Fort Scott City Lake
Bourbon County, Kansas349 acresView mapDirections
KDHE publishes the water-quality measurements for Fort Scott City Lake. Here is what has been measured.
- Impaired · Nutrients (phosphorus, nitrogen)
- 39 ft max depth
- Public access
- Limited data
Fort Scott City Lake in Bourbon County, Kansas has water-quality measurements published by KDHE, shown here as reported. Water clarity: 4.3 ft visibility. Phosphorus: 20 µg/L. Chlorophyll-a (algae): 16 µg/L. Surface area: 349 acres.
Fort Scott City Lake is a 349-acre lake in Bourbon County, Kansas with an estimated average depth of about 39 feet. Limited fish-species data available. Public access is available.
Source: EPA Water Quality Portal sampling records, KDHE, last sampled 2015-08-24. Methodology: how these readings are compared.
Swimming conditions
No readingLimited data
Nutrient and algae readings are not a swimming clearance. Fort Scott City Lake is listed impaired under Clean Water Act §303(d) (IR 5) for nutrients (phosphorus, nitrogen). Check local advisories before you swim.
Whether Fort Scott City Lake is safe to swim in today is a call for the Kansas Department of Health and Environment and the county health department, who post current advisories. LakeQuality does not issue swimming clearances.
Water quality measurements for Fort Scott City Lake
These are the measurements KDHE publishes for Fort Scott City Lake, 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 4.3 ft. Phosphorus 20 µg/L. Chlorophyll-a 16 µg/L. TSI 54.
| Measure | Reading | Where it sits |
|---|---|---|
| Water clarity (Secchi depth) | 4.3ft | Measured, not scored How deep a black-and-white disk stays visible from the surface. Higher is clearer. |
| Total phosphorus | 20µg/L | Measured, not scored The nutrient that most limits algae growth in freshwater. More phosphorus, more algae potential. |
| Chlorophyll-a (algae) | 16µg/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. | 54 | Eutrophic OligotrophicMesotrophicEutrophicHypereutrophic |
High nutrients, frequent algae, reduced clarity
Ask about Fort Scott City Lake
Answers come straight from the public measurements and survey records on this page.
Lake Details
Max depth
~39 ft est.
Surface area
349 acres
Public access
Yes
Listed by KDHE
Depth marked “est.” is a modeled maximum from GLOBathy (Khazaei et al. 2022, CC0), not a measured survey. Kansas has not published bathymetry for Fort Scott City Lake.
Lake Size & Watershed
Watershed (drainage) area
14 sq mi
HydroLAKES / HydroSHEDS
Shoreline
5.1 mi
HydroLAKES / HydroSHEDS
Elevation
879 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.
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Fishing Fort Scott City Lake
Reservoir Info (USACE NID)
Fort Scott City Lake is a man-made reservoir impounded by the Ft Scott Municipal Dam (completed 1959), built primarily for water supply on the Rock Creek; earth-type dam, 62 ft tall and 1,420 ft long.
- Surface area
- 349 ac
- Normal storage
- 6,691 ac-ft
- Max storage
- 11,010 ac-ft
- Drainage area
- 11.7 sq mi
- Hazard class
- High
- Owner
- FORT SCOTT, CITY OF
All listed purposes: Water Supply;Recreation.
Source: USACE National Inventory of Dams, NID ID KS02455 · Operator website · Matched by proximity (0.17 km)
EPA Impairment Status
Fort Scott City 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.
Source: EPA ATTAINS assessment unit KS-LM045001 · Official waterbody report
Nearby Lakes in Bourbon County
Frequently asked questions about Fort Scott City Lake
Where is Fort Scott City Lake?
- Fort Scott City Lake is a lake in Bourbon County, Kansas. Its water-quality measurements are published by KDHE and shown on this page as reported.
What is the water quality of Fort Scott City Lake?
- Fort Scott City Lake in Bourbon County, Kansas has water-quality measurements published by KDHE, shown here as reported. Water clarity: 4.3 ft visibility. Phosphorus: 20 µg/L. Chlorophyll-a (algae): 16 µg/L. Surface area: 349 acres.
Is Fort Scott City Lake safe to swim in?
- Nutrient and algae readings are not a swimming clearance. Fort Scott City Lake is listed impaired under Clean Water Act §303(d) (IR 5) for nutrients (phosphorus, nitrogen). Check local advisories before you swim.
How deep is Fort Scott City Lake?
- No published bathymetric survey covers Fort Scott City Lake, so its depth has not been measured. The HydroLAKES global model estimates an average depth of about 39 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 349 acres.
Can I fish at Fort Scott City Lake?
- Public access to Fort Scott City Lake is listed as yes on the lake record. Seasons, size and bag limits, and whether you need a license are set by Kansas's fish and wildlife agency, so check its current regulations before you go.
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Where this data comes from
5 measurements from 1 monitoring station, 2015. Retrieved from the EPA Water Quality Portal on 2026-08-02.
Collected and reported by
- Kansas Department Of Health And Environment
21KAN001_WQX5 samples · 2015
Analytical methods
- Depth, Secchi disk depth
- Phosphorus by Colorimetry
- 10200 H ~ Chlorophyll a-b-c Determination
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)