What is the cleanest lake in Kansas?

Ellis City Lake in Ellis County is the highest-rated lake in Kansas with an EPA water quality grade of F and 0.5 feet of water clarity.

How are these rankings calculated?

Lakes are graded A through F on nutrients and algae — total phosphorus, nitrogen, chlorophyll-a, and turbidity — against EPA National Lakes Assessment 2022 condition classes for that lake’s ecoregion. Water clarity (Secchi depth) is measured and shown; it is not the letter. Lakes without enough recent samples are UNRATED, not given an F. Source data comes from the EPA Water Quality Portal.

Lakes With Algae Problems in Kansas

50 lakes in Kansas report elevated algae levels (chlorophyll-a above 20 µg/L). These lakes are most likely to develop blue-green algae blooms during warm, calm summer weather. Avoid swimming during visible blooms and rinse pets after contact.

Ranked List

#	Lake	County	Grade	Clarity	Phosphorus	Algae
1	Marais des Cygnes Wildlife Area Lake	Linn	NR	0.5 ft	2.3 µg/L	454 µg/L
2	Marais des Cygnes Nwr Lake	Linn	NR	0.6 ft	810 µg/L	255 µg/L
3	Ellis City Lake	Ellis	F	0.7 ft	800 µg/L	250 µg/L
4	Lake Warnock	Atchison	F	1.7 ft	509.5 µg/L	219 µg/L
5	Harvey Co East Lake	Harvey	NR	1 ft	360 µg/L	205 µg/L
6	Gathering Pond East	Geary	NR	1 ft	450 µg/L	189 µg/L
7	Cheyenne Bottoms Pool	Barton	F	0.4 ft	420.5 µg/L	173.5 µg/L
8	Ogden City Lake	Riley	NR	0.9 ft	-	168.5 µg/L
9	Garnett Lake	Anderson	NR	2.4 ft	69.5 µg/L	160 µg/L
10	Little Lake	Brown	NR	-	250 µg/L	155 µg/L
11	Jamestown Wildlife Area Lake	Cloud	F	0.4 ft	445 µg/L	150 µg/L
12	Kingman Co State Fishing Lake	Kingman	NR	0.6 ft	195 µg/L	150 µg/L
13	Fossil Lake	Russell	NR	0.7 ft	-	142 µg/L
14	Harvey County Camp Hawk Lake	Harvey	NR	1.3 ft	-	138.4 µg/L
15	Newton City Park Lake	Harvey	NR	1.2 ft	485 µg/L	120 µg/L
16	Harvey Co West Park Lake	Harvey	F	1.4 ft	115 µg/L	118.4 µg/L
17	Pratt County Lake	Pratt	NR	1.2 ft	325 µg/L	110 µg/L
18	Water Works Park Lake	Johnson	F	-	101.7 µg/L	107 µg/L
19	Central Park Lake	Shawnee	F	1.2 ft	325 µg/L	105 µg/L
20	Spring Creek Park Lake	Douglas	NR	1 ft	-	104.6 µg/L
21	Mcpherson Co State Fishing Lake	McPherson	NR	1.8 ft	260 µg/L	100 µg/L
22	Chisholm Creek Park Lake South	Sedgwick	NR	1.1 ft	205 µg/L	97 µg/L
23	Chanute Santa Fe Lake	Neosho	F	1.8 ft	185 µg/L	95.5 µg/L
24	Summer Crest Park Lake	Johnson	NR	-	109.6 µg/L	93.5 µg/L
25	Hiawatha City Lake	Brown	F	2.1 ft	135 µg/L	93 µg/L
26	Lake Afton	Sedgwick	F	1.7 ft	170 µg/L	90.1 µg/L
27	Neosho Co State Fishing Lake	Neosho	NR	2 ft	89 µg/L	85 µg/L
28	Quivera Little Salt Marsh Lake	Stafford	F	0.9 ft	280 µg/L	83 µg/L
29	Mcpherson Wetlands Lake	McPherson	NR	-	-	79 µg/L
30	Crystal Lake	Anderson	NR	1.4 ft	88.5 µg/L	72.5 µg/L
31	South Lake	Johnson	F	-	177.2 µg/L	72 µg/L
32	Atwood Township Lake	Rawlins	NR	1 ft	-	66.9 µg/L
33	Hodgeman Co State Fishing Lake	Hodgeman	NR	1.6 ft	1000 µg/L	65.5 µg/L
34	Brown Co State Fishing Lake	Brown	NR	1.3 ft	88 µg/L	64.5 µg/L
35	Antelope Lake	Graham	NR	0.9 ft	215 µg/L	62 µg/L
36	Pony Creek Lake	Brown	NR	2.2 ft	83 µg/L	62 µg/L
37	Veteran'S Lake	Barton	F	2.3 ft	74 µg/L	61.5 µg/L
38	Antioch Park Lake	Johnson	F	-	347.1 µg/L	61.3 µg/L
39	Carey Park Lake	Reno	NR	1.5 ft	80.5 µg/L	59 µg/L
40	Kingston Lake Park	Johnson	F	-	129.9 µg/L	58.7 µg/L
41	Sheridan Co State Fishing Lake	Sheridan	F	1.1 ft	76 µg/L	56.8 µg/L
42	La Cygne Lake	Linn	NR	2.4 ft	37 µg/L	56 µg/L
43	Miami Co State Fishing Lake	Miami	F	2 ft	90 µg/L	53.1 µg/L
44	Sar Ko Park Lake	Johnson	F	-	86.5 µg/L	51.9 µg/L
45	Lovewell Lake	Jewell	F	1.3 ft	270 µg/L	49.5 µg/L
46	Big Eleven Lake	Wyandotte	F	-	124.4 µg/L	48.6 µg/L
47	Augusta City Lake	Butler	F	1.5 ft	180 µg/L	48.5 µg/L
48	Tomahawk Creek Park Lake	Johnson	F	-	162.1 µg/L	45.9 µg/L
49	Big Eleven Lake Park Lake	Wyandotte	NR	2.8 ft	147 µg/L	45.2 µg/L
50	Norton Lake	Norton	F	2 ft	150 µg/L	44 µg/L

Ranked List

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