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Federal water data

County water report

Carter County Water Report

Drinking-water compliance, watershed health, monitoring records, and river conditions for Carter County, Oklahoma.

Water grade

F

Water score

10.8

State rank

#34

of 77

Health violations

146

EPA SDWIS, 5-year lookback

Watershed impaired

40.0%

5 water bodies assessed

Monitoring sites

8

6,326 recent measurements

Live streamflow

38%

Washita River near Dickson, OK

Water at a glance

Key Water Indicators for Carter County

EPA SDWIS

Safety Grade

F

Score: 10.8 / 100

EPA SDWIS

Active Violations

146

5-year health-based lookback

EPA ATTAINS

Watershed Health

40% impaired

5 bodies assessed

USGS NWIS

Streamflow Snapshot

38% of mean

Washita River near Dickson, OK

EPA WQP

Monitoring Sites

8

6,326 recent readings

Source: EPA SDWIS · Safe Drinking Water Information System

Drinking Water Compliance

Compliance grade

F

Based on EPA SDWIS compliance history.

Water score

Higher scores indicate cleaner recent compliance records.

10.8/100

Health violations

146

Health-based violations

Violations per 100K served

306.4

Population-normalized SDWIS rate

Editorial analysis

Understanding Carter County’s Water

Drinking Water Quality Overview

EPA SDWIS

Carter County's water systems carry a failing grade, scoring 10.8 out of 100. Over the past five years, EPA SDWIS records 146 health-based violations — a pattern that public water utilities are required to disclose and correct.

Watershed Conditions

EPA ATTAINS

Under the Clean Water Act §303(d), EPA ATTAINS tracks whether waterways meet quality standards for drinking, recreation, and aquatic life (reporting cycle: 2022). A substantial 40.0% of assessed waterways are impaired (2 of 5 water bodies) across Carter County's watersheds. The leading impairment cause is turbidity. Impairment does not mean tap water is unsafe — it measures ambient waterway conditions upstream of treatment, not finished drinking water.

River & Streamflow Status

USGS NWIS

USGS NWIS gauge data (as of 2026-05-14T13:30:00.000-05:00) puts Washita River at 689.0 cfs — well below its long-term average at 38% of mean — low-flow conditions worth noting for water-dependent ecosystems. Streamflow is a leading indicator of drought stress, sediment load, and dilution capacity: low flows concentrate pollutants and warm water temperatures, stressing aquatic life and, in surface-water-dependent systems, the source water quality for treatment plants.

Monitoring Network

EPA WQP

EPA's Water Quality Portal (WQP) aggregates monitoring data from federal, state, and tribal agencies. Carter County has limited coverage with 8 active monitoring sites with 6,326 recent measurements on record. Predominant monitoring categories include physical and biological, algae, phytoplankton. More monitoring sites generally indicate greater scientific attention to local water conditions — and provide the baseline data that regulators use to set future impairment listings.

Editorial advisory

What the data suggests for Carter County

Water Verdict

Carter County receives a poor water quality assessment with a grade of F and a score of 10.8 out of 100. The water supply has documented quality issues. Residents are strongly encouraged to use filtered or bottled water for drinking and to stay informed about utility improvement plans.

Violation Context

Carter County has recorded 146 health-based violations, indicating multiple instances where federal contaminant limits or treatment requirements were not met. At 306.4 violations per 100,000 people served, this rate is high and signals significant water quality management issues.

Consumer Guidance

Carter County has a Grade F compliance record with 146 health-based violations — among the highest levels in the country. Carter County's drinking-water compliance score is 10.8 out of 100. Residents are strongly advised to use a certified NSF 58 reverse-osmosis filter or bottled water for all drinking and cooking until violations are corrected. Contacting the Oklahoma Department of Environmental Quality or Health can expedite utility compliance action. Turbidity is the leading impairment cause in Carter County's watershed. There are 8 active water-quality monitoring sites in Carter County. A pipeline streamflow snapshot from the Washita River gauge is also available on this page.

Regional Context

Carter County has poorer water quality than the average county in Oklahoma. Its water score is 5 points lower than the state average, suggesting more challenges with contamination control or infrastructure than neighboring counties.

Advisory text summarizes county-level public records and is not a replacement for your utility's current Consumer Confidence Report or direct local notices.

Contaminants & Resources

Key issues flagged in Carter County's water environment

Watershed Impairment Causes (EPA ATTAINS)

  • 1

    High turbidity

    Impairment cause per EPA Clean Water Act §303(d) assessment

Source: EPA ATTAINS · Reporting cycle 2022

Official EPA Resources for Carter County

EPA How's My Waterway

Interactive watershed health data for Carter County

EPA ECHO: Drinking Water Systems

Search water utilities and violation records for Carter County

Consumer Confidence Reports (OK)

Annual water quality reports from utilities in Oklahoma

Clean Water Act §303(d)

Watershed Health

Impaired Water Bodies

40.0%

2 of 5 assessed

Moderate concern

Top Impairment Causes

  • 1

    TURBIDITY

Source: EPA ATTAINS · Reporting cycle 2022

Impairment is determined under the Clean Water Act §303(d): a water body is impaired when it fails to meet state-defined quality standards for designated uses (drinking, recreation, aquatic life). Assessment coverage varies by state; counties without assessed water bodies are not shown.

Past 5 years

Water Quality Monitoring

Monitoring Sites

8

Active in the past 5 years

Measurements Recorded

6.3K

6,326 total readings

Most Measured

  • Physical
  • Biological, Algae, Phytoplankton
  • Nutrient

Categories measured most frequently

Data from the EPA Water Quality Portal (WQP), aggregating monitoring records from federal, state, and tribal sources. Each measurement represents a single sample analyzed for a specific characteristic (e.g., E. coli, pH, dissolved oxygen, nitrogen).

Live USGS Streamgage

River & Stream Conditions

Current Discharge

689cfs

May 14, 6:30 PM UTC

vs Long-Term Average

38%

Well below typical

Primary Streamgage

Washita River near Dickson, OK

USGS site
07331000
Drainage area
7,172 sq mi
Long-term mean
1,817 cfs

One representative streamgage (the one with the largest drainage area in the county). Many counties have multiple gauges; this view summarizes the primary one. The long-term mean is the full-record annual average; the percent-of-typical value compares the latest reading against that average.

Free tool

Estimate Your Water Costs

Water Cost Estimate

3

3 people  ·  ~225 gal/day

Annual Total

$558

Monthly

$47

Water Bill

$558/yr

Filter Cost

$0/yr

Safety Grade for Carter County:C — Moderate

Some violations or watershed impairment detected.

Estimates use the national average residential water rate ($0.0068/gal, EPA/AWWA 2023) and EPA WaterSense per-person consumption baseline (75 gal/person/day). Actual bills vary by utility, usage tier, and local infrastructure fees. For informational purposes only.

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Frequently Asked Questions

What is the water quality in Carter County, Oklahoma?
Carter County, Oklahoma has a drinking-water quality grade of F with a score of 10.8/100, based on EPA SDWIS compliance data. The county has 146 health-based drinking water violations over the past 5 years. Watershed health, monitoring records, and streamflow snapshots are reported separately on this page.
Are there any water violations in Carter County?
Carter County has 146 health-based drinking water violations recorded by the EPA over the past 5 years. Health-based violations indicate instances where contaminant levels exceeded EPA Maximum Contaminant Levels (MCLs). Violations may have been resolved — check with your local water utility for current status.
How healthy are the watersheds in Carter County?
EPA ATTAINS assessments under Clean Water Act §303(d) indicate 40.0% of Carter County's 5 assessed water bodies are classified as impaired (2 impaired). The top reported causes are TURBIDITY. Impairment means the water body fails to meet state quality standards for at least one designated use — drinking water source, recreation, aquatic life, or fish consumption. Note: watershed impairment doesn't always translate to tap-water issues; treatment plants can remove most regulated contaminants.
How much water-quality monitoring happens in Carter County?
EPA's Water Quality Portal records 6,326 measurements from 8 monitoring sites in Carter County over the past five years. The most frequently measured characteristic groups are Physical, Biological, Algae, Phytoplankton, Nutrient. Each measurement is a single sample analyzed for one characteristic (E. coli, pH, dissolved oxygen, etc.). High monitoring density means more scientific evidence behind any reported signal — it does not by itself indicate water quality.
What's happening with rivers in Carter County right now?
Carter County's primary USGS streamgage on the Washita River has a pipeline snapshot of 689 cubic feet per second — 38% of the long-term mean of 1,817.47 cfs. This is well below typical — often a signal of drought stress on source water. For the latest gauge feed, visit waterdata.usgs.gov.
How does Carter County water compare to the Oklahoma average?
Carter County's SDWIS water quality score of 10.8/100 is lower than the Oklahoma state average of 15.8. The average water quality grade across Oklahoma is F, based on data from 77 counties with available SDWIS data.
Is tap water safe to drink in Carter County?
Based on EPA SDWIS data, Carter County has a water quality grade of F (10.8/100). This indicates below-average compliance with significant violations. Residents may want to consider home water filtration or independent testing. The grade speaks to the public water system, not the watershed — for watershed-level concerns, see the Watershed Health zone. For the most up-to-date information, contact your local water utility or review your Consumer Confidence Report (CCR).
Why does Carter County have so many water violations?
Carter County has 146 health-based drinking water violations on record from the EPA SDWIS database. A higher violation count can result from aging infrastructure, underfunded water utilities, agricultural runoff contamination, or industrial pollution. Counties with more water systems may also see more violations simply due to scale. Residents concerned about water quality should consider independent water testing and home filtration systems.
How does Carter County rank for water quality in Oklahoma?
Carter County ranks #34 out of 77 counties in Oklahoma by SDWIS water quality score (1 = best). With a score of 10.8/100, it falls in the middle third of counties statewide. The ranking reflects EPA SDWIS compliance only — not watershed impairment, monitoring density, or streamflow, which are tracked separately on this page.

Counties with Similar Water Quality

Dewey County

Oklahoma

F

10.8

Water score

Murray County

Oklahoma

F

11.0

Water score

Washita County

Oklahoma

F

11.2

Water score

Data Sources

Drinking-water compliance data from the EPA Safe Drinking Water Information System (SDWIS) via the ECHO enforcement database. Scores reflect compliance history and health-based violation counts.

Watershed health and impaired-waterway data from the EPA ATTAINS Clean Water Act §303(d) assessments, state-reported and EPA-finalized.

Water-quality monitoring counts from the EPA Water Quality Portal (WQP), federated USGS, EPA, and state agency sampling records over a rolling 5-year window.

Live streamflow from the USGS National Water Information System (NWIS), continuous discharge measurements from the largest-drainage gauge in each county, compared against the full-record long-term annual mean.

Disclaimer: This data is informational only. It is not health, legal, or professional advice. For concerns about your specific water supply, contact your local water utility.

By Evan Brooks, Data EditorUpdated Reviewed by Evan Brooks, Data Editor

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