Impaired Lakes in Missouri
63 of 216 measured Missouri lakes (29%) are officially listed as impaired under Clean Water Act §303(d) in the most recent EPA ATTAINS reporting cycle. 4 have an approved TMDL restoration plan.
Top Causes of Impairment in Missouri
Reading the Missouri impairment landscape
Missouri reports 63 impaired lakes — 29% of the state's 216 tracked water bodies. That share is high enough to make impairment a meaningful planning concern: roughly one in four lakes carries at least one §303(d) listing for a pollutant exceeding standards. The list below isn't a niche concern — it's a significant chunk of the state's surface-water inventory.
The leading impairment cause in Missouri is Algal growth. Each impairment category carries its own use-restriction implications — some affect fish consumption, some affect swimming, some affect aquatic-life habitat. Click through to the specific lake records below for the pollutant list and the TMDL (Total Maximum Daily Load) status, which determines whether a cleanup plan is in place.
Impaired-waters listings come from the state environmental agency's §303(d) submission to EPA, refreshed on a roughly 2-year cycle. A listed lake stays on the list until either a TMDL is established and the cleanup completes, or subsequent monitoring shows the pollutant concentrations no longer exceed water-quality standards. The list below reflects the most recent available Missouri submission to the EPA Assessment, Total Maximum Daily Load Tracking and Implementation System (ATTAINS) dataset.
All 63 EPA-Listed Impaired Lakes in Missouri
| Lake | County | Causes | TMDL |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fox Valley Lake | Clark | Algal growth, Nutrients (phosphorus, nitrogen) | — |
| Weatherby Lake | Platte | Algal growth, Mercury, Nutrients (phosphorus, nitrogen) | — |
| Lake Taneycomo | Taney | Nutrients (phosphorus, nitrogen) | ✓ |
| Lake Taneycomo | Taney | Nutrients (phosphorus, nitrogen) | ✓ |
| Lake Wauwanoka | Jefferson | Nutrients (phosphorus, nitrogen) | — |
| Fellows Lake | Greene | Mercury | — |
| Lake Buteo | Johnson | Mercury | — |
| Lake Taneycomo | Taney | Nutrients (phosphorus, nitrogen) | ✓ |
| Waukomis Lake | Platte | Nutrients (phosphorus, nitrogen) | — |
| Sugar Creek Lake | Randolph | Mercury | — |
| Clearwater Lake | Reynolds | Algal growth, Mercury | — |
| Hunnewell Lake | Shelby | Mercury | — |
| Peaceful Valley Lake | Gasconade | Algal growth | — |
| Higginsville South Lake | Lafayette | Algal growth | — |
| Lake Springfield | Greene | Algal growth | — |
| Simpson Park Lake | St. Louis | Algal growth, Mercury | — |
| Pomme de Terre Lake | Hickory | Algal growth | — |
| Pony Express Lake | DeKalb | Algal growth | — |
| Buffalo Bill Lake | DeKalb | Algal growth, Mercury | — |
| Hamilton Lake | Caldwell | Algal growth | — |
| North Lake | Cass | Algal growth | — |
| Nodaway Lake | Nodaway | Algal growth | — |
| Cottontail Lake | Jackson | Mercury | — |
| Drexel City Reservoir South | Bates | Algal growth | — |
| Jackrabbit Lake | Jackson | Algal growth | — |
| Hemitite Lake | St. Francois | Algal growth | — |
| Vandalia Community Lake | Audrain | Algal growth | — |
| Little Dixie Lake | Callaway | Algal growth | — |
| Binder Lake | Cole | Algal growth | — |
| Nell Lake | Jackson | Algal growth | — |
| Unionville Lake | Putnam | Algal growth | — |
| Lake Luna | Cass | Algal growth | — |
| Raintree Lake | Cass | Algal growth | — |
| Blind Pony Lake | Saline | Algal growth | — |
| King Lake | DeKalb | Algal growth | — |
| Montrose Lake | Henry | Algal growth | — |
| Coot Lake | Jackson | Algal growth, Mercury | — |
| Shelbyville Lake | Shelby | Algal growth | — |
| Jamesport Community Lake | Daviess | Algal growth | — |
| Gopher Lake | Jackson | Algal growth | — |
| Cedar Lake | Boone | Algal growth | — |
| Lake of the Woods | Jackson | Mercury | — |
| Lake St Louis | St. Charles | Algal growth | — |
| Spring Fork Lake | Pettis | Algal growth | ✓ |
| Chaumiere Lake | Clay | Mercury | — |
| Foxboro Lake | Franklin | Mercury | — |
| Knox Village Lake | Jackson | Mercury | — |
| Lake Paho | Mercer | Mercury | — |
| Mozingo Lake | Nodaway | Algal growth, Mercury | — |
| Lake of the Woods | Boone | Mercury | — |
| Longview Lake | Jackson | Mercury | — |
| Holden City Lake | Johnson | Mercury | — |
| Edwin A Pape Lake | Lafayette | Algal growth | — |
| Sunnen Lake | Washington | Algal growth | — |
| Belcher Branch Lake | Buchanan | Mercury | — |
| Frisco Lake | Phelps | Mercury | — |
| Bee Tree Lake | St. Louis | Mercury | — |
| Lewis Lake | Stoddard | Mercury | — |
| Catclaw Lake | Jackson | Algal growth | — |
| Happy Holler Lake | Andrew | Algal growth | — |
| Jamesport City Lake | Daviess | Algal growth | — |
| Milan Lake North | Sullivan | Algal growth | — |
| Perry City Lake | Ralls | Algal growth | — |
Frequently Asked Questions
How many lakes are impaired in Missouri?
63 of 216 measured Missouri lakes (29%) are listed as impaired in the most recent EPA ATTAINS reporting cycle. Of those, 59 are on the federal Clean Water Act §303(d) list and 4 have an approved Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) restoration plan.
What does Clean Water Act §303(d) mean?
Section 303(d) of the federal Clean Water Act requires every state to identify waters that don't meet water quality standards even after pollution control measures. Each listed water must then have a Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) developed — a plan that caps how much of each pollutant can enter the waterbody. The "303(d) list" is the impaired-waters list. The EPA reviews each state's list every two years.
What are the top causes of impairment in Missouri?
The most common causes flagged across Missouri's impaired lakes are: Algal growth (41 lakes); Mercury (23 lakes); Nutrients (phosphorus, nitrogen) (7 lakes). Mercury is widespread in fish tissue across the upper Midwest from atmospheric deposition. Nutrient impairment (phosphorus, nitrogen) typically reflects agricultural runoff and urban stormwater.
Can I swim in an impaired lake?
It depends on the cause of impairment. A lake impaired for "mercury in fish tissue" is generally safe to swim in — the warning is about long-term consumption of fish. A lake impaired for "pathogens" (E. coli) or "algal growth" may pose a swimming risk and often has a separate beach advisory. Check the cause categories listed for each lake below, and consult your state health department's beach monitoring program for current advisories.
Where does this impairment data come from?
Every impairment record on this page comes from the EPA's ATTAINS (Assessment and TMDL Tracking and Implementation System) public dataset, the federal repository of state-reported water quality assessments. EPA ATTAINS is published as GeoParquet files on the EPA Office of Water S3 bucket and refreshed several times per year. Causes and use-support codes follow EPA's standard taxonomy.
More on impaired waters
What it means when a lake is listed as impaired, why mercury is the most common reason, and why a listed lake can still be clear water with favourable readings.
Why states issue fish-consumption advisories, which contaminants — mercury, PCBs, PFAS — drive them, and how to eat the fish you catch more safely.
How phosphorus and nutrient runoff drive algae growth and turn lakes green, where the nutrients come from, and what it means for a lake’s readings.
Which lakes are actually improving: multi-year EPA monitoring trends, the named recoveries still in progress, and what it takes to move the readings.
Data source
Impairment data from the EPA ATTAINS (Assessment and TMDL Tracking and Implementation System) public dataset. Assessment unit IDs are matched to LakeQuality lakes by name and proximity; some lakes may not appear here if their ATTAINS name doesn't match our naming convention. For an official query, consult Missouri's state water-quality agency.