Kenney Reservoir
Rio Blanco County, Colorado615 acresView mapDirections
Colorado WQCD publishes the water-quality measurements for Kenney Reservoir. Here is what has been measured.
- Impaired · Metals (other than mercury)
- 37 ft max depth
- Limited data
Kenney Reservoir in Rio Blanco County, Colorado has water-quality measurements published by Colorado WQCD, shown here as reported. Water clarity: 6 ft visibility. Phosphorus: 96.5 µg/L. Chlorophyll-a (algae): 2.1 µg/L. Surface area: 615 acres.
Kenney Reservoir is a 615-acre lake in Rio Blanco County, Colorado with an estimated average depth of about 37 feet.
Source: EPA Water Quality Portal sampling records, CDPHE, last sampled 2023-09-14. Methodology: how these readings are compared.
Swimming conditions
No readingLimited data
Nutrient and algae readings are not a swimming clearance. Kenney Reservoir is listed impaired under Clean Water Act §303(d) (IR 5) for metals (other than mercury). Check local advisories before you swim.
Whether Kenney Reservoir is safe to swim in today is a call for the Water Quality Control Division of the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment and the county health department, who post current advisories. LakeQuality does not issue swimming clearances.
Water quality measurements for Kenney Reservoir
These are the measurements Colorado WQCD publishes for Kenney Reservoir, 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 6 ft. Phosphorus 96.5 µg/L. Chlorophyll-a 2.1 µg/L. TSI 53.
| Measure | Reading | Where it sits |
|---|---|---|
| Water clarity (Secchi depth) | 6ft | Measured, not scored How deep a black-and-white disk stays visible from the surface. Higher is clearer. |
| Total phosphorus | 96.5µg/L | Measured, not scored The nutrient that most limits algae growth in freshwater. More phosphorus, more algae potential. |
| Chlorophyll-a (algae) | 2.1µg/L | Measured, not scored 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. | 53 | Eutrophic OligotrophicMesotrophicEutrophicHypereutrophic |
High nutrients, frequent algae, reduced clarity
Ask about Kenney Reservoir
Answers come straight from the public measurements and survey records on this page.
Lake Details
Max depth
~37 ft est.
Surface area
615 acres
Depth marked “est.” is a modeled maximum from GLOBathy (Khazaei et al. 2022, CC0), not a measured survey. Colorado has not published bathymetry for Kenney Reservoir.
Lake Size & Watershed
Watershed (drainage) area
2,766 sq mi
HydroLAKES / HydroSHEDS
Shoreline
5.4 mi
HydroLAKES / HydroSHEDS
Elevation
5,328 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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Fishing Kenney Reservoir
Reservoir Info (USACE NID)
Kenney Reservoir is a man-made reservoir impounded by the Taylor Draw (completed 1984), built primarily for hydroelectric on the White River; earth-type dam, 81 ft tall and 1,130 ft long.
- Surface area
- 615 ac
- Normal storage
- 13,800 ac-ft
- Max storage
- 22,200 ac-ft
- Drainage area
- 2,788 sq mi
- Hazard class
- High
- Owner
- Rio Blanco Water Conservancy District
All listed purposes: Hydroelectric;Irrigation;Fish and Wildlife Pond;Recreation;Water Supply.
Source: USACE National Inventory of Dams, NID ID CO02572 · Operator website
EPA Impairment Status
Kenney Reservoir 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: Drinking water.
Source: EPA ATTAINS assessment unit COLCWH11_A · Official waterbody report
Nearby Lakes in Rio Blanco County
Frequently asked questions about Kenney Reservoir
Where is Kenney Reservoir?
- Kenney Reservoir is a lake in Rio Blanco County, Colorado. Its water-quality measurements are published by Colorado WQCD and shown on this page as reported.
What is the water quality of Kenney Reservoir?
- Kenney Reservoir in Rio Blanco County, Colorado has water-quality measurements published by Colorado WQCD, shown here as reported. Water clarity: 6 ft visibility. Phosphorus: 96.5 µg/L. Chlorophyll-a (algae): 2.1 µg/L. Surface area: 615 acres.
Is Kenney Reservoir safe to swim in?
- Nutrient and algae readings are not a swimming clearance. Kenney Reservoir is listed impaired under Clean Water Act §303(d) (IR 5) for metals (other than mercury). Check local advisories before you swim.
How deep is Kenney Reservoir?
- No published bathymetric survey covers Kenney Reservoir, so its depth has not been measured. The HydroLAKES global model estimates an average depth of about 37 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 615 acres.
Explore Kenney Reservoir across LakeQuality
Planning a trip around Dinosaur?
Kenney Reservoir is about 30 miles from Dinosaur National Monument. Crowds there swing hard by season, so the month you pick changes both how busy the park is and what lodging costs.
Best time to visit Dinosaur →More lakes in Colorado
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Where this data comes from
6 measurements from 2 monitoring stations, 2023. Retrieved from the EPA Water Quality Portal on 2026-08-02.
Collected and reported by
- Colorado Dept. of Public Health & Environment-WQCD
21COL001_WQX6 samples · 2023
Analytical methods
- Secchi disk depth measurement
- Phosphorus by Colorimetry
- 10200 H ~ Chlorophyll a-b-c Determination
- Nitrogen in Water by Pyrolysis Detection
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
Lake size & watershed from HydroLAKES (HydroSHEDS)