Crawford Creek Lake
Ida County, Iowa63 acresView mapDirections
Iowa DNR publishes the water-quality measurements for Crawford Creek Lake. Here is what has been measured.
- Hypereutrophic
- Impaired · pH / acidity
- 42 ft max depth
Crawford Creek Lake in Ida County, Iowa has water-quality measurements published by Iowa DNR, shown here as reported. Water clarity: 1.6 ft visibility. Phosphorus: 97 µg/L. Chlorophyll-a (algae): 50.4 µg/L. Surface area: 63 acres.
Free interactive depth-contour map of Crawford Creek Lake, reaching a maximum surveyed depth of 27 ft. Toggle Depth contours to overlay the bathymetric survey lines. Contour data from Iowa DNR.
Crawford Creek Lake is a 63-acre highly nutrient-loaded hypereutrophic lake in Ida County, Iowa with an estimated average depth of about 42 feet. Overall water quality is declining over recent sampling years. Compared to the 1 other monitored lakes in Ida County, Crawford Creek Lake ranks #2 for water quality.
Source: EPA Water Quality Portal sampling records, Iowa DNR, last sampled 2024-09-03. Methodology: how these readings are compared.
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. Crawford Creek Lake is listed impaired under Clean Water Act §303(d) (IR 5) for pH / acidity. Check local advisories before you swim.
Whether Crawford Creek Lake is safe to swim in today is a call for the Iowa Department of Natural Resources and the county health department, who post current advisories. LakeQuality does not issue swimming clearances.
Water quality measurements for Crawford Creek Lake
These are the measurements Iowa DNR publishes for Crawford Creek 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 1.6 ft of visibility. Phosphorus 97 µg/L. Chlorophyll-a 50.4 µg/L. TSI 70.
| Measure | Reading | Where it sits |
|---|---|---|
| Water clarity (Secchi depth) | 1.6ft | Measured, not scored How deep a black-and-white disk stays visible from the surface. Higher is clearer. |
| Total phosphorus | 97µg/L | Poor GoodFairPoor |
| Chlorophyll-a (algae) | 50.4µg/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. | 70 | Hypereutrophic OligotrophicMesotrophicEutrophicHypereutrophic |
Very high nutrients, dense algae, poor clarity
Ask about Crawford Creek Lake
Answers come straight from the public measurements and survey records on this page.
Water Temperature
Crawford Creek Lake typically sits around 77°F at the surface in August. Summer average is about 78°F. Usually warmest in Jul (about 80°F) and coldest in May (about 63°F). These are typical values by month — not a live reading.
Column height runs from this lake’s coldest month (63°F) to its warmest (80°F).
Typical surface water temperature by month, from 29 field readings (2010–2023) via the EPA Water Quality Portal. See the full Crawford Creek Lake water temperature breakdown →
Lake Details
Max depth
~42 ft est.
Surface area
63 acres
Depth marked “est.” is a modeled maximum from GLOBathy (Khazaei et al. 2022, CC0), not a measured survey. Iowa has not published bathymetry for Crawford Creek Lake.
Lake Size & Watershed
Watershed (drainage) area
4 sq mi
HydroLAKES / HydroSHEDS
Shoreline
1.4 mi
HydroLAKES / HydroSHEDS
Elevation
1,253 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.
Stays via Stay22
Stays near Crawford Creek Lake
Compare lakeside cabins, hotels, and vacation rentals near Crawford Creek Lake in Ida County, Iowa — 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 Crawford Creek Lake are listed below.
Top-rated places to stay near Crawford Creek Lake
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Fishing Crawford Creek Lake
Water Quality Trend: Worsening
Based on 5 years of monitoring (2020–2024).
Water clarity
Worsening5 years
Phosphorus
Worsening+52 µg/L/yr4 years
Chlorophyll-a
Improving-5.65 µg/L/yr5 years
Reservoir Info (USACE NID)
Crawford Creek Lake is a man-made reservoir impounded by the Crawford Creek Subwatershed Site M-3 (completed 1976), built primarily for recreation on the CRAWFORD; earth-type dam, 49 ft tall and 980 ft long.
- Surface area
- 63 ac
- Normal storage
- 654 ac-ft
- Max storage
- 1,349 ac-ft
- Drainage area
- 4.01 sq mi
- Hazard class
- Significant
- Owner
- Ida County SWCD
All listed purposes: Recreation;Flood Risk Reduction.
Source: USACE National Inventory of Dams, NID ID IA01851 · Operator website · Matched by proximity (0.07 km)
EPA Impairment Status
Crawford Creek 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: Aquatic life, Recreation.
Source: EPA ATTAINS assessment unit IA 06-LSR-1583 · Official waterbody report
Regulated Pollution Sources Nearby
1 EPA-permitted facility operate within about 5 miles of Crawford Creek Lake under Clean Water Act (NPDES) discharge permits. 1 facility has a reported Clean Water Act violation in the past three years.
- Battle Creek City Of StpBattle Creek · 2.7 mi away · NPDES IA0027855Recent violation
Facilities permitted to discharge under the Clean Water Act within ~5 miles; proximity does not by itself mean a facility affects this lake. Source: EPA ECHO (ICIS-NPDES), as of 2026-07.
Nearby Lakes in Ida County
Frequently asked questions about Crawford Creek Lake
Where is Crawford Creek Lake?
- Crawford Creek Lake is a lake in Ida County, Iowa. Its water-quality measurements are published by Iowa DNR and shown on this page as reported.
What is the water quality of Crawford Creek Lake?
- Crawford Creek Lake in Ida County, Iowa has water-quality measurements published by Iowa DNR, shown here as reported. Water clarity: 1.6 ft visibility. Phosphorus: 97 µg/L. Chlorophyll-a (algae): 50.4 µg/L. Surface area: 63 acres.
Is Crawford Creek Lake safe to swim in?
- Nutrient and algae readings are not a swimming clearance. Crawford Creek Lake is listed impaired under Clean Water Act §303(d) (IR 5) for pH / acidity. Check local advisories before you swim.
What is the water temperature of Crawford Creek Lake?
- Crawford Creek Lake typically sits around 77°F at the surface in August, from 29 EPA Water Quality Portal field readings (2010–2023). That is a typical value for the month, not a live reading.
How deep is Crawford Creek Lake?
- No published bathymetric survey covers Crawford Creek Lake, so its depth has not been measured. The HydroLAKES global model estimates an average depth of about 42 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 63 acres.
Explore Crawford Creek Lake across LakeQuality
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Where this data comes from
62 measurements from 1 monitoring station, 2020–2024. Retrieved from the EPA Water Quality Portal on 2026-08-02.
Collected and reported by
- Iowa DNR Surface Water Monitoring Data
21IOWA_WQX62 samples · 2020–2024
Analytical methods
- Unknown
- Phosphorus by Colorimetry
- 445.0 ~ EPA; Chlorophyll and Pheophytin in Algae by Fluorescence
- In-Vitro Determination of Chlorophyll
- ISU modification of APHA 2130-B
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
Regulated discharger data from EPA ECHO (ICIS-NPDES)
Lake size & watershed from HydroLAKES (HydroSHEDS)