Fourche Creek Lake
Ripley County, Missouri49 acresView mapDirections
Missouri DNR publishes the water-quality measurements for Fourche Creek Lake. Here is what has been measured.
- Oligotrophic
- Impaired · Algal growth
- 25 ft max depth
Fourche Creek Lake in Ripley County, Missouri has water-quality measurements published by Missouri DNR, shown here as reported. Water clarity: 13.6 ft visibility. Phosphorus: 9.1 µg/L. Chlorophyll-a (algae): 1.2 µg/L. Surface area: 49 acres.
Fourche Creek Lake is a 49-acre cold, clear oligotrophic lake in Ripley County, Missouri with an estimated average depth of about 25 feet. Overall water quality is declining over recent sampling years. Compared to the 1 other monitored lakes in Ripley County, Fourche Creek Lake ranks #1 for water quality.
Source: EPA Water Quality Portal sampling records, Missouri DNR, last sampled 2023-08-16. Methodology: how these readings are compared.
What Fourche Creek Lake is good for
From access and monitoring records, not editorial picks.
- Clear water13.6 ft of visibility
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. Fourche Creek Lake is listed impaired under Clean Water Act §303(d) (IR 5) for algal growth, nutrients (phosphorus, nitrogen). Check local advisories before you swim.
Whether Fourche Creek 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 Fourche Creek Lake
These are the measurements Missouri DNR publishes for Fourche Creek 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 13.6 ft. Phosphorus 9.1 µg/L. Chlorophyll-a 1.2 µg/L. TSI 36.
| Measure | Reading | Where it sits |
|---|---|---|
| Water clarity (Secchi depth) | 13.6ft | Measured, not scored How deep a black-and-white disk stays visible from the surface. Higher is clearer. |
| Total phosphorus | 9.1µg/L | Good GoodFairPoor |
| Chlorophyll-a (algae) | 1.2µg/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. | 36 | Oligotrophic OligotrophicMesotrophicEutrophicHypereutrophic |
Low nutrients, clear water. No reading is a swimming clearance.
Ask about Fourche Creek Lake
Answers come straight from the public measurements and survey records on this page.
Water Temperature
Fourche Creek Lake typically sits around 83°F at the surface in August. Summer average is about 83°F. Usually warmest in Jul (about 84°F) and coldest in Jun (about 81°F). These are typical values by month — not a live reading.
Column height runs from this lake’s coldest month (81°F) to its warmest (84°F).
Typical surface water temperature by month, from 25 field readings (2013–2023) via the EPA Water Quality Portal. See the full Fourche Creek Lake water temperature breakdown →
Lake Details
Max depth
~25 ft est.
Surface area
49 acres
Depth marked “est.” is a modeled maximum from GLOBathy (Khazaei et al. 2022, CC0), not a measured survey. Missouri has not published bathymetry for Fourche Creek Lake.
Lake Size & Watershed
Watershed (drainage) area
8 sq mi
HydroLAKES / HydroSHEDS
Shoreline
1.4 mi
HydroLAKES / HydroSHEDS
Elevation
594 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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Stays near Fourche Creek Lake
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Fishing Fourche Creek Lake
Water quality readings over time
3 seasons of samples on record (2021–2023). Calling a direction takes at least 4 years of the same measurement.
Water clarity
Worsening3 years
Phosphorus
Worsening+2.65 µg/L/yr3 years
Chlorophyll-a
Worsening+0.15 µg/L/yr3 years
Reservoir Info (USACE NID)
Fourche Creek Lake is a man-made reservoir impounded by the Fourche Creek Dam (completed 1975), built primarily for recreation on the FOURCHE CREEK; earth-type dam, 60 ft tall and 1,060 ft long.
- Surface area
- 49 ac
- Normal storage
- 1 ac-ft
- Max storage
- 544 ac-ft
- Drainage area
- 8 sq mi
- Hazard class
- High
- Owner
- USDA FS
All listed purposes: Recreation;Water Supply.
Source: USACE National Inventory of Dams, NID ID MO31227 · Operator website
EPA Impairment Status
Fourche 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.
Source: EPA ATTAINS assessment unit MO_7324.00 · Official waterbody report
Regulated Pollution Sources Nearby
1 EPA-permitted facility operate within about 5 miles of Fourche Creek Lake under Clean Water Act (NPDES) discharge permits. 1 facility has a reported Clean Water Act violation in the past three years.
- Ripley Co R-Iii School District WwtfGatewood · 3.9 mi away · NPDES MO0054941Recent 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 Ripley County
Frequently asked questions about Fourche Creek Lake
Where is Fourche Creek Lake?
- Fourche Creek Lake is a lake in Ripley County, Missouri. Its water-quality measurements are published by Missouri DNR and shown on this page as reported.
What is the water quality of Fourche Creek Lake?
- Fourche Creek Lake in Ripley County, Missouri has water-quality measurements published by Missouri DNR, shown here as reported. Water clarity: 13.6 ft visibility. Phosphorus: 9.1 µg/L. Chlorophyll-a (algae): 1.2 µg/L. Surface area: 49 acres.
Is Fourche Creek Lake safe to swim in?
- Nutrient and algae readings are not a swimming clearance. Fourche Creek Lake is listed impaired under Clean Water Act §303(d) (IR 5) for algal growth, nutrients (phosphorus, nitrogen). Check local advisories before you swim.
What is the water temperature of Fourche Creek Lake?
- Fourche Creek Lake typically sits around 83°F at the surface in August, from 25 EPA Water Quality Portal field readings (2013–2023). That is a typical value for the month, not a live reading.
How deep is Fourche Creek Lake?
- No published bathymetric survey covers Fourche Creek Lake, so its depth has not been measured. The HydroLAKES global model estimates an average depth of about 25 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 49 acres.
Explore Fourche Creek Lake across LakeQuality
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Where this data comes from
60 measurements from 1 monitoring station, 2021–2023. Retrieved from the EPA Water Quality Portal on 2026-08-02.
Collected and reported by
- Univ. of Missouri, Columbia
UMC60 samples · 2021–2023
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
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)