Cedar Bluff Lake
Trego County, Kansas10,790 acresView mapDirections
KDHE publishes the water-quality measurements for Cedar Bluff Lake. Here is what has been measured.
- Eutrophic
- Impaired · Nutrients (phosphorus, nitrogen)
- 81 ft max depth
- Public access
- Limited data
Cedar Bluff Lake in Trego County, Kansas has water-quality measurements published by KDHE, shown here as reported. Water clarity: 5.9 ft visibility. Phosphorus: 20 µg/L. Chlorophyll-a (algae): 12 µg/L. Surface area: 10790 acres.
Cedar Bluff Lake is a 10,790-acre productive, nutrient-rich eutrophic lake in Trego County, Kansas with an estimated average depth of about 81 feet. Overall water quality is declining over recent sampling years. Limited fish-species data available. Public access is available with 4 public boat landings.
Source: EPA Water Quality Portal sampling records, KDHE, last sampled 2018-08-14. Methodology: how these readings are compared.
What Cedar Bluff Lake is good for
From access and monitoring records, not editorial picks.
- Boat launch4 documented ramps
- Big water10,790 acres
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. Cedar Bluff Lake is listed impaired under Clean Water Act §303(d) (IR 4A) for nutrients (phosphorus, nitrogen), salinity / chlorides. Check local advisories before you swim.
Whether Cedar Bluff Lake is safe to swim in today is a call for the Kansas Department of Health and Environment and the county health department, who post current advisories. LakeQuality does not issue swimming clearances.
Water quality measurements for Cedar Bluff Lake
These are the measurements KDHE publishes for Cedar Bluff Lake, shown as reported. The condition class beside each reading is the EPA National Lakes Assessment class for this lake’s ecoregion.
Murky, only visible to about 5.9 ft. Phosphorus 20 µg/L. Chlorophyll-a 12 µg/L. TSI 51.
| Measure | Reading | Where it sits |
|---|---|---|
| Water clarity (Secchi depth) | 5.9ft | Measured, not scored How deep a black-and-white disk stays visible from the surface. Higher is clearer. |
| Total phosphorus | 20µg/L | Measured, not scored The nutrient that most limits algae growth in freshwater. More phosphorus, more algae potential. |
| Chlorophyll-a (algae) | 12µg/L | Fair GoodFairPoor |
| Trophic state (TSI)Carlson's 0–100 index of how much algae a lake can support, from clarity, phosphorus and chlorophyll-a. | 51 | Eutrophic OligotrophicMesotrophicEutrophicHypereutrophic |
High nutrients, frequent algae, reduced clarity
Ask about Cedar Bluff Lake
Answers come straight from the public measurements and survey records on this page.
→ Cedar Bluff Lake water level: the live USGS gauge reading
Lake Details
Max depth
~81 ft est.
Surface area
10,790 acres
Public access
Yes
Listed by KDHE
Depth marked “est.” is a modeled maximum from GLOBathy (Khazaei et al. 2022, CC0), not a measured survey. Kansas has not published bathymetry for Cedar Bluff Lake.
Lake Size & Watershed
Watershed (drainage) area
5,296 sq mi
HydroLAKES / HydroSHEDS
Shoreline
33.3 mi
HydroLAKES / HydroSHEDS
Elevation
2,159 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
- Cedar Bluff-Cove ThreePublic
- Cedar Bluff-ComanchePublic
- Cedar Bluff-OverlandPublic
- Cedar Bluff-Cove OnePublic
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 Cedar Bluff Lake
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Fishing Cedar Bluff Lake
Water quality readings over time
3 seasons of samples on record (2012–2018). Calling a direction takes at least 4 years of the same measurement.
Water clarity
Worsening3 years
Phosphorus
Improving-4.08 µg/L/yr3 years
Chlorophyll-a
Worsening+2.12 µg/L/yr3 years
Reservoir Info (USACE NID)
Cedar Bluff Lake is a man-made reservoir impounded by the Cedar Bluff Dam (completed 1951), built primarily for flood risk reduction on the Smoky Hill River; earth-type dam, 202 ft tall and 12,560 ft long.
- Surface area
- 10,790 ac
- Normal storage
- 185,090 ac-ft
- Max storage
- 717,592 ac-ft
- Drainage area
- 5,530 sq mi
- Hazard class
- High
- Owner
- BUREAU OF RECLAMATION
All listed purposes: Flood Risk Reduction;Irrigation;Fish and Wildlife Pond;Recreation;Water Supply.
Source: USACE National Inventory of Dams, NID ID KS00019 · Operator website
EPA Impairment Status
Cedar Bluff Lake is officially listed as impaired under Clean Water Act §303(d) in the 2024 EPA reporting cycle (IR category 4A).
Causes of impairment
Designated uses not supporting: Drinking water, Aquatic life, Recreation.
A Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) plan has been approved.
Source: EPA ATTAINS assessment unit KS-LM013001 · Official waterbody report
Nearby Lakes in Trego County
Frequently asked questions about Cedar Bluff Lake
Where is Cedar Bluff Lake?
- Cedar Bluff Lake is a lake in Trego County, Kansas. Its water-quality measurements are published by KDHE and shown on this page as reported.
What is the water quality of Cedar Bluff Lake?
- Cedar Bluff Lake in Trego County, Kansas has water-quality measurements published by KDHE, shown here as reported. Water clarity: 5.9 ft visibility. Phosphorus: 20 µg/L. Chlorophyll-a (algae): 12 µg/L. Surface area: 10790 acres.
Is Cedar Bluff Lake safe to swim in?
- Nutrient and algae readings are not a swimming clearance. Cedar Bluff Lake is listed impaired under Clean Water Act §303(d) (IR 4A) for nutrients (phosphorus, nitrogen), salinity / chlorides. Check local advisories before you swim.
How deep is Cedar Bluff Lake?
- No published bathymetric survey covers Cedar Bluff Lake, so its depth has not been measured. The HydroLAKES global model estimates an average depth of about 81 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 10790 acres.
Are there boat ramps on Cedar Bluff Lake?
- Cedar Bluff Lake has 4 documented boat landings in the USGS National Boat Ramps inventory. Named access points include Cedar Bluff-Cove Three, Cedar Bluff-Comanche, Cedar Bluff-Overland, Cedar Bluff-Cove One. Public access is listed as yes.
Can I fish at Cedar Bluff Lake?
- Cedar Bluff Lake has 4 documented boat landings in the USGS National Boat Ramps inventory. Seasons, size and bag limits, and whether you need a license are set by Kansas's fish and wildlife agency, so check its current regulations before you go.
Explore Cedar Bluff Lake across LakeQuality
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Where this data comes from
14 measurements from 1 monitoring station, 2012–2018. Retrieved from the EPA Water Quality Portal on 2026-08-02.
Collected and reported by
- Kansas Department Of Health And Environment
21KAN001_WQX14 samples · 2012–2018
Analytical methods
- Depth, Secchi disk depth
- Phosphorus by Colorimetry
- 10200 H ~ Chlorophyll a-b-c Determination
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