Waurika Lake
Jefferson County, Oklahoma10,100 acresView mapDirections
Oklahoma DEQ publishes the water-quality measurements for Waurika Lake. Here is what has been measured.
- 55 ft max depth
- Public access
- Limited data
Waurika Lake in Jefferson County, Oklahoma has water-quality measurements published by Oklahoma DEQ, shown here as reported. Water clarity: 1.6 ft visibility. Surface area: 10100 acres.
Waurika Lake is a 10,100-acre lake in Jefferson County, Oklahoma with an estimated average depth of about 55 feet. Overall water quality is declining over recent sampling years. Limited fish-species data available. Public access is available with 6 public boat landings.
Source: EPA Water Quality Portal sampling records, ODEQ, last sampled 2023-10-17. Methodology: how these readings are compared.
What Waurika Lake is good for
From access and monitoring records, not editorial picks.
- Boat launch6 documented ramps
- Camping1 public campground nearby
- Big water10,100 acres
Swimming conditions
No readingLimited data
Nutrient and algae readings are not a swimming clearance. Check local advisories before you swim.
Whether Waurika 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 Waurika Lake
These are the measurements Oklahoma DEQ publishes for Waurika 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 1.6 ft of visibility. TSI 70.
| Measure | Reading | Where it sits |
|---|---|---|
| Water clarity (Secchi depth) | 1.6ft | 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. | 70 | Eutrophic OligotrophicMesotrophicEutrophicHypereutrophic |
High nutrients, frequent algae, reduced clarity
Ask about Waurika Lake
Answers come straight from the public measurements and survey records on this page.
Lake Details
Max depth
~55 ft est.
Surface area
10,100 acres
Public access
Yes
Listed by Oklahoma DEQ
Depth marked “est.” is a modeled maximum from GLOBathy (Khazaei et al. 2022, CC0), not a measured survey. Oklahoma has not published bathymetry for Waurika Lake.
Lake Size & Watershed
Watershed (drainage) area
567 sq mi
HydroLAKES / HydroSHEDS
Shoreline
50.5 mi
HydroLAKES / HydroSHEDS
Elevation
961 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
- Waurika Lake MarinaPublic
- Kiowa Park 2Public
- Kiowa Park NorthPublic
- Witchita RidgePublic
- Chisholm Trail Ridge ParkPublic
- Bear Creek LandinPublic
Named access points in the USGS National Boat Ramps inventory, within about 3 miles. More lakes with boat ramps
Public campgrounds near Waurika Lake
- Kiowa Park I2.4 kmReserve
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 Waurika Lake
Compare lakeside cabins, hotels, and vacation rentals near Waurika Lake in Jefferson 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.
Top-rated places to stay near Waurika Lake
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Fishing Waurika Lake
Water quality readings over time
3 seasons of samples on record (2018–2020). Calling a direction takes at least 4 years of the same measurement.
Water clarity
Worsening3 years
Reservoir Info (USACE NID)
Waurika Lake is a man-made reservoir impounded by the Waurika Dam (completed 1977), built primarily for flood risk reduction on the Beaver Creek; earth-type dam, 106 ft tall and 16,637 ft long.
- Surface area
- 10,100 ac
- Normal storage
- 190,200 ac-ft
- Max storage
- 935,480 ac-ft
- Drainage area
- 562 sq mi
- Hazard class
- High
- Owner
- USACE - Tulsa District
All listed purposes: Flood Risk Reduction;Other;Irrigation;Recreation;Water Supply.
Source: USACE National Inventory of Dams, NID ID OK22203 · Operator website
Nearby Lakes in Jefferson County
Frequently asked questions about Waurika Lake
Where is Waurika Lake?
- Waurika Lake is a lake in Jefferson County, Oklahoma. Its water-quality measurements are published by Oklahoma DEQ and shown on this page as reported.
What is the water quality of Waurika Lake?
- Waurika Lake in Jefferson County, Oklahoma has water-quality measurements published by Oklahoma DEQ, shown here as reported. Water clarity: 1.6 ft visibility. Surface area: 10100 acres.
Is Waurika Lake safe to swim in?
- Nutrient and algae readings are not a swimming clearance. Check local advisories before you swim.
How deep is Waurika Lake?
- No published bathymetric survey covers Waurika Lake, so its depth has not been measured. The HydroLAKES global model estimates an average depth of about 55 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 10100 acres.
Are there boat ramps on Waurika Lake?
- Waurika Lake has 6 documented boat landings in the USGS National Boat Ramps inventory. Named access points include Waurika Lake Marina, Kiowa Park 2, Kiowa Park North, Witchita Ridge, among others. Public access is listed as yes.
Can I fish at Waurika Lake?
- Waurika Lake has 6 documented boat landings in the USGS National Boat Ramps inventory. Seasons, size and bag limits, and whether you need a license are set by Oklahoma's fish and wildlife agency, so check its current regulations before you go.
Are there campgrounds on Waurika Lake?
- Waurika Lake has 1 public campground from USGS The National Map within 5 km, including Kiowa Park I. 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.
Explore Waurika Lake across LakeQuality
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Where this data comes from
63 measurements from 5 monitoring stations, 2017–2023. Retrieved from the EPA Water Quality Portal on 2026-08-02.
Collected and reported by
- OWRB Lakes Monitoring
OKWRB-LAKES_WQX63 samples · 2017–2023
Analytical methods
- OWRB Lakes Field Data Collection
- Determination of Turbidity
Monitoring station identifiers (5)
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)
Named boat-access points from the USGS National Boat Ramps inventory
Public campgrounds from USGS The National Map Structures, within about 3 miles