Hunnewell Lake
Shelby County, Missouri228 acresView mapDirections
Missouri DNR publishes the water-quality measurements for Hunnewell Lake. Here is what has been measured.
- Eutrophic
- Impaired · Mercury
- 35 ft max depth
Hunnewell Lake in Shelby County, Missouri has water-quality measurements published by Missouri DNR, shown here as reported. Water clarity: 3.2 ft visibility. Phosphorus: 36 µg/L. Chlorophyll-a (algae): 15.4 µg/L. Surface area: 228 acres.
Hunnewell Lake is a 228-acre productive, nutrient-rich eutrophic lake in Shelby County, Missouri with an estimated average depth of about 35 feet. Overall water quality is improving over recent sampling years. Compared to the 1 other monitored lakes in Shelby County, Hunnewell Lake ranks #1 for water quality.
Source: EPA Water Quality Portal sampling records, Missouri DNR, last sampled 2024-09-20. Methodology: how these readings are compared.
Swimming conditions
Readings onlyAlgae risk
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. Hunnewell Lake is listed impaired under Clean Water Act §303(d) (IR 5) for mercury. Check local advisories before you swim.
Whether Hunnewell 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 Hunnewell Lake
These are the measurements Missouri DNR publishes for Hunnewell Lake, shown as reported. The condition class beside each reading is the EPA National Lakes Assessment class for this lake’s ecoregion.
Very murky, less than 3.2 ft of visibility. Phosphorus 36 µg/L. Chlorophyll-a 15.4 µg/L. TSI 58.
| Measure | Reading | Where it sits |
|---|---|---|
| Water clarity (Secchi depth) | 3.2ft | Measured, not scored How deep a black-and-white disk stays visible from the surface. Higher is clearer. |
| Total phosphorus | 36µg/L | Good GoodFairPoor |
| Chlorophyll-a (algae) | 15.4µg/L | Fair GoodFairPoor |
| Trophic state (TSI)Carlson's 0–100 index of how much algae a lake can support, from clarity, phosphorus and chlorophyll-a. | 58 | Eutrophic OligotrophicMesotrophicEutrophicHypereutrophic |
High nutrients, frequent algae, reduced clarity
Ask about Hunnewell Lake
Answers come straight from the public measurements and survey records on this page.
Water Temperature
Hunnewell Lake typically sits around 77°F at the surface in September. Summer average is about 82°F. Usually warmest in Jul (about 85°F) and coldest in Apr (about 62°F). These are typical values by month — not a live reading.
Column height runs from this lake’s coldest month (62°F) to its warmest (85°F).
Typical surface water temperature by month, from 141 field readings (2010–2024) via the EPA Water Quality Portal. See the full Hunnewell Lake water temperature breakdown →
Lake Details
Max depth
~35 ft est.
Surface area
228 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 Hunnewell Lake.
Lake Size & Watershed
Watershed (drainage) area
4 sq mi
HydroLAKES / HydroSHEDS
Shoreline
5.4 mi
HydroLAKES / HydroSHEDS
Elevation
699 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 Hunnewell Lake
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Fishing Hunnewell Lake
Water Quality Trend: Improving
Based on 5 years of monitoring (2020–2024).
Water clarity
Improving5 years
Phosphorus
Improving-3.04 µg/L/yr5 years
Chlorophyll-a
Improving-4.22 µg/L/yr5 years
Reservoir Info (USACE NID)
Hunnewell Lake is a man-made reservoir impounded by the Hunnewell Lake Dam (completed 1953), built primarily for recreation on the TR TO BROWNE BRANCH; earth-type dam, 45 ft tall and 1,200 ft long.
- Surface area
- 228 ac
- Normal storage
- 2,204 ac-ft
- Max storage
- 2,736 ac-ft
- Drainage area
- 3.98 sq mi
- Hazard class
- Significant
- Owner
- MO DEPT OF CONSERVATION
Source: USACE National Inventory of Dams, NID ID MO10106 · Operator website
EPA Impairment Status
Hunnewell 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: Fish consumption.
Source: EPA ATTAINS assessment unit MO_7029.00 · Official waterbody report
Regulated Pollution Sources Nearby
1 EPA-permitted facility operate within about 5 miles of Hunnewell Lake under Clean Water Act (NPDES) discharge permits. 1 facility has a reported Clean Water Act violation in the past three years.
- Hunnewell WwtfHunnewell · 2.6 mi away · NPDES MO0084972Recent 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 Shelby County
Frequently asked questions about Hunnewell Lake
Where is Hunnewell Lake?
- Hunnewell Lake is a lake in Shelby County, Missouri. Its water-quality measurements are published by Missouri DNR and shown on this page as reported.
What is the water quality of Hunnewell Lake?
- Hunnewell Lake in Shelby County, Missouri has water-quality measurements published by Missouri DNR, shown here as reported. Water clarity: 3.2 ft visibility. Phosphorus: 36 µg/L. Chlorophyll-a (algae): 15.4 µg/L. Surface area: 228 acres.
Is Hunnewell Lake safe to swim in?
- Nutrient and algae readings are not a swimming clearance. Hunnewell Lake is listed impaired under Clean Water Act §303(d) (IR 5) for mercury. Check local advisories before you swim.
What is the water temperature of Hunnewell Lake?
- Hunnewell Lake typically sits around 77°F at the surface in September, from 141 EPA Water Quality Portal field readings (2010–2024). That is a typical value for the month, not a live reading.
How deep is Hunnewell Lake?
- No published bathymetric survey covers Hunnewell Lake, so its depth has not been measured. The HydroLAKES global model estimates an average depth of about 35 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 228 acres.
Explore Hunnewell Lake across LakeQuality
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Where this data comes from
176 measurements from 2 monitoring stations, 2020–2024. Retrieved from the EPA Water Quality Portal on 2026-08-02.
Collected and reported by
- Univ. of Missouri, Columbia
UMC173 samples · 2020–2024 - Missouri Dept. of Natural Resources
MDNR3 samples · 2020
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
Impairment status from EPA ATTAINS 303(d) database
Regulated discharger data from EPA ECHO (ICIS-NPDES)
Lake size & watershed from HydroLAKES (HydroSHEDS)