Columbia Basin Lake
Cook County, IllinoisView mapDirections
No nutrient or algae sampling on record from Illinois EPA for this lake.
- Impaired · Nutrients (phosphorus, nitrogen)
- Limited data
Columbia Basin Lake in Cook County, Illinois has water-quality measurements published by Illinois EPA, shown here as reported.
Columbia Basin Lake is a lake in Cook County, Illinois. Overall water quality is improving over recent sampling years.
Source: EPA Water Quality Portal sampling records, Illinois EPA, last sampled 2023-05-04. Methodology: how these readings are compared.
Swimming conditions
No readingLimited data
Nutrient and algae readings are not a swimming clearance. Columbia Basin Lake is listed impaired under Clean Water Act §303(d) (IR 5) for nutrients (phosphorus, nitrogen). Check local advisories before you swim.
Whether Columbia Basin Lake is safe to swim in today is a call for the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency and the county health department, who post current advisories. LakeQuality does not issue swimming clearances.
Water quality measurements for Columbia Basin Lake
These are the measurements Illinois EPA publishes for Columbia Basin Lake, shown as reported. The condition class beside each reading is the EPA National Lakes Assessment class for this lake’s ecoregion.
No clarity data.
Ask about Columbia Basin Lake
Answers come straight from the public measurements and survey records on this page.
Stays via Stay22
Stays near Columbia Basin Lake
Compare lakeside cabins, hotels, and vacation rentals near Columbia Basin Lake in Cook County, Illinois — 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.
Top-rated places to stay near Columbia Basin Lake
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Fishing Columbia Basin Lake
Water quality readings over time
2 seasons of samples on record (2020–2021). Calling a direction takes at least 4 years of the same measurement.
Phosphorus
Improving-2 µg/L/yr2 years
Chlorophyll-a
Improving-0.6 µg/L/yr2 years
EPA Impairment Status
Columbia Basin 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: Other.
Source: EPA ATTAINS assessment unit IL_QZE · Official waterbody report
Nearby Lakes in Cook County
Frequently asked questions about Columbia Basin Lake
Where is Columbia Basin Lake?
- Columbia Basin Lake is a lake in Cook County, Illinois. Its water-quality measurements are published by Illinois EPA and shown on this page as reported.
What is the water quality of Columbia Basin Lake?
- Columbia Basin Lake in Cook County, Illinois has water-quality measurements published by Illinois EPA, shown here as reported.
Is Columbia Basin Lake safe to swim in?
- Nutrient and algae readings are not a swimming clearance. Columbia Basin Lake is listed impaired under Clean Water Act §303(d) (IR 5) for nutrients (phosphorus, nitrogen). Check local advisories before you swim.
Explore Columbia Basin Lake across LakeQuality
Planning a trip around Indiana Dunes?
Columbia Basin Lake is about 27 miles from Indiana Dunes National Park. Crowds there swing hard by season, so the month you pick changes both how busy the park is and what lodging costs.
Best time to visit Indiana Dunes →More lakes in Illinois
Other Lakes in Illinois
Where this data comes from
1 measurement from 1 monitoring station, 2023. Retrieved from the EPA Water Quality Portal on 2026-08-02.
Collected and reported by
- USGS Illinois Water Science Center
USGS-IL1 sample · 2023
Analytical methods
- Secchi disk method
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