NID)
Tri County Lake is a man-made reservoir impounded by the Tri-County Lake Dam (completed 1962), built primarily for recreation on the Caney Creek; earth-type dam, 16 ft tall and 3,000 ft long.
- Surface area
- 288.9 ac
- Normal storage
- 1,230 ac-ft
- Max storage
- 2,910 ac-ft
- Drainage area
- 14.48 sq mi
- Hazard class
- Low
- Owner
- Arkansas Game and Fish Commission
Source: USACE National Inventory of Dams, NID ID AR00957 · Operator website
Nearby Lakes in Calhoun County
Frequently asked questions about Tri County Lake
Where is Tri County Lake?
- Tri County Lake is a lake in Calhoun County, Arkansas. Its water-quality measurements are published by Arkansas DEQ and shown on this page as reported.
What is the water quality of Tri County Lake?
- Tri County Lake in Calhoun County, Arkansas has water-quality measurements published by Arkansas DEQ, shown here as reported. Phosphorus: 80 µg/L. Chlorophyll-a (algae): 32.3 µg/L. Surface area: 288.9 acres.
Is Tri County Lake safe to swim in?
- Nutrient and algae readings are not a swimming clearance. Check local advisories before you swim.
How deep is Tri County Lake?
- No published bathymetric survey covers Tri County Lake, so its depth has not been measured. The HydroLAKES global model estimates an average depth of about 29 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 288.9 acres.
Explore Tri County Lake across LakeQuality
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Where this data comes from
31 measurements from 1 monitoring station, 2023–2026. Retrieved from the EPA Water Quality Portal on 2026-08-02.
Collected and reported by
- Arkansas Department of Environmental Quality
ARDEQH2O_WQX31 samples · 2023–2026
Analytical methods
- 4500 P J ~ Persulfate Method for Simultaneous Determination of Total Nitrogen and Total Phosphorus
- 445.0 ~ EPA; Chlorophyll and Pheophytin in Algae by Fluorescence
- Turbidity by Nephelometry
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
Lake size & watershed from HydroLAKES (HydroSHEDS)