Burchard Lake
Pawnee County, Nebraska144 acresView mapDirections
Nebraska DEE publishes the water-quality measurements for Burchard Lake. Here is what has been measured.
- Hypereutrophic
- Impaired · Algal growth
- 24 ft max depth
- Public access
Burchard Lake in Pawnee County, Nebraska has water-quality measurements published by Nebraska DEE, shown here as reported. Water clarity: 1.9 ft visibility. Phosphorus: 114 µg/L. Chlorophyll-a (algae): 65.3 µg/L. Surface area: 144 acres.
Burchard Lake is a 144-acre highly nutrient-loaded hypereutrophic lake in Pawnee County, Nebraska with an estimated average depth of about 24 feet. Overall water quality is declining over recent sampling years. Limited fish-species data available. Public access is available with 1 public boat landing.
Source: EPA Water Quality Portal sampling records, NDEE, last sampled 2024-09-11. Methodology: how these readings are compared.
Burchard Lake covers about 140 acres in Pawnee County. It has one public boat landing. For a place on the water, look through cabin and lake-house rentals near Burchard Lake on Vrbo. For a hotel or motel room, Booking.com and Expedia both search around the lake.
What Burchard Lake is good for
From access and monitoring records, not editorial picks.
- Boat launch1 documented ramp
Swimming conditions
Readings onlyAlgae risk
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. Burchard Lake is listed impaired under Clean Water Act §303(d) (IR 5) for algal growth, mercury, nutrients (phosphorus, nitrogen), oxygen depletion (low DO), pH / acidity. Check local advisories before you swim.
Whether Burchard Lake is safe to swim in today is a call for the Nebraska Department of Environment and Energy and the county health department, who post current advisories. LakeQuality does not issue swimming clearances.
Water quality measurements for Burchard Lake
These are the measurements Nebraska DEE publishes for Burchard 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 1.9 ft of visibility. Phosphorus 114 µg/L. Chlorophyll-a 65.3 µg/L. TSI 71.
| Measure | Reading | Where it sits |
|---|---|---|
| Water clarity (Secchi depth) | 1.9ft | Measured, not scored How deep a black-and-white disk stays visible from the surface. Higher is clearer. |
| Total phosphorus | 114µg/L | Poor GoodFairPoor |
| Chlorophyll-a (algae) | 65.3µg/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. | 71 | Hypereutrophic OligotrophicMesotrophicEutrophicHypereutrophic |
Very high nutrients, dense algae, poor clarity
Ask about Burchard Lake
Answers come straight from the public measurements and survey records on this page.
Lake Details
Max depth
~24 ft est.
Surface area
144 acres
Public access
Yes
Listed by Nebraska DEE
Depth marked “est.” is a modeled maximum from GLOBathy (Khazaei et al. 2022, CC0), not a measured survey. Nebraska has not published bathymetry for Burchard Lake.
Lake Size & Watershed
Watershed (drainage) area
2 sq mi
HydroLAKES / HydroSHEDS
Shoreline
2.6 mi
HydroLAKES / HydroSHEDS
Elevation
1,322 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
- Burchard Lake Wildlife Management AreaPublic
Named access points in the USGS National Boat Ramps inventory, within about 3 miles. More lakes with boat ramps
Stays via Stay22
Stays near Burchard Lake
Compare lakeside cabins, hotels, and vacation rentals near Burchard Lake in Pawnee County, Nebraska — 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 Burchard Lake are listed below.
Top-rated places to stay near Burchard Lake
Prices for Oct 30–Nov 1, 4 adults. Change dates on the map below.
Availability and prices from Stay22 partners (Booking.com, Vrbo, Expedia). We may earn a commission from bookings, at no extra cost to you.
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Fishing Burchard Lake
Water Quality Trend: Worsening
Based on 10 years of monitoring (2015–2024).
Water clarity
Worsening10 years
Phosphorus
Worsening+57.82 µg/L/yr4 years
Chlorophyll-a
Worsening+1.58 µg/L/yr10 years
Reservoir Info (USACE NID)
Burchard Lake is a man-made reservoir impounded by the Burchard Lake Dam (completed 1959), built primarily for recreation on the Tr-Turkey Creek; earth-type dam, 52 ft tall and 1,065 ft long.
- Surface area
- 144 ac
- Normal storage
- 1,796 ac-ft
- Max storage
- 2,958.4 ac-ft
- Drainage area
- 3.8 sq mi
- Hazard class
- Significant
- Owner
- Nebraska Game & Parks Commission
Source: USACE National Inventory of Dams, NID ID NE00760 · Operator website
EPA Impairment Status
Burchard Lake is officially listed as impaired under Clean Water Act §303(d) in the 2022 EPA reporting cycle (IR category 5).
Causes of impairment
Designated uses not supporting: Aquatic life.
Source: EPA ATTAINS assessment unit NE-NE2-L0120 · Official waterbody report
Nearby Lakes in Pawnee County
Frequently asked questions about Burchard Lake
Where is Burchard Lake?
- Burchard Lake is a lake in Pawnee County, Nebraska. Its water-quality measurements are published by Nebraska DEE and shown on this page as reported.
What is the water quality of Burchard Lake?
- Burchard Lake in Pawnee County, Nebraska has water-quality measurements published by Nebraska DEE, shown here as reported. Water clarity: 1.9 ft visibility. Phosphorus: 114 µg/L. Chlorophyll-a (algae): 65.3 µg/L. Surface area: 144 acres.
Is Burchard Lake safe to swim in?
- Nutrient and algae readings are not a swimming clearance. Burchard Lake is listed impaired under Clean Water Act §303(d) (IR 5) for algal growth, mercury, nutrients (phosphorus, nitrogen), oxygen depletion (low DO), pH / acidity. Check local advisories before you swim.
How deep is Burchard Lake?
- No published bathymetric survey covers Burchard Lake, so its depth has not been measured. The HydroLAKES global model estimates an average depth of about 24 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 144 acres.
Are there boat ramps on Burchard Lake?
- Burchard Lake has 1 documented boat landing in the USGS National Boat Ramps inventory. Named access points include Burchard Lake Wildlife Management Area. Public access is listed as yes.
Can I fish at Burchard Lake?
- Burchard 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 Nebraska's fish and wildlife agency, so check its current regulations before you go.
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Where this data comes from
138 measurements from 1 monitoring station, 2015–2024. Retrieved from the EPA Water Quality Portal on 2026-08-02.
Collected and reported by
- Nebraska Department of Environment and Energy
21NEB001_WQX138 samples · 2015–2024
Analytical methods
- Total Phosphorus After Block Digestion
- 447.0 ~ EPA; Chlorophyll a and b in phytoplankton by HPLC/UV
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)
Named boat-access points from the USGS National Boat Ramps inventory