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Fishhawk Lake Reserve and Community

What EPA’s and CDC’s records show in this utility’s water: nitrate, arsenic and other regulated chemicals; lead and copper; and violations since 2016, with the certification that handles each result.

Serves
350 people
Connections
170
Water source
Surface water
Based in
Birkenfeld, OR
County
Columbia
Owner
Private
The ZIP code it serves

97016

The short answer

1 result is above the health goal. The worst: Lead, above the health goal. 1 health-based violation since 2016.

What handles it

What was found

Lead and copper: EPA SDWIS monitoring periods ending 2004 to 2027.

Total trihalomethanes (TTHM), haloacetic acids (HAA5), arsenic, nitrate and uranium: Oregon’s yearly averages per water system, as CDC’s Environmental Public Health Tracking Network publishes them, 2020 to 2023, with EPA’s 2012 to 2019 file for earlier years.

Chromium (total) and fluoride: EPA’s compliance monitoring file, samples taken from Nov. 6, 2013 to Nov. 6, 2013. Newer results are in the utility’s annual water quality report.

Above the health goal1

Lead

Comes from pipes, often your own

Above the health goal

6.3ppb

90th percentile, 2025 to 2027

In the latest period, 9 in 10 homes sampled were at or below 6.3 ppb, below EPA’s action level of 15 ppb. The action level drops to 10 ppb on Nov. 1, 2027. EPA’s health goal for lead is zero.

What handles it

Below EPA’s limits2

Total trihalomethanes (TTHM)

Forms or is added in treatment

Below EPA’s limits

54.3ppb

Highest yearly average, 2020 to 2023

Averaged by year, the highest was 54.3 ppb, in 2023, below EPA’s legal limit of 80 ppb. That was also the latest year on file. Earlier, from 2012 to 2019, EPA’s file shows a highest yearly average of 79.3 ppb, in 2013.

What handles it

  • NSF/ANSI 53 look for “Trihalomethanes (TTHM) Reduction”
  • NSF/ANSI 58 look for “Trihalomethanes (TTHM) Reduction”

Haloacetic acids (HAA5)

Forms or is added in treatment

Below EPA’s limits

35.9ppb

Highest yearly average, 2020 to 2023

Averaged by year, the highest was 35.9 ppb, in 2023, below EPA’s legal limit of 60 ppb. That was also the latest year on file. Earlier, from 2012 to 2019, EPA’s file shows a highest yearly average of 30.8 ppb, in 2016.

What handles it

No certification claim covers this compound yet.

5 compounds tested and not foundBelow the reporting level in every sample. Not found is not the same as zero.
  • Arsenic
  • Chromium (total)
  • Fluoride
  • Nitrate
  • Uranium

What handles it

A certification covers specific claims, not a whole standard. Look for these claims on the certifier’s listing, not the box. Wording varies a little: NSF writes “Lead Reduction,” WQA just “Lead.”

At the tap, or for the whole house?

Lead and copper usually come from pipes and fixtures inside or near your home. A whole-house system sits where water enters, so it cannot catch what your own plumbing adds after it. For those, the filter that counts is the one at the tap. How whole-house systems compare.

Filters with those claims on a certifier’s listing

Disclosure: TapBuff earns a commission if you buy through some links on this page. It does not change which standard or filter we name. As an Amazon Associate, TapBuff earns from qualifying purchases. How TapBuff makes money

Compare five-year costs

The best water filters for lead, ranked

Violations since 2016

Contaminant or ruleTypePeriodMeasuredStatus
Surface Water Treatment RuleRequired treatment for surface water or groundwater was not met.EPA: Treatment Technique (SWTR and GWR)Nov. 1, 2025 to Nov. 30, 2025—Resolved
Health-based violations only. Resolved and archived mean the utility returned to compliance or the state closed the record. 27 monitoring or reporting violations not shown.

What this report can’t tell you

  • Everything else. Total trihalomethanes (TTHM), haloacetic acids (HAA5), arsenic, nitrate and uranium results here are Oregon’s yearly averages as CDC publishes them, from 2020 on, with EPA’s national file for 2012 to 2019. Chromium (total) and fluoride come from EPA’s file alone, which ends in 2019. Fishhawk Lake Reserve and Community’s own annual report, which it must send you every year, has newer results for those and the contaminants this page does not show.

  • Your own plumbing. Lead results are the 90th percentile across homes the utility samples. Your home’s service line, solder and fixtures decide yours. A certified lab test is the only way to know.

  • What it means for your health. This page reports what the records show and EPA’s limits and goals; it is not medical advice. If you are worried about a health effect, talk to a doctor or your local health department.

  • Anything after the latest data. SDWIS data is from 2026 Q3; UCMR 5 didn’t sample this utility; CDC’s yearly averages for Oregon cover 2020 to 2023; EPA’s compliance samples are from Nov. 6, 2013 to Nov. 6, 2013.

Testing your own tap

Fishhawk Lake Reserve and Community’s results are for the water it sends out. What your own service line, solder and fixtures add shows up only in a test of your tap, by a lab Oregon certifies.

The 3 labs Oregon certifies closest to the area Fishhawk Lake Reserve and Community serves, in a straight line. Call first: certification is test by test, and not every lab takes samples from homeowners.

  • ALS Environmental, Kelso

    Kelso, WA · about 25 miles

    Certified for bacteria, nitrate, lead and copper, metals, minerals and other inorganics, organic chemicals, disinfection byproducts, PFAS

    (360) 501-3362

  • Camp Rilea Laboratory

    Warrenton, OR · about 33 miles

    Certified for bacteria, nitrate

    (971) 355-4657

  • BSK Associates ?Vancouver

    Vancouver, WA · about 42 miles

    Certified for bacteria, nitrate, minerals and other inorganics

    (360) 869-6344

Oregon State University Extension Well Water Program: Nitrate screening of well water at many of its groundwater education events. The screening is free. Water Testing Guidance for Private Wells, OSU Well Water Program.

All 91 certified labs for Oregon

Sources

PWSID OR4100124. Rebuilt from EPA data on Oct. 18, 2026.

Also in Columbia County

All Oregon utilities

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