Facts and Data

Lake Monroe Facts

  • Lake Monroe was designed and built by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) beginning in 1960 and became fully operational in 1965.

  • The purpose of the lake is flood control, water supply, and low-flow augmentation for downstream waters.

  • The normal pool for the lake is 538’ above mean sea level (MSL).

  • At normal pool, the lake has an area of 10,750 acres and is the largest lake in Indiana.

  • The maximum depth of Lake Monroe is 54’ in the bed of Salt Creek near the dam. The average depth is 17’.

  • The shoreline length of Lake Monroe is 103 miles at a normal pool.

  • Lake Monroe lies mostly in Monroe County (88%), with the remaining 12% in Brown  County.

  • Lake Monroe serves as the sole source of drinking water for over 120,000 people, serving residents in Monroe and Brown Counties.

  • Lake Monroe attracts over a million visitors per year. Popular activities include sightseeing, fishing, swimming, picnicking, boating, skiing, and birding.

  • Lake Monroe is a wildlife resource for a variety of species including the federally endangered clubshell mussel and Indiana bat.

FOLM is working diligently to update, analyze, and act on data. Click the link above to see our Lake Monroe Watershed data on Google Drive. For more information about data collection or to request access to raw data, please use the form on our Contact Us page.

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Facts & Data

Breakdown of Lake Monroe Watershed.
Watershed by County