Council Bluff Lake
Iron County, MissouriView mapDirections
Missouri DNR publishes the water-quality measurements for Council Bluff Lake. Here is what has been measured.
- Oligotrophic
- 37 ft max depth
Council Bluff Lake in Iron County, Missouri has water-quality measurements published by Missouri DNR, shown here as reported. Water clarity: 13.1 ft visibility. Phosphorus: 5.7 µg/L. Chlorophyll-a (algae): 1.3 µg/L.
Council Bluff Lake is a cold, clear oligotrophic lake in Iron County, Missouri with an estimated average depth of about 37 feet. Phosphorus level is declining over recent sampling years. Compared to the 1 other monitored lakes in Iron County, Council Bluff Lake ranks #1 for water quality.
Source: EPA Water Quality Portal sampling records, Missouri DNR, last sampled 2025-07-29. Methodology: how these readings are compared.
If you are planning to stay, you can search lake houses and cabins around Council Bluff Lake on Vrbo, or look for a hotel room near the lake on Booking.com or Expedia.
What Council Bluff Lake is good for
From access and monitoring records, not editorial picks.
- Clear water13.1 ft of visibility
- Camping2 public campgrounds nearby
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 Council Bluff Lake is safe to swim in today is a call for the Missouri Department of Natural Resources and the county health department, who post current advisories. LakeQuality does not issue swimming clearances.
Water quality measurements for Council Bluff Lake
These are the measurements Missouri DNR publishes for Council Bluff 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 13.1 ft. Phosphorus 5.7 µg/L. Chlorophyll-a 1.3 µg/L. TSI 34.
| Measure | Reading | Where it sits |
|---|---|---|
| Water clarity (Secchi depth) | 13.1ft | Measured, not scored How deep a black-and-white disk stays visible from the surface. Higher is clearer. |
| Total phosphorus | 5.7µg/L | Good GoodFairPoor |
| Chlorophyll-a (algae) | 1.3µg/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. | 34 | Oligotrophic OligotrophicMesotrophicEutrophicHypereutrophic |
Low nutrients, clear water. No reading is a swimming clearance.
Ask about Council Bluff Lake
Answers come straight from the public measurements and survey records on this page.
Water Temperature
Council Bluff Lake typically sits around 78°F at the surface in September. Summer average is about 81°F. Usually warmest in Jul (about 83°F) and coldest in May (about 73°F). These are typical values by month — not a live reading.
Column height runs from this lake’s coldest month (73°F) to its warmest (83°F).
Typical surface water temperature by month, from 64 field readings (2010–2024) via the EPA Water Quality Portal. See the full Council Bluff Lake water temperature breakdown →
Lake Details
Max depth
~37 ft est.
Depth marked “est.” is a modeled maximum from GLOBathy (Khazaei et al. 2022, CC0), not a measured survey. Missouri has not published bathymetry for Council Bluff Lake.
Lake Size & Watershed
Watershed (drainage) area
13 sq mi
HydroLAKES / HydroSHEDS
Surface area
432 acres
HydroLAKES / HydroSHEDS
Shoreline
8 mi
HydroLAKES / HydroSHEDS
Elevation
1,096 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
Public campgrounds near Council Bluff Lake
- Council Bluff (wbr) Cg2.8 km
- Council Bluff Recreation Area3.8 kmReserve
Nearest public campgrounds in the USGS National Map inventory, within about 3 miles. An empty list means USGS records no campground that close, which is not the same as camping being unavailable. Where the source gives an official reservation link, it is used; the cabin and hotel search does not cover campsites. More camping lakes
Stays via Stay22
Stays near Council Bluff Lake
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Top-rated places to stay near Council Bluff Lake
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Fishing Council Bluff Lake
Water Quality Trend: Stable
Based on 6 years of monitoring (2020–2025).
Water clarity
Stable4 years
Phosphorus
Worsening+2.36 µg/L/yr6 years
Chlorophyll-a
Improving-0.36 µg/L/yr5 years
Reservoir Info (USACE NID)
Council Bluff Lake is a man-made reservoir impounded by the Council Bluff Dam (completed 1981), built primarily for recreation on the BIG RIVER; earth-type dam, 112 ft tall and 485 ft long.
- Hazard class
- High
- Owner
- USDA FS
All listed purposes: Recreation;Fish and Wildlife Pond.
Source: USACE National Inventory of Dams, NID ID MO31755 · Operator website
Nearby Lakes in Iron County
Frequently asked questions about Council Bluff Lake
Where is Council Bluff Lake?
- Council Bluff Lake is a lake in Iron County, Missouri. Its water-quality measurements are published by Missouri DNR and shown on this page as reported.
What is the water quality of Council Bluff Lake?
- Council Bluff Lake in Iron County, Missouri has water-quality measurements published by Missouri DNR, shown here as reported. Water clarity: 13.1 ft visibility. Phosphorus: 5.7 µg/L. Chlorophyll-a (algae): 1.3 µg/L.
Is Council Bluff Lake safe to swim in?
- Nutrient and algae readings are not a swimming clearance. Check local advisories before you swim.
What is the water temperature of Council Bluff Lake?
- Council Bluff Lake typically sits around 78°F at the surface in September, from 64 EPA Water Quality Portal field readings (2010–2024). That is a typical value for the month, not a live reading.
How deep is Council Bluff Lake?
- No published bathymetric survey covers Council Bluff Lake, so its depth has not been measured. The HydroLAKES global model estimates an average depth of about 37 feet, but that is a modelled estimate derived from surrounding terrain rather than a measurement on the water, so treat it as approximate.
Are there campgrounds on Council Bluff Lake?
- Council Bluff Lake has 2 public campgrounds from USGS The National Map within 5 km, including Council Bluff (wbr) Cg, Council Bluff Recreation Area. This is a location join, not a booking. Cabins and hotels are listed separately; campsite reservations use the official link when the source provides one.
Explore Council Bluff Lake across LakeQuality
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Where this data comes from
86 measurements from 2 monitoring stations, 2020–2025. Retrieved from the EPA Water Quality Portal on 2026-08-02.
Collected and reported by
- Univ. of Missouri, Columbia
UMC84 samples · 2020–2024 - Missouri Dept. of Natural Resources
MDNR2 samples · 2021–2025
Analytical methods
- Depth, Secchi disk in meters
- 4500 P E ~ Phosphorus in Water by Colorimetry- Ascorbic Acid Method
- 445.0 ~ EPA; Chlorophyll and Pheophytin in Algae by Fluorescence
- Nitrogen and Phosphorus, Total, Whole-water, Alkaline Persulfate Digest
Monitoring station identifiers (2)
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)
Public campgrounds from USGS The National Map Structures, within about 3 miles