Impaired Lakes in Nebraska
39 of 68 measured Nebraska lakes (57%) 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 Nebraska
Reading the Nebraska impairment landscape
57% of Nebraska's tracked lakes — 39 of 68 — appear on the EPA Clean Water Act §303(d) impaired-waters list. At that share, impairment is the default state rather than an exception: the majority of lakes are flagged for at least one pollutant exceeding water-quality standards. Trip-planning for clean water in Nebraska typically requires checking impairment status as a first filter, not as an edge case.
The leading impairment category in Nebraska is Nutrients (phosphorus, nitrogen) — nutrient enrichment, typically from agricultural fertilizer runoff, septic discharge, or stormwater carrying lawn-care residue. Nutrient-impaired lakes can still be safe for contact recreation in many conditions, but they're prone to algal blooms (including potentially toxic cyanobacteria) during warm-water periods. Check the state's beach-monitoring or harmful-algal-bloom dashboard before swimming on nutrient-impaired waters in summer.
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 Nebraska submission to the EPA Assessment, Total Maximum Daily Load Tracking and Implementation System (ATTAINS) dataset.
All 39 EPA-Listed Impaired Lakes in Nebraska
| Lake | County | Causes | TMDL |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sherman Reservoir | Sherman | Mercury, Nutrients (phosphorus, nitrogen) | — |
| Davis Creek Reservoir | Greeley | Mercury | — |
| Calamus Reservoir | Garfield | Algal growth, Mercury, Nutrients (phosphorus, nitrogen) +1 more | — |
| Cub Creek Lake | Keya Paha | Algal growth, Mercury | — |
| Lake Maloney | Lincoln | Algal growth | — |
| Merritt Reservoir | Cherry | Algal growth, Mercury, Nutrients (phosphorus, nitrogen) +2 more | — |
| Oliver Reservoir | Kimball | Algal growth, Nutrients (phosphorus, nitrogen) | — |
| Chalkrock Lake | Cedar | Algal growth, Nutrients (phosphorus, nitrogen) | — |
| Skyview Lake | Madison | Algal growth | — |
| Lake Whitney | Dawes | Mercury | — |
| Crescent Lake | Garden | Mercury, Nutrients (phosphorus, nitrogen), pH / acidity | — |
| Goose Lake | Holt | Mercury | — |
| Swanson Reservoir | Hitchcock | Mercury, Nutrients (phosphorus, nitrogen) | — |
| Box Butte Reservoir | Dawes | Mercury | — |
| Pibel Lake | Wheeler | Algal growth, Mercury, Nutrients (phosphorus, nitrogen) | — |
| Kirkman'S Cove Lake | Richardson | Algal growth, Mercury, Nutrients (phosphorus, nitrogen) +3 more | ✓ |
| Enders Reservoir | Chase | Algal growth, Nutrients (phosphorus, nitrogen) | — |
| Johnson Lake | Gosper | Algal growth, Mercury, Nutrients (phosphorus, nitrogen) | ✓ |
| Lake Wanahoo | Saunders | Algal growth, Mercury, Nutrients (phosphorus, nitrogen) | — |
| Powder Creek Lake | Dixon | Algal growth, Nutrients (phosphorus, nitrogen) | — |
| Prairie Queen Lake | Sarpy | Mercury | — |
| Lake Ogallala | Keith | Algal growth, Nutrients (phosphorus, nitrogen), Oxygen depletion (low DO) | ✓ |
| Maskenthine Reservoir | Stanton | Algal growth, Mercury, Nutrients (phosphorus, nitrogen) +1 more | — |
| Summit Lake | Burt | Algal growth, Mercury, Nutrients (phosphorus, nitrogen) | — |
| Rockford Lake | Gage | Algal growth, Nutrients (phosphorus, nitrogen), pH / acidity | — |
| Liberty Cove Lake | Webster | Algal growth, Mercury, Nutrients (phosphorus, nitrogen) +1 more | — |
| Meadowlark Lake | Seward | Algal growth, Mercury, Nutrients (phosphorus, nitrogen) | — |
| Buckskin Hills Lake | Dixon | Algal growth, Mercury, Nutrients (phosphorus, nitrogen) | — |
| Wildwood Lake | Lancaster | Algal growth, Mercury, Nutrients (phosphorus, nitrogen) +1 more | — |
| Cub Creek Lake | Jefferson | Nutrients (phosphorus, nitrogen), Pathogens (E. coli, fecal) | — |
| Willow Creek Reservoir | Pierce | Algal growth, Nutrients (phosphorus, nitrogen), pH / acidity | — |
| Carter Lake | Douglas | Algal growth, Nutrients (phosphorus, nitrogen) | ✓ |
| Lake Hastings | Adams | Algal growth, Fish consumption advisory, Nutrients (phosphorus, nitrogen) +1 more | — |
| Elwood Reservoir | Gosper | Mercury | — |
| Lake North | Platte | Algal growth, Nutrients (phosphorus, nitrogen), pH / acidity | — |
| Jeffrey Reservoir | Lincoln | Mercury | — |
| Gallagher Canyon Reservoir | Dawson | Mercury, Nutrients (phosphorus, nitrogen) | — |
| Czechland Lake | Saunders | Algal growth, Mercury, Nutrients (phosphorus, nitrogen) +1 more | — |
| Homestead Lake | Butler | Algal growth, Mercury, Nutrients (phosphorus, nitrogen) | — |
Frequently Asked Questions
How many lakes are impaired in Nebraska?
39 of 68 measured Nebraska lakes (57%) are listed as impaired in the most recent EPA ATTAINS reporting cycle. Of those, 37 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 Nebraska?
The most common causes flagged across Nebraska's impaired lakes are: Nutrients (phosphorus, nitrogen) (29 lakes); Algal growth (27 lakes); Mercury (26 lakes); pH / acidity (10 lakes); Oxygen depletion (low DO) (3 lakes); Pathogens (E. coli, fecal) (2 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 .