Cub Creek Lake
Jefferson County, Nebraska41 acresView mapDirections
Nebraska DEE publishes the water-quality measurements for Cub Creek Lake. Here is what has been measured.
- Impaired · Nutrients (phosphorus, nitrogen)
- 36 ft max depth
- Public access
- Limited data
Cub Creek Lake in Jefferson County, Nebraska has water-quality measurements published by Nebraska DEE, shown here as reported. Water clarity: 0.2 ft visibility. Chlorophyll-a (algae): 5.6 µg/L. Surface area: 41 acres.
Cub Creek Lake is a 41-acre lake in Jefferson County, Nebraska with an estimated average depth of about 36 feet. Limited fish-species data available. Public access is available with 1 public boat landing.
Source: EPA Water Quality Portal sampling records, NDEE, last sampled 2012-09-10. Methodology: how these readings are compared.
What Cub Creek Lake is good for
From access and monitoring records, not editorial picks.
- Boat launch1 documented ramp
Swimming conditions
No readingBacteria advisory
Nutrient and algae readings are not a swimming clearance. Cub Creek Lake is listed impaired under Clean Water Act §303(d) (IR 5) for nutrients (phosphorus, nitrogen), pathogens (E. coli, fecal). Check local advisories before you swim.
Whether Cub Creek 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 Cub Creek Lake
These are the measurements Nebraska DEE publishes for Cub 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 0.2 ft of visibility. Chlorophyll-a 5.6 µg/L. TSI 75.
| Measure | Reading | Where it sits |
|---|---|---|
| Water clarity (Secchi depth) | 0.2ft | Measured, not scored How deep a black-and-white disk stays visible from the surface. Higher is clearer. |
| Total phosphorus | No reading The nutrient that most limits algae growth in freshwater. More phosphorus, more algae potential. | |
| Chlorophyll-a (algae) | 5.6µg/L | Measured, not scored The green pigment in algae — a direct measure of how much algae is in the water. |
| Trophic state (TSI)Carlson's 0–100 index of how much algae a lake can support, from clarity, phosphorus and chlorophyll-a. | 75 | Hypereutrophic OligotrophicMesotrophicEutrophicHypereutrophic |
Very high nutrients, dense algae, poor clarity
Ask about Cub Creek Lake
Answers come straight from the public measurements and survey records on this page.
Lake Details
Max depth
~36 ft est.
Surface area
41 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 Cub Creek Lake.
Lake Size & Watershed
Watershed (drainage) area
4 sq mi
HydroLAKES / HydroSHEDS
Shoreline
1.4 mi
HydroLAKES / HydroSHEDS
Elevation
1,375 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
- 12A - Recreation AreaPublic
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 Cub Creek Lake
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Fishing Cub Creek Lake
Reservoir Info (USACE NID)
Cub Creek Lake is a man-made reservoir impounded by the Cub Creek 12-A (completed 1970), built primarily for flood risk reduction on the Tr-Cub Creek; earth-type dam, 37 ft tall and 1,090 ft long.
- Surface area
- 41 ac
- Normal storage
- 235 ac-ft
- Max storage
- 1,201 ac-ft
- Drainage area
- 3.4 sq mi
- Hazard class
- Low
- Owner
- Lower Big Blue Natural Resources District
Source: USACE National Inventory of Dams, NID ID NE00132 · Operator website · Matched by proximity (0.2 km)
EPA Impairment Status
Cub Creek 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, Recreation.
Source: EPA ATTAINS assessment unit NE-BB1-L0080 · Official waterbody report
Nearby Lakes in Jefferson County
Frequently asked questions about Cub Creek Lake
Where is Cub Creek Lake?
- Cub Creek Lake is a lake in Jefferson County, Nebraska. Its water-quality measurements are published by Nebraska DEE and shown on this page as reported.
What is the water quality of Cub Creek Lake?
- Cub Creek Lake in Jefferson County, Nebraska has water-quality measurements published by Nebraska DEE, shown here as reported. Water clarity: 0.2 ft visibility. Chlorophyll-a (algae): 5.6 µg/L. Surface area: 41 acres.
Is Cub Creek Lake safe to swim in?
- Nutrient and algae readings are not a swimming clearance. Cub Creek Lake is listed impaired under Clean Water Act §303(d) (IR 5) for nutrients (phosphorus, nitrogen), pathogens (E. coli, fecal). Check local advisories before you swim.
How deep is Cub Creek Lake?
- No published bathymetric survey covers Cub Creek Lake, so its depth has not been measured. The HydroLAKES global model estimates an average depth of about 36 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 41 acres.
Are there boat ramps on Cub Creek Lake?
- Cub Creek Lake has 1 documented boat landing in the USGS National Boat Ramps inventory. Named access points include 12A - Recreation Area. Public access is listed as yes.
Can I fish at Cub Creek Lake?
- Cub Creek 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
8 measurements from 2 monitoring stations, 2012. Retrieved from the EPA Water Quality Portal on 2026-08-02.
Collected and reported by
- Nebraska Department of Environment and Energy
21NEB001_WQX8 samples · 2012
Analytical methods
- 445.0 ~ EPA; Chlorophyll and Pheophytin in Algae by Fluorescence
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
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