Beaver Lake
Logan County, North Dakota953 acresView mapDirections
ND DEQ publishes the water-quality measurements for Beaver Lake. Here is what has been measured.
- Eutrophic
- Impaired · Nutrients (phosphorus, nitrogen)
- 26 ft max depth
- Public access
- Limited data
Beaver Lake in Logan County, North Dakota has water-quality measurements published by ND DEQ, shown here as reported. Water clarity: 1.4 ft visibility. Phosphorus: 112.5 µg/L. Chlorophyll-a (algae): 4.8 µg/L. Surface area: 953.1 acres.
Beaver Lake is a 953-acre productive, nutrient-rich eutrophic lake in Logan County, North Dakota with an estimated average depth of about 26 feet. Limited fish-species data available. Public access is available with 1 public boat landing.
Source: EPA Water Quality Portal sampling records, NDDEQ, last sampled 2024-10-01. Methodology: how these readings are compared.
What Beaver Lake is good for
From access and monitoring records, not editorial picks.
- Boat launch1 documented ramp
Swimming conditions
Readings onlyLimited data
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. Beaver Lake is listed impaired under Clean Water Act §303(d) (IR 5) for nutrients (phosphorus, nitrogen), oxygen depletion (low DO), sediment / turbidity. Check local advisories before you swim.
Whether Beaver Lake is safe to swim in today is a call for the North Dakota Department of Environmental Quality and the county health department, who post current advisories. LakeQuality does not issue swimming clearances.
Water quality measurements for Beaver Lake
These are the measurements ND DEQ publishes for Beaver 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 1.4 ft of visibility. Phosphorus 112.5 µg/L. Chlorophyll-a 4.8 µg/L. TSI 63.
| Measure | Reading | Where it sits |
|---|---|---|
| Water clarity (Secchi depth) | 1.4ft | Measured, not scored How deep a black-and-white disk stays visible from the surface. Higher is clearer. |
| Total phosphorus | 113µg/L | Measured, not scored The nutrient that most limits algae growth in freshwater. More phosphorus, more algae potential. |
| Chlorophyll-a (algae) | 4.8µg/L | Measured, not scored The green pigment in algae — a direct measure of how much algae is in the water. |
| Trophic state (TSI)Carlson's 0–100 index of how much algae a lake can support, from clarity, phosphorus and chlorophyll-a. | 63 | Eutrophic OligotrophicMesotrophicEutrophicHypereutrophic |
High nutrients, frequent algae, reduced clarity
Ask about Beaver Lake
Answers come straight from the public measurements and survey records on this page.
Lake Details
Max depth
~26 ft est.
Surface area
953 acres
Public access
Yes
Listed by ND DEQ
Depth marked “est.” is a modeled maximum from GLOBathy (Khazaei et al. 2022, CC0), not a measured survey. North Dakota has not published bathymetry for Beaver Lake.
Lake Size & Watershed
Watershed (drainage) area
219 sq mi
HydroLAKES / HydroSHEDS
Shoreline
7 mi
HydroLAKES / HydroSHEDS
Elevation
1,952 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.
Recreation & Access
- Beaver LakePublic
Named access points in the USGS National Boat Ramps inventory, within about 3 miles. More lakes with boat ramps
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Stays near Beaver Lake
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Top-rated places to stay near Beaver Lake
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Fishing Beaver Lake
Reservoir Info (USACE NID)
Beaver Lake is a man-made reservoir impounded by the Beaver Lake Dam (completed 1934), built primarily for recreation on the Beaver Creek; earth-type dam, 10 ft tall and 562 ft long.
- Surface area
- 953.1 ac
- Normal storage
- 5,319 ac-ft
- Max storage
- 5,319 ac-ft
- Drainage area
- 179 sq mi
- Hazard class
- Low
- Owner
- Logan County WRB
Source: USACE National Inventory of Dams, NID ID ND00368 · Operator website
EPA Impairment Status
Beaver Lake is officially listed as impaired under Clean Water Act §303(d) in the 2022 EPA reporting cycle (IR category 5).
Causes of impairment
Source: EPA ATTAINS assessment unit ND-10130104-001-L_00 · Official waterbody report
Nearby Lakes in Logan County
Frequently asked questions about Beaver Lake
Where is Beaver Lake?
- Beaver Lake is a lake in Logan County, North Dakota. Its water-quality measurements are published by ND DEQ and shown on this page as reported.
What is the water quality of Beaver Lake?
- Beaver Lake in Logan County, North Dakota has water-quality measurements published by ND DEQ, shown here as reported. Water clarity: 1.4 ft visibility. Phosphorus: 112.5 µg/L. Chlorophyll-a (algae): 4.8 µg/L. Surface area: 953.1 acres.
Is Beaver Lake safe to swim in?
- Nutrient and algae readings are not a swimming clearance. Beaver Lake is listed impaired under Clean Water Act §303(d) (IR 5) for nutrients (phosphorus, nitrogen), oxygen depletion (low DO), sediment / turbidity. Check local advisories before you swim.
How deep is Beaver Lake?
- No published bathymetric survey covers Beaver 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 953.1 acres.
Are there boat ramps on Beaver Lake?
- Beaver Lake has 1 documented boat landing in the USGS National Boat Ramps inventory. Named access points include Beaver Lake. Public access is listed as yes.
Can I fish at Beaver Lake?
- Beaver Lake has 1 documented boat landing in the USGS National Boat Ramps inventory. Seasons, size and bag limits, and whether you need a license are set by North Dakota's fish and wildlife agency, so check its current regulations before you go.
Explore Beaver Lake across LakeQuality
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Where this data comes from
20 measurements from 1 monitoring station, 2024. Retrieved from the EPA Water Quality Portal on 2026-08-02.
Collected and reported by
- North Dakota Department Of Environmental Quality
21NDHDWQ_WQX20 samples · 2024
Analytical methods
- Phosphorus by Colorimetry
- 447.0 ~ EPA; Chlorophyll a and b in phytoplankton by HPLC/UV
- 4500 NO3 E ~ Nitrate in Water- Cadmium Reduction
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
Lake size & watershed from HydroLAKES (HydroSHEDS)
Depth, fish, and access data from North Dakota Game & Fish
Named boat-access points from the USGS National Boat Ramps inventory