Yate Lake
Tallapoosa County, Alabama40,000 acresView mapDirections
ADEM publishes the water-quality measurements for Yate Lake. Here is what has been measured.
- Oligotrophic
- Impaired · Mercury
Yate Lake in Tallapoosa County, Alabama has water-quality measurements published by ADEM, shown here as reported. Water clarity: 7.4 ft visibility. Phosphorus: 7 µg/L. Chlorophyll-a (algae): 1.1 µg/L. Surface area: 40000 acres.
Yate Lake is a 40,000-acre cold, clear oligotrophic lake in Tallapoosa County, Alabama. Overall water quality is declining over recent sampling years. Compared to the 2 other monitored lakes in Tallapoosa County, Yate Lake ranks #2 for water quality.
Source: EPA Water Quality Portal sampling records, ADEM, last sampled 2026-04-28. Methodology: how these readings are compared.
What Yate Lake is good for
From access and monitoring records, not editorial picks.
- Big water40,000 acres
Swimming conditions
Readings onlyLow algae
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. Yate Lake is listed impaired under Clean Water Act §303(d) (IR 5) for mercury. Check local advisories before you swim.
Whether Yate Lake is safe to swim in today is a call for the Alabama Department of Environmental Management and the county health department, who post current advisories. LakeQuality does not issue swimming clearances.
Water quality measurements for Yate Lake
These are the measurements ADEM publishes for Yate Lake, shown as reported. The condition class beside each reading is the EPA National Lakes Assessment class for this lake’s ecoregion.
Moderate clarity, visible to about 7.4 ft. Phosphorus 7 µg/L. Chlorophyll-a 1.1 µg/L. TSI 37.
| Measure | Reading | Where it sits |
|---|---|---|
| Water clarity (Secchi depth) | 7.4ft | Measured, not scored How deep a black-and-white disk stays visible from the surface. Higher is clearer. |
| Total phosphorus | 7µg/L | Measured, not scored The nutrient that most limits algae growth in freshwater. More phosphorus, more algae potential. |
| Chlorophyll-a (algae) | 1.1µg/L | Good GoodFairPoor |
| Trophic state (TSI)Carlson's 0–100 index of how much algae a lake can support, from clarity, phosphorus and chlorophyll-a. | 37 | Oligotrophic OligotrophicMesotrophicEutrophicHypereutrophic |
Low nutrients, clear water. No reading is a swimming clearance.
Ask about Yate Lake
Answers come straight from the public measurements and survey records on this page.
Lake Details
Surface area
40,000 acres
No bathymetric survey has been published for Yate Lake, so its depth is not documented here.
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Fishing Yate Lake
Water Quality Trend: Worsening
Based on 5 years of monitoring (2013–2023).
Water clarity
Worsening5 years
Phosphorus
Stable0 µg/L/yr5 years
Chlorophyll-a
Stable+0.01 µg/L/yr5 years
Reservoir Info (USACE NID)
Yate Lake is a man-made reservoir impounded by the Martin (completed 1926), built primarily for hydroelectric on the Tallapoosa River; gravity-type dam, 168 ft tall and 2,000 ft long.
- Surface area
- 40,000 ac
- Normal storage
- 1,622,000 ac-ft
- Max storage
- 1,622,000 ac-ft
- Drainage area
- 3,000 sq mi
- Hazard class
- High
- Owner
- Alabama Power Company
All listed purposes: Hydroelectric;Recreation;Water Supply;Flood Risk Reduction.
Source: USACE National Inventory of Dams, NID ID AL01425 · Operator website · Matched by proximity (0.12 km)
EPA Impairment Status
Yate Lake is officially listed as impaired under Clean Water Act §303(d) in the 2022 EPA reporting cycle (IR category 5).
Causes of impairment
Designated uses not supporting: Fish consumption.
Source: EPA ATTAINS assessment unit AL03150110-0406-103 · Official waterbody report
Nearby Lakes in Tallapoosa County
Frequently asked questions about Yate Lake
Where is Yate Lake?
- Yate Lake is a lake in Tallapoosa County, Alabama. Its water-quality measurements are published by ADEM and shown on this page as reported.
What is the water quality of Yate Lake?
- Yate Lake in Tallapoosa County, Alabama has water-quality measurements published by ADEM, shown here as reported. Water clarity: 7.4 ft visibility. Phosphorus: 7 µg/L. Chlorophyll-a (algae): 1.1 µg/L. Surface area: 40000 acres.
Is Yate Lake safe to swim in?
- Nutrient and algae readings are not a swimming clearance. Yate Lake is listed impaired under Clean Water Act §303(d) (IR 5) for mercury. Check local advisories before you swim.
Explore Yate Lake across LakeQuality
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Where this data comes from
111 measurements from 1 monitoring station, 2015–2026. Retrieved from the EPA Water Quality Portal on 2026-08-02.
Collected and reported by
- ALABAMA DEPT. OF ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT - WATER QUALITY DATA
21AWIC111 samples · 2015–2026
Analytical methods
- Phosphorus by Colorimetry
- 10200 H ~ Chlorophyll a-b-c Determination
- 2120 B ~ Color in Water by Visual Comparison
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