Davis Creek Reservoir
Greeley County, Nebraska1,430 acresView mapDirections
Nebraska DEE publishes the water-quality measurements for Davis Creek Reservoir. Here is what has been measured.
- Mesotrophic
- Impaired · Mercury
- 96 ft max depth
- Public access
- Limited data
Davis Creek Reservoir in Greeley County, Nebraska has water-quality measurements published by Nebraska DEE, shown here as reported. Water clarity: 3.9 ft visibility. Chlorophyll-a (algae): 4.1 µg/L. Surface area: 1430 acres.
Davis Creek Reservoir is a 1,430-acre mesotrophic lake in Greeley County, Nebraska with an estimated average depth of about 96 feet. Water clarity is declining over recent sampling years. Limited fish-species data available. Public access is available.
Source: EPA Water Quality Portal sampling records, NDEE, last sampled 2020-09-17. Methodology: how these readings are compared.
Davis Creek Reservoir covers about 1,400 acres in Greeley County. Vrbo is where to look for cabins and lake homes around Davis Creek Reservoir, and Booking.com and Expedia search hotels near the lake for your dates.
What Davis Creek Reservoir is good for
From access and monitoring records, not editorial picks.
- Camping1 public campground nearby
- Big water1,430 acres
Swimming conditions
Readings onlyLimited data
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. Davis Creek Reservoir is listed impaired under Clean Water Act §303(d) (IR 5) for mercury. Check local advisories before you swim.
Whether Davis Creek Reservoir 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 Davis Creek Reservoir
These are the measurements Nebraska DEE publishes for Davis Creek Reservoir, 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 3.9 ft. Chlorophyll-a 4.1 µg/L. TSI 51.
| Measure | Reading | Where it sits |
|---|---|---|
| Water clarity (Secchi depth) | 3.9ft | 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) | 4.1µg/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. | 51 | Mesotrophic OligotrophicMesotrophicEutrophicHypereutrophic |
Moderate nutrients, good water quality
Ask about Davis Creek Reservoir
Answers come straight from the public measurements and survey records on this page.
Lake Details
Max depth
~96 ft est.
Surface area
1,430 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 Davis Creek Reservoir.
Lake Size & Watershed
Watershed (drainage) area
6 sq mi
HydroLAKES / HydroSHEDS
Shoreline
13.8 mi
HydroLAKES / HydroSHEDS
Elevation
2,064 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 Davis Creek Reservoir
- Davis Creek Recreation Area Campground1.6 km
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 Davis Creek Reservoir
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Top-rated places to stay near Davis Creek Reservoir
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Fishing Davis Creek Reservoir
Water quality readings over time
3 seasons of samples on record (2013–2020). Calling a direction takes at least 4 years of the same measurement.
Water clarity
Worsening3 years
Chlorophyll-a
Improving-1.75 µg/L/yr3 years
Reservoir Info (USACE NID)
Davis Creek Reservoir is a man-made reservoir impounded by the Davis Creek Dam (completed 1990), built primarily for irrigation on the Davis Creek; earth-type dam, 144 ft tall and 3,000 ft long.
- Surface area
- 1,430 ac
- Normal storage
- 31,158 ac-ft
- Max storage
- 44,918 ac-ft
- Drainage area
- 6.48 sq mi
- Hazard class
- High
- Owner
- BUREAU OF RECLAMATION
Source: USACE National Inventory of Dams, NID ID NE02342 · Operator website
EPA Impairment Status
Davis Creek Reservoir 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.
Source: EPA ATTAINS assessment unit NE-LO2-L0015 · Official waterbody report
Nearby Lakes in Greeley County
Frequently asked questions about Davis Creek Reservoir
Where is Davis Creek Reservoir?
- Davis Creek Reservoir is a lake in Greeley County, Nebraska. Its water-quality measurements are published by Nebraska DEE and shown on this page as reported.
What is the water quality of Davis Creek Reservoir?
- Davis Creek Reservoir in Greeley County, Nebraska has water-quality measurements published by Nebraska DEE, shown here as reported. Water clarity: 3.9 ft visibility. Chlorophyll-a (algae): 4.1 µg/L. Surface area: 1430 acres.
Is Davis Creek Reservoir safe to swim in?
- Nutrient and algae readings are not a swimming clearance. Davis Creek Reservoir is listed impaired under Clean Water Act §303(d) (IR 5) for mercury. Check local advisories before you swim.
How deep is Davis Creek Reservoir?
- No published bathymetric survey covers Davis Creek Reservoir, so its depth has not been measured. The HydroLAKES global model estimates an average depth of about 96 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 1430 acres.
Can I fish at Davis Creek Reservoir?
- Public access to Davis Creek Reservoir is listed as yes on the lake record. 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.
Are there campgrounds on Davis Creek Reservoir?
- Davis Creek Reservoir has 1 public campground from USGS The National Map within 5 km, including Davis Creek Recreation Area Campground. 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 Davis Creek Reservoir across LakeQuality
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Where this data comes from
33 measurements from 1 monitoring station, 2013–2020. Retrieved from the EPA Water Quality Portal on 2026-08-02.
Collected and reported by
- Nebraska Department of Environment and Energy
21NEB001_WQX33 samples · 2013–2020
Analytical methods
- 445.0 ~ EPA; Chlorophyll and Pheophytin in Algae by Fluorescence
- 447.0 ~ EPA; Chlorophyll a and b in phytoplankton by HPLC/UV
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)
Public campgrounds from USGS The National Map Structures, within about 3 miles