Lake Hastings
Adams County, Nebraska64 acresView mapDirections
Nebraska DEE publishes the water-quality measurements for Lake Hastings. Here is what has been measured.
- 14 ft max depth
- Public access
- Limited data
Lake Hastings in Adams County, Nebraska has water-quality measurements published by Nebraska DEE, shown here as reported. Water clarity: 0.3 ft visibility. Chlorophyll-a (algae): 60.5 µg/L. Surface area: 64 acres.
Lake Hastings is a 64-acre lake in Adams County, Nebraska with an estimated average depth of about 14 feet. Limited fish-species data available. Public access is available with 1 public boat landing.
Source: EPA Water Quality Portal sampling records, NDEE, last sampled 2012-09-25. Methodology: how these readings are compared.
What Lake Hastings is good for
From access and monitoring records, not editorial picks.
- Boat launch1 documented ramp
Swimming conditions
No readingLimited data
Nutrient and algae readings are not a swimming clearance. Check local advisories before you swim.
Whether Lake Hastings is safe to swim in today is a call for the Nebraska Department of Environment and Energy and the county health department, who post current advisories. LakeQuality does not issue swimming clearances.
Water quality measurements for Lake Hastings
These are the measurements Nebraska DEE publishes for Lake Hastings, 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 0.3 ft of visibility. Chlorophyll-a 60.5 µg/L. TSI 82.
| Measure | Reading | Where it sits |
|---|---|---|
| Water clarity (Secchi depth) | 0.3ft | 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) | 60.5µg/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. | 82 | Hypereutrophic OligotrophicMesotrophicEutrophicHypereutrophic |
Very high nutrients, dense algae, poor clarity
Ask about Lake Hastings
Answers come straight from the public measurements and survey records on this page.
Lake Details
Max depth
~14 ft est.
Surface area
64 acres
Public access
Yes
Listed by Nebraska DEE
Depth marked “est.” is a modeled maximum from GLOBathy (Khazaei et al. 2022, CC0), not a measured survey. Nebraska has not published bathymetry for Lake Hastings.
Lake Size & Watershed
Watershed (drainage) area
8 sq mi
HydroLAKES / HydroSHEDS
Shoreline
2.7 mi
HydroLAKES / HydroSHEDS
Elevation
1,913 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.
Recreation & Access
- Lake HastingsPublic
Named access points in the USGS National Boat Ramps inventory, within about 3 miles. More lakes with boat ramps
Stays via Stay22
Stays near Lake Hastings
Compare lakeside cabins, hotels, and vacation rentals near Lake Hastings in Adams County, Nebraska — 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.
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Fishing Lake Hastings
Reservoir Info (USACE NID)
Lake Hastings is a man-made reservoir impounded by the Hastings Dam (completed 1958), built primarily for recreation on the Tr-W Fk Big Blue River; earth-type dam, 15 ft tall and 978 ft long.
- Surface area
- 64 ac
- Normal storage
- 276 ac-ft
- Max storage
- 455 ac-ft
- Drainage area
- 6.5 sq mi
- Hazard class
- Significant
- Owner
- City of Hastings
Source: USACE National Inventory of Dams, NID ID NE00165 · Operator website
Nearby Lakes in Adams County
Frequently asked questions about Lake Hastings
Where is Lake Hastings?
- Lake Hastings is a lake in Adams County, Nebraska. Its water-quality measurements are published by Nebraska DEE and shown on this page as reported.
What is the water quality of Lake Hastings?
- Lake Hastings in Adams County, Nebraska has water-quality measurements published by Nebraska DEE, shown here as reported. Water clarity: 0.3 ft visibility. Chlorophyll-a (algae): 60.5 µg/L. Surface area: 64 acres.
Is Lake Hastings safe to swim in?
- Nutrient and algae readings are not a swimming clearance. Check local advisories before you swim.
How deep is Lake Hastings?
- No published bathymetric survey covers Lake Hastings, so its depth has not been measured. The HydroLAKES global model estimates an average depth of about 14 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 64 acres.
Are there boat ramps on Lake Hastings?
- Lake Hastings has 1 documented boat landing in the USGS National Boat Ramps inventory. Named access points include Lake Hastings. Public access is listed as yes.
Can I fish at Lake Hastings?
- Lake Hastings has 1 documented boat landing in the USGS National Boat Ramps inventory. Seasons, size and bag limits, and whether you need a license are set by Nebraska's fish and wildlife agency, so check its current regulations before you go.
Explore Lake Hastings across LakeQuality
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Where this data comes from
9 measurements from 2 monitoring stations, 2012. Retrieved from the EPA Water Quality Portal on 2026-08-02.
Collected and reported by
- Nebraska Department of Environment and Energy
21NEB001_WQX9 samples · 2012
Analytical methods
- 445.0 ~ EPA; Chlorophyll and Pheophytin in Algae by Fluorescence
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
Lake size & watershed from HydroLAKES (HydroSHEDS)
Named boat-access points from the USGS National Boat Ramps inventory