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LakeQuality

Hurdsfield-Tuffy Lake

Wells County, North Dakota7 acresView mapDirections

NR
Not rated

Not enough samples to grade — no nutrient or algae measurement meets the evidence bar (at least 3 samples within 10 years). No letter yet. Here is what we do have.

Water temp
~60°F
Typical for Sep · EPA WQP
Clarity
9.5 ft
Secchi · sampled 2021
Level
No reading
No gauge
Trend
No reading
Not enough history
  • 16 ft max depth
  • Limited data

Hurdsfield-Tuffy Lake in Wells County, North Dakota is not rated for water quality — its monitoring record does not meet the evidence bar. Water clarity: 9.5 ft visibility. Chlorophyll-a (algae): 10.3 µg/L. Surface area: 7 acres.

Clarity
9.5 ft
Typical in September
60°F
Max depth
~16 ft est.
Area
7 acres
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Stays near Hurdsfield-Tuffy Lake

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Watch Hurdsfield-Tuffy Lake’s letter

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Why Hurdsfield-Tuffy Lake has no grade

We grade a lake only when the monitoring record supports a letter: at least three phosphorus or chlorophyll-a samples in the last ten years, scored against EPA National Lakes Assessment thresholds for this lake’s ecoregion. For Hurdsfield-Tuffy Lake, no nutrient or algae measurement meets the evidence bar (at least 3 samples within 10 years). Sampling here has recorded water clarity and algae (chlorophyll-a), but not phosphorus.

Not Rated is not an F. It is EPA Integrated Reporting Category 3 — insufficient information. The water here may be excellent or poor; nobody has measured enough of it to say. Everything below that has been measured is still reported on this page.

Sampling is run by NDDEQ and volunteer programs, and published through the EPA Water Quality Portal. Read the full grading methodology.

Hurdsfield-Tuffy Lake is a 7-acre lake in Wells County, North Dakota with an estimated average depth of about 16 feet.

Source: EPA Water Quality Portal sampling records, NDDEQ, last sampled 2021-10-04. Grade methodology: LakeQuality methodology.

Swimming Safety

Not rated

Limited data

The letter is not a swimming clearance. Check local advisories before you swim.

Compare the safest swimming lakes near Bismarck

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Water quality measurements for Hurdsfield-Tuffy Lake

These readings exist but are not enough for an A–F grade — see why.

Moderate clarity, visible to about 9.5 ft. Chlorophyll-a 10.3 µg/L. TSI 49.

MetricValueGrade
Water Clarity (Secchi Depth)9.5 ftNot graded
PhosphorusNo recent samples
Chlorophyll-a (Algae)10.3 µg/LNot graded
Trophic State Index (TSI)49Mesotrophic

Moderate nutrients, good water quality

Water Temperature

Hurdsfield-Tuffy Lake typically sits around 60°F at the surface in September. Summer average is about 64°F. Usually warmest in Jul (about 72°F) and coldest in May (about 48°F). These are typical values by month — not a live reading.

Jan
Feb
Mar
Apr
May
48°
Jun
55°
Jul
72°
Aug
Sep
60°
Oct
54°
Nov
Dec

Typical surface water temperature by month, from 19 field readings (20162021) via the EPA Water Quality Portal. See the full Hurdsfield-Tuffy Lake water temperature breakdown →

Lake Details

CharacteristicValue
Maximum Depth~16 ft est.
Average Depth~10 ft est.
Surface Area7 acres

Depth marked “est.” is a modeled maximum from GLOBathy (Khazaei et al. 2022, CC0), not a measured survey. North Dakota has not published bathymetry for Hurdsfield-Tuffy Lake.

Lake Size & Watershed

Watershed (drainage) area
62 sq mi
Shoreline
2.6 mi
Elevation
1,824 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.

Fishing Hurdsfield-Tuffy Lake

Reservoir Info (USACE NID)

Hurdsfield-Tuffy Lake is a man-made reservoir impounded by the Thompson Dam; Norman 1 (completed 1968), built primarily for recreation on the James River-TR; earth-type dam, 22 ft tall and 368 ft long.

Surface area
7 ac
Normal storage
44 ac-ft
Max storage
68 ac-ft
Drainage area
0.44 sq mi
Hazard class
Low
Owner
Norman Thompson

All listed purposes: Recreation;Fish and Wildlife Pond.

Source: USACE National Inventory of Dams, NID ID ND00773 · Operator website · Matched by proximity (0.81 km)

Graded lakes near Hurdsfield-Tuffy Lake

Hurdsfield-Tuffy Lake has no grade, but these lakes within a short drive do.

Nearby Lakes in Wells County

Frequently asked questions about Hurdsfield-Tuffy Lake

Where is Hurdsfield-Tuffy Lake?

Hurdsfield-Tuffy Lake is a lake in Wells County, North Dakota. LakeQuality has not rated this lake (UNRATED) — no nutrient or algae measurement meets the evidence bar (at least 3 samples within 10 years).

What is the water quality grade for Hurdsfield-Tuffy Lake?

Hurdsfield-Tuffy Lake in Wells County, North Dakota is not rated for water quality — its monitoring record does not meet the evidence bar. Water clarity: 9.5 ft visibility. Chlorophyll-a (algae): 10.3 µg/L. Surface area: 7 acres.

Is Hurdsfield-Tuffy Lake safe to swim in?

The letter is not a swimming clearance. Check local advisories before you swim.

What is the water temperature of Hurdsfield-Tuffy Lake?

Hurdsfield-Tuffy Lake typically sits around 60°F at the surface in September, from 19 EPA Water Quality Portal field readings (2016–2021). That is a typical value for the month, not a live reading.

How deep is Hurdsfield-Tuffy Lake?

No published bathymetric survey covers Hurdsfield-Tuffy Lake, so its depth has not been measured. The HydroLAKES global model estimates an average depth of about 16 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 7 acres.

Where this data comes from

8 measurements from 1 monitoring station, 2021. Retrieved from the EPA Water Quality Portal on 2026-08-02.

Collected and reported by

  • North Dakota Department Of Environmental Quality21NDHDWQ_WQX8 samples · 2021

Analytical methods

  • 447.0 ~ EPA; Chlorophyll a and b in phytoplankton by HPLC/UV
Monitoring station identifiers (1)

Grade thresholds from the EPA National Lakes Assessment (EPA 841-R-24-006, Table 6-3), applied by ecoregion. See how grades are calculated and data sources.

Other records on this page

Lake size & watershed from HydroLAKES (HydroSHEDS)

Depth, fish, and access data from North Dakota Game & Fish