Bamber Lake
Olmsted County, MinnesotaView mapDirections
Minnesota PCA publishes the water-quality measurements for Bamber Lake. Here is what has been measured.
- Mesotrophic
- 26 ft max depth
Bamber Lake in Olmsted County, Minnesota has water-quality measurements published by Minnesota PCA, shown here as reported. Water clarity: 14.1 ft visibility. Phosphorus: 11 µg/L. Chlorophyll-a (algae): 4.4 µg/L.
Bamber Lake is a mesotrophic lake in Olmsted County, Minnesota with an estimated average depth of about 26 feet. Overall water quality is improving over recent sampling years. Limited fish-species data available. No public access — the lake is private or restricted. Compared to the 1 other monitored lakes in Olmsted County, Bamber Lake ranks #1 for water quality.
Source: EPA Water Quality Portal sampling records, Minnesota DNR LakeFinder, last sampled 2025-07-01. Methodology: how these readings are compared.
For a place on the water, look through cabin and lake-house rentals near Bamber Lake on Vrbo. For a hotel or motel room, Booking.com and Expedia both search around the lake.
What Bamber Lake is good for
From access and monitoring records, not editorial picks.
- Clear water14.1 ft of visibility
Swimming conditions
Readings onlyLow algae
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. Check local advisories before you swim.
Whether Bamber Lake is safe to swim in today is a call for the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency and the Minnesota DNR and the county health department, who post current advisories. LakeQuality does not issue swimming clearances.
Water quality measurements for Bamber Lake
These are the measurements Minnesota PCA publishes for Bamber Lake, shown as reported. The condition class beside each reading is the EPA National Lakes Assessment class for this lake’s ecoregion.
Good clarity, visible to about 14.1 ft. Phosphorus 11 µg/L. Chlorophyll-a 4.4 µg/L. TSI 41.
| Measure | Reading | Where it sits |
|---|---|---|
| Water clarity (Secchi depth) | 14.1ft | Measured, not scored How deep a black-and-white disk stays visible from the surface. Higher is clearer. |
| Total phosphorus | 11µg/L | Good GoodFairPoor |
| Chlorophyll-a (algae) | 4.4µg/L | Good GoodFairPoor |
| Trophic state (TSI)Carlson's 0–100 index of how much algae a lake can support, from clarity, phosphorus and chlorophyll-a. | 41 | Mesotrophic OligotrophicMesotrophicEutrophicHypereutrophic |
Moderate nutrients, good water quality
Ask about Bamber Lake
Answers come straight from the public measurements and survey records on this page.
Lake Details
Max depth
~26 ft est.
Public access
No
Listed by Minnesota PCA
Depth marked “est.” is a modeled maximum from GLOBathy (Khazaei et al. 2022, CC0), not a measured survey. Minnesota has not published bathymetry for Bamber Lake.
Lake Size & Watershed
Watershed (drainage) area
155 sq mi
HydroLAKES / HydroSHEDS
Surface area
32 acres
HydroLAKES / HydroSHEDS
Shoreline
1.2 mi
HydroLAKES / HydroSHEDS
Elevation
994 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 Bamber Lake
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Top-rated places to stay near Bamber Lake
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Fishing Bamber Lake
Water Quality Trend: Improving
Based on 6 years of monitoring (2020–2025).
Water clarity
Improving5 years
Phosphorus
Stable+0.06 µg/L/yr6 years
Chlorophyll-a
Improving-0.44 µg/L/yr6 years
Nearby Lakes in Olmsted County
Frequently asked questions about Bamber Lake
Where is Bamber Lake?
- Bamber Lake is a lake in Olmsted County, Minnesota. Its water-quality measurements are published by Minnesota PCA and shown on this page as reported.
What is the water quality of Bamber Lake?
- Bamber Lake in Olmsted County, Minnesota has water-quality measurements published by Minnesota PCA, shown here as reported. Water clarity: 14.1 ft visibility. Phosphorus: 11 µg/L. Chlorophyll-a (algae): 4.4 µg/L.
Is Bamber Lake safe to swim in?
- Nutrient and algae readings are not a swimming clearance. Check local advisories before you swim.
How deep is Bamber Lake?
- No published bathymetric survey covers Bamber 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.
Can I fish at Bamber Lake?
- Public access to Bamber Lake is listed as no on the lake record, so confirm before you make the trip. Seasons, size and bag limits, and whether you need a license are set by Minnesota's fish and wildlife agency, so check its current regulations before you go.
Explore Bamber Lake across LakeQuality
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Species activity outlook by water temperature and season
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Where this data comes from
69 measurements from 3 monitoring stations, 2020–2025. Retrieved from the EPA Water Quality Portal on 2026-08-02.
Collected and reported by
- Minnesota Pollution Control Agency - Ambient Surface Water
MNPCA69 samples · 2020–2025
Analytical methods
- Field measurement/observation, generic method
- Phosphorus by Two Reagent Colorimetry
- 10200 H ~ Chlorophyll a-b-c Determination
Monitoring station identifiers (3)
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
Lake size & watershed from HydroLAKES (HydroSHEDS)
Lake details from Minnesota DNR LakeFinder