These data were collected in coordination with the U.S. Geological Survey Hydrogeophysics Branch for the National Crude Oil Spill Fate and Natural Attenuation Research Site. An EXO2 multi-parameter sonde was used to vertically characterize water quality at point locations around the perimeter of the north unnamed lake, and in area of the lake suspected to contain a hydrocarbon plume. Measurements were taken from a kayak using Hypack 2017a to navigate and set target points. Data collected includes barometric pressure, dissolved oxygen, specific conductance, turbidity, pH, and water temperature. At each location and specific depth there were typically multiple measurements made, especially in the organic sediments when turbidity was sometimes erratic and dissolved oxygen took time to stabilize. Standard deviation was calculated for each measured parameter at a particular station and depth. These data are provided in two formats: a CSV file named EXO2_Vertical_WQ.csv, and in the Environmental Systems Research Institute (ESRI) shapefile format consisting of a group of files that have been compressed into a zip archive that is named EXO2_Vertical_WQ_shapefile.zip.