Hastings Lake
Lake County, IllinoisView mapDirections
Illinois EPA publishes the water-quality measurements for Hastings Lake. Here is what has been measured.
- Impaired · Nutrients (phosphorus, nitrogen)
- 20 ft max depth
- Limited data
Hastings Lake in Lake County, Illinois has water-quality measurements published by Illinois EPA, shown here as reported. Water clarity: 3.4 ft visibility.
Hastings Lake is a lake in Lake County, Illinois with an estimated average depth of about 20 feet. Overall water quality is declining over recent sampling years.
Source: EPA Water Quality Portal sampling records, Illinois EPA, last sampled 2021-07-26. Methodology: how these readings are compared.
Vrbo is where to look for cabins and lake homes around Hastings Lake, and Booking.com and Expedia search hotels near the lake for your dates.
Swimming conditions
No readingBacteria advisory
Nutrient and algae readings are not a swimming clearance. Hastings 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 Hastings Lake is safe to swim in today is a call for the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency and the county health department, who post current advisories. LakeQuality does not issue swimming clearances.
Water quality measurements for Hastings Lake
These are the measurements Illinois EPA publishes for Hastings 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 3.4 ft. TSI 59.
| Measure | Reading | Where it sits |
|---|---|---|
| Water clarity (Secchi depth) | 3.4ft | 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) | No reading 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. | 59 | Eutrophic OligotrophicMesotrophicEutrophicHypereutrophic |
High nutrients, frequent algae, reduced clarity
Ask about Hastings Lake
Answers come straight from the public measurements and survey records on this page.
Water Temperature
Hastings Lake typically sits around 53°F at the surface in October. Summer average is about 72°F. Usually warmest in Jul (about 76°F) and coldest in Oct (about 53°F). These are typical values by month — not a live reading.
Column height runs from this lake’s coldest month (53°F) to its warmest (76°F).
Typical surface water temperature by month, from 133 field readings (2012–2021) via the EPA Water Quality Portal. See the full Hastings Lake water temperature breakdown →
Lake Details
Max depth
~20 ft est.
Depth marked “est.” is a modeled maximum from GLOBathy (Khazaei et al. 2022, CC0), not a measured survey. Illinois has not published bathymetry for Hastings Lake.
Lake Size & Watershed
Watershed (drainage) area
11 sq mi
HydroLAKES / HydroSHEDS
Surface area
72 acres
HydroLAKES / HydroSHEDS
Shoreline
1.4 mi
HydroLAKES / HydroSHEDS
Elevation
771 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 Hastings Lake
Compare lakeside cabins, hotels, and vacation rentals near Hastings Lake in Lake County, Illinois — live availability and prices for your trip. Switch the map to Satellite to see the lake and how close each stay is to the water.
Top-rated places to stay near Hastings Lake
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Fishing Hastings Lake
Water quality readings over time
2 seasons of samples on record (2020–2021). Calling a direction takes at least 4 years of the same measurement.
Water clarity
Worsening2 years
Reservoir Info (USACE NID)
Hastings Lake is a man-made reservoir impounded by the Lake Linden Dam (completed 1955), built primarily for recreation on the TRIB HASTINGS LAKE; earth-type dam, 10 ft tall and 600 ft long.
- Normal storage
- 39 ac-ft
- Max storage
- 169 ac-ft
- Hazard class
- Low
- Owner
- MORTON ENGEL
Source: USACE National Inventory of Dams, NID ID IL00646 · Operator website · Matched by proximity (0.83 km)
EPA Impairment Status
Hastings 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: Recreation, Other.
Source: EPA ATTAINS assessment unit IL_RGZB · Official waterbody report
Regulated Pollution Sources Nearby
3 EPA-permitted facilities operate within about 5 miles of Hastings Lake under Clean Water Act (NPDES) discharge permits, including 2 classified by the EPA as major dischargers. 2 facilities have a reported Clean Water Act violation in the past three years.
- Lindenhurst Sd StpLindenhurst · 0.5 mi away · NPDES IL0020796MajorRecent violation
- Lcdpw - Mill Creek WrfOld Mill Creek · 4.4 mi away · NPDES IL0071366MajorRecent violation
- Illinois Cattle Feeders, Inc.Lake Villa · 2.3 mi away · NPDES IL0035947
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 Lake County
Frequently asked questions about Hastings Lake
Where is Hastings Lake?
- Hastings Lake is a lake in Lake County, Illinois. Its water-quality measurements are published by Illinois EPA and shown on this page as reported.
What is the water quality of Hastings Lake?
- Hastings Lake in Lake County, Illinois has water-quality measurements published by Illinois EPA, shown here as reported. Water clarity: 3.4 ft visibility.
Is Hastings Lake safe to swim in?
- Nutrient and algae readings are not a swimming clearance. Hastings 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.
What is the water temperature of Hastings Lake?
- Hastings Lake typically sits around 53°F at the surface in October, from 133 EPA Water Quality Portal field readings (2012–2021). That is a typical value for the month, not a live reading.
How deep is Hastings Lake?
- No published bathymetric survey covers Hastings Lake, so its depth has not been measured. The HydroLAKES global model estimates an average depth of about 20 feet, but that is a modelled estimate derived from surrounding terrain rather than a measurement on the water, so treat it as approximate.
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Where this data comes from
4 measurements from 1 monitoring station, 2020–2021. Retrieved from the EPA Water Quality Portal on 2026-08-02.
Collected and reported by
- North American Lake Management Society
NALMS4 samples · 2020–2021
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)