Badger Lake
Webster County, Iowa50 acresView mapDirections
Iowa DNR publishes the water-quality measurements for Badger Lake. Here is what has been measured.
- Hypereutrophic
- Impaired · Turbidity
- 26 ft max depth
Badger Lake in Webster County, Iowa has water-quality measurements published by Iowa DNR, shown here as reported. Water clarity: 2.8 ft visibility. Phosphorus: 99.5 µg/L. Chlorophyll-a (algae): 33.3 µg/L. Surface area: 50 acres.
Free interactive depth-contour map of Badger Lake, reaching a maximum surveyed depth of 16 ft. Toggle Depth contours to overlay the bathymetric survey lines. Contour data from Iowa DNR.
Badger Lake is a 50-acre highly nutrient-loaded hypereutrophic lake in Webster County, Iowa with an estimated average depth of about 26 feet. Overall water quality is improving over recent sampling years. Compared to the 1 other monitored lakes in Webster County, Badger Lake ranks #1 for water quality.
Source: EPA Water Quality Portal sampling records, Iowa DNR, last sampled 2024-09-19. Methodology: how these readings are compared.
Swimming conditions
Readings onlyRecreation use not supported
Based on clarity and algae readings from past sampling — there is no live water temperature and a current cyanobacteria reading for this lake. Check your state or county health department before you swim.
Nutrient and algae readings are not a swimming clearance. Badger Lake is listed impaired under Clean Water Act §303(d) (IR 5) for turbidity. Check local advisories before you swim.
Whether Badger Lake is safe to swim in today is a call for the Iowa Department of Natural Resources and the county health department, who post current advisories. LakeQuality does not issue swimming clearances.
Water quality measurements for Badger Lake
These are the measurements Iowa DNR publishes for Badger Lake, shown as reported. The condition class beside each reading is the EPA National Lakes Assessment class for this lake’s ecoregion.
Very murky, less than 2.8 ft of visibility. Phosphorus 99.5 µg/L. Chlorophyll-a 33.3 µg/L. TSI 66.
| Measure | Reading | Where it sits |
|---|---|---|
| Water clarity (Secchi depth) | 2.8ft | Measured, not scored How deep a black-and-white disk stays visible from the surface. Higher is clearer. |
| Total phosphorus | 99.5µg/L | Poor GoodFairPoor |
| Chlorophyll-a (algae) | 33.3µg/L | Poor GoodFairPoor |
| Trophic state (TSI)Carlson's 0–100 index of how much algae a lake can support, from clarity, phosphorus and chlorophyll-a. | 66 | Hypereutrophic OligotrophicMesotrophicEutrophicHypereutrophic |
Very high nutrients, dense algae, poor clarity
Ask about Badger Lake
Answers come straight from the public measurements and survey records on this page.
Water Temperature
Badger Lake typically sits around 76°F at the surface in August. Summer average is about 74°F. Usually warmest in Aug (about 76°F) and coldest in May (about 59°F). These are typical values by month — not a live reading.
Column height runs from this lake’s coldest month (59°F) to its warmest (76°F).
Typical surface water temperature by month, from 28 field readings (2010–2023) via the EPA Water Quality Portal. See the full Badger Lake water temperature breakdown →
Lake Details
Max depth
~26 ft est.
Surface area
50 acres
Depth marked “est.” is a modeled maximum from GLOBathy (Khazaei et al. 2022, CC0), not a measured survey. Iowa has not published bathymetry for Badger Lake.
Lake Size & Watershed
Watershed (drainage) area
20 sq mi
HydroLAKES / HydroSHEDS
Shoreline
1.7 mi
HydroLAKES / HydroSHEDS
Elevation
1,083 ft
Size, shoreline, and watershed area from HydroLAKES (HydroSHEDS). Mean depth here is modelled, not surveyed — HydroLAKES v1.0 estimates lake depth from surrounding terrain rather than from soundings. Treat it as an approximation, and prefer a state bathymetric survey where one exists.
Stays via Stay22
Stays near Badger Lake
Compare lakeside cabins, hotels, and vacation rentals near Badger Lake in Webster County, Iowa — live availability and prices for your trip. Switch the map to Satellite to see the lake and how close each stay is to the water. The water-quality readings cover nutrients and algae, not lodging. Cabins and rentals around Badger Lake are listed below.
Top-rated places to stay near Badger Lake
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Fishing Badger Lake
Water Quality Trend: Improving
Based on 5 years of monitoring (2020–2024).
Water clarity
Improving5 years
Phosphorus
Worsening+31.8 µg/L/yr4 years
Chlorophyll-a
Improving-5.78 µg/L/yr5 years
Reservoir Info (USACE NID)
Badger Lake is a man-made reservoir impounded by the Badger Lake Dam (completed 1963), built primarily for recreation on the BADGER CREEK; earth-type dam, 35 ft tall and 593 ft long.
- Surface area
- 50 ac
- Normal storage
- 400 ac-ft
- Max storage
- 865 ac-ft
- Drainage area
- 19 sq mi
- Hazard class
- Significant
- Owner
- Webster County Conservation Board
Source: USACE National Inventory of Dams, NID ID IA01156 · Operator website
EPA Impairment Status
Badger Lake is officially listed as impaired under Clean Water Act §303(d) in the 2024 EPA reporting cycle (IR category 5).
Causes of impairment
Designated uses not supporting: Recreation.
Source: EPA ATTAINS assessment unit IA 04-UDM-1291 · Official waterbody report
Regulated Pollution Sources Nearby
3 EPA-permitted facilities operate within about 5 miles of Badger Lake under Clean Water Act (NPDES) discharge permits. 3 facilities have a reported Clean Water Act violation in the past three years.
- Badger City Of StpBadger · 2.7 mi away · NPDES IA0029041Recent violation
- United States Gypsum CompanyFort Dodge · 3.8 mi away · NPDES IA0062359Recent violation
- Elanco Fort DodgeFort Dodge · 4.5 mi away · NPDES IA0070661Recent violation
Facilities permitted to discharge under the Clean Water Act within ~5 miles; proximity does not by itself mean a facility affects this lake. Source: EPA ECHO (ICIS-NPDES), as of 2026-07.
Nearby Lakes in Webster County
Frequently asked questions about Badger Lake
Where is Badger Lake?
- Badger Lake is a lake in Webster County, Iowa. Its water-quality measurements are published by Iowa DNR and shown on this page as reported.
What is the water quality of Badger Lake?
- Badger Lake in Webster County, Iowa has water-quality measurements published by Iowa DNR, shown here as reported. Water clarity: 2.8 ft visibility. Phosphorus: 99.5 µg/L. Chlorophyll-a (algae): 33.3 µg/L. Surface area: 50 acres.
Is Badger Lake safe to swim in?
- Nutrient and algae readings are not a swimming clearance. Badger Lake is listed impaired under Clean Water Act §303(d) (IR 5) for turbidity. Check local advisories before you swim.
What is the water temperature of Badger Lake?
- Badger Lake typically sits around 76°F at the surface in August, from 28 EPA Water Quality Portal field readings (2010–2023). That is a typical value for the month, not a live reading.
How deep is Badger Lake?
- No published bathymetric survey covers Badger Lake, so its depth has not been measured. The HydroLAKES global model estimates an average depth of about 26 feet, but that is a modelled estimate derived from surrounding terrain rather than a measurement on the water, so treat it as approximate. The lake covers 50 acres.
Explore Badger Lake across LakeQuality
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Where this data comes from
59 measurements from 1 monitoring station, 2020–2024. Retrieved from the EPA Water Quality Portal on 2026-08-02.
Collected and reported by
- Iowa DNR Surface Water Monitoring Data
21IOWA_WQX59 samples · 2020–2024
Analytical methods
- Unknown
- Phosphorus by Colorimetry
- 445.0 ~ EPA; Chlorophyll and Pheophytin in Algae by Fluorescence
- In-Vitro Determination of Chlorophyll
- ISU modification of APHA 2130-B
Monitoring station identifiers (1)
EPA condition classes from the National Lakes Assessment (EPA 841-R-24-006, Table 6-3), applied by ecoregion. See where the data comes from and data sources.
Other records on this page
Impairment status from EPA ATTAINS 303(d) database
Regulated discharger data from EPA ECHO (ICIS-NPDES)
Lake size & watershed from HydroLAKES (HydroSHEDS)