Goose Creek Lake
Ste. Genevieve County, Missouri379 acresView mapDirections
Missouri DNR publishes the water-quality measurements for Goose Creek Lake. Here is what has been measured.
- Oligotrophic
- 60 ft max depth
Goose Creek Lake in Ste. Genevieve County, Missouri has water-quality measurements published by Missouri DNR, shown here as reported. Water clarity: 9.9 ft visibility. Phosphorus: 9.5 µg/L. Chlorophyll-a (algae): 2 µg/L. Surface area: 379 acres.
Goose Creek Lake is a 379-acre cold, clear oligotrophic lake in Ste. Genevieve County, Missouri with an estimated average depth of about 60 feet. Overall water quality is declining over recent sampling years.
Source: EPA Water Quality Portal sampling records, Missouri DNR, last sampled 2024-08-13. Methodology: how these readings are compared.
Goose Creek Lake covers about 380 acres in Ste. Genevieve County. Vrbo is where to look for cabins and lake homes around Goose Creek Lake, and Booking.com and Expedia search hotels near the lake for your dates.
What Goose Creek Lake is good for
From access and monitoring records, not editorial picks.
- Clear water9.9 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. Check local advisories before you swim.
Whether Goose 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 Goose Creek Lake
These are the measurements Missouri DNR publishes for Goose 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 9.9 ft. Phosphorus 9.5 µg/L. Chlorophyll-a 2 µg/L. TSI 39.
| Measure | Reading | Where it sits |
|---|---|---|
| Water clarity (Secchi depth) | 9.9ft | Measured, not scored How deep a black-and-white disk stays visible from the surface. Higher is clearer. |
| Total phosphorus | 9.5µg/L | Good GoodFairPoor |
| Chlorophyll-a (algae) | 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. | 39 | Oligotrophic OligotrophicMesotrophicEutrophicHypereutrophic |
Low nutrients, clear water. No reading is a swimming clearance.
Ask about Goose Creek Lake
Answers come straight from the public measurements and survey records on this page.
Water Temperature
Goose Creek Lake typically sits around 82°F at the surface in August. Summer average is about 82°F. Usually warmest in Jul (about 83°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 (83°F).
Typical surface water temperature by month, from 12 field readings (2022–2024) via the EPA Water Quality Portal. See the full Goose Creek Lake water temperature breakdown →
Lake Details
Max depth
~60 ft est.
Surface area
379 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 Goose Creek Lake.
Lake Size & Watershed
Watershed (drainage) area
8 sq mi
HydroLAKES / HydroSHEDS
Shoreline
6.2 mi
HydroLAKES / HydroSHEDS
Elevation
748 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 Goose Creek Lake
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Top-rated places to stay near Goose Creek Lake
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Fishing Goose Creek Lake
Water quality readings over time
3 seasons of samples on record (2022–2024). Calling a direction takes at least 4 years of the same measurement.
Water clarity
Worsening2 years
Phosphorus
Stable0 µg/L/yr3 years
Chlorophyll-a
Worsening+0.1 µg/L/yr3 years
Reservoir Info (USACE NID)
Goose Creek Lake is a man-made reservoir impounded by the Goose Creek Lake Dam (completed 1986), built primarily for recreation on the GOOSE CREEK; earth-type dam, 139 ft tall and 1,070 ft long.
- Surface area
- 379 ac
- Normal storage
- 13,782 ac-ft
- Max storage
- 13,782 ac-ft
- Drainage area
- 6.96 sq mi
- Hazard class
- High
- Owner
- GOOSE CREEK LAKE TRUSTEES, INC
Source: USACE National Inventory of Dams, NID ID MO31743 · Operator website
Regulated Pollution Sources Nearby
3 EPA-permitted facilities operate within about 5 miles of Goose Creek Lake under Clean Water Act (NPDES) discharge permits. 3 facilities have a reported Clean Water Act violation in the past three years.
- Goose Creek WwtfFrench Village · 1.2 mi away · NPDES MO0120430Recent violation
- 6100 Building WwtfFrench Village · 2.1 mi away · NPDES MO0125130Recent violation
- Chateau Sainte Genevieve WineryBloomsdale · 2.5 mi away · NPDES MO0140651Recent 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 Ste. Genevieve County
Frequently asked questions about Goose Creek Lake
Where is Goose Creek Lake?
- Goose Creek Lake is a lake in Ste. Genevieve County, Missouri. Its water-quality measurements are published by Missouri DNR and shown on this page as reported.
What is the water quality of Goose Creek Lake?
- Goose Creek Lake in Ste. Genevieve County, Missouri has water-quality measurements published by Missouri DNR, shown here as reported. Water clarity: 9.9 ft visibility. Phosphorus: 9.5 µg/L. Chlorophyll-a (algae): 2 µg/L. Surface area: 379 acres.
Is Goose Creek Lake safe to swim in?
- Nutrient and algae readings are not a swimming clearance. Check local advisories before you swim.
What is the water temperature of Goose Creek Lake?
- Goose Creek Lake typically sits around 82°F at the surface in August, from 12 EPA Water Quality Portal field readings (2022–2024). That is a typical value for the month, not a live reading.
How deep is Goose Creek Lake?
- No published bathymetric survey covers Goose Creek Lake, so its depth has not been measured. The HydroLAKES global model estimates an average depth of about 60 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 379 acres.
Explore Goose Creek Lake across LakeQuality
Depth, room, public access, and the state wake-sport rules
Species activity outlook by water temperature and season
Where to stay at Missouri's top lakes, each with its readings
Missouri's cleanest lakes, ranked on agency measurements
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Where this data comes from
51 measurements from 2 monitoring stations, 2022–2024. Retrieved from the EPA Water Quality Portal on 2026-08-02.
Collected and reported by
- Univ. of Missouri, Columbia
UMC50 samples · 2022–2024 - Missouri Dept. of Natural Resources
MDNR1 sample · 2024
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
- Nitrogen and Phosphorus, Total, Whole-water, Alkaline Persulfate Digest
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
Regulated discharger data from EPA ECHO (ICIS-NPDES)
Lake size & watershed from HydroLAKES (HydroSHEDS)