Lake Whitney
Dawes County, NebraskaView mapDirections
Nebraska DEE publishes the water-quality measurements for Lake Whitney. Here is what has been measured.
- Eutrophic
- Impaired · Mercury
- 30 ft max depth
- Public access
- Limited data
Lake Whitney in Dawes County, Nebraska has water-quality measurements published by Nebraska DEE, shown here as reported. Water clarity: 0.5 ft visibility. Chlorophyll-a (algae): 9.5 µg/L.
Lake Whitney is a productive, nutrient-rich eutrophic lake in Dawes County, Nebraska with an estimated average depth of about 30 feet. Limited fish-species data available. Public access is available with 1 public boat landing. Compared to the 1 other monitored lakes in Dawes County, Lake Whitney ranks #1 for water quality.
Source: EPA Water Quality Portal sampling records, NDEE, last sampled 2017-09-26. Methodology: how these readings are compared.
Lake Whitney has one public boat landing. Vrbo is where to look for cabins and lake homes around Lake Whitney, and Booking.com and Expedia search hotels near the lake for your dates.
What Lake Whitney is good for
From access and monitoring records, not editorial picks.
- Boat launch1 documented ramp
Swimming conditions
Readings onlyLimited data
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. Lake Whitney is listed impaired under Clean Water Act §303(d) (IR 5) for mercury. Check local advisories before you swim.
Whether Lake Whitney 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 Whitney
These are the measurements Nebraska DEE publishes for Lake Whitney, 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 0.5 ft of visibility. Chlorophyll-a 9.5 µg/L. TSI 69.
| Measure | Reading | Where it sits |
|---|---|---|
| Water clarity (Secchi depth) | 0.5ft | 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) | 9.5µg/L | Good GoodFairPoor |
| Trophic state (TSI)Carlson's 0–100 index of how much algae a lake can support, from clarity, phosphorus and chlorophyll-a. | 69 | Eutrophic OligotrophicMesotrophicEutrophicHypereutrophic |
High nutrients, frequent algae, reduced clarity
Ask about Lake Whitney
Answers come straight from the public measurements and survey records on this page.
Lake Details
Max depth
~30 ft est.
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 Whitney.
Lake Size & Watershed
Watershed (drainage) area
6 sq mi
HydroLAKES / HydroSHEDS
Surface area
825 acres
HydroLAKES / HydroSHEDS
Shoreline
5.8 mi
HydroLAKES / HydroSHEDS
Elevation
3,478 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
- Whitney LakePublic
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 Whitney
Compare lakeside cabins, hotels, and vacation rentals near Lake Whitney in Dawes 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.
Top-rated places to stay near Lake Whitney
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Fishing Lake Whitney
EPA Impairment Status
Lake Whitney 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: Aquatic life.
Source: EPA ATTAINS assessment unit NE-WH1-L0060 · Official waterbody report
Nearby Lakes in Dawes County
Frequently asked questions about Lake Whitney
Where is Lake Whitney?
- Lake Whitney is a lake in Dawes 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 Whitney?
- Lake Whitney in Dawes County, Nebraska has water-quality measurements published by Nebraska DEE, shown here as reported. Water clarity: 0.5 ft visibility. Chlorophyll-a (algae): 9.5 µg/L.
Is Lake Whitney safe to swim in?
- Nutrient and algae readings are not a swimming clearance. Lake Whitney is listed impaired under Clean Water Act §303(d) (IR 5) for mercury. Check local advisories before you swim.
How deep is Lake Whitney?
- No published bathymetric survey covers Lake Whitney, so its depth has not been measured. The HydroLAKES global model estimates an average depth of about 30 feet, but that is a modelled estimate derived from surrounding terrain rather than a measurement on the water, so treat it as approximate.
Are there boat ramps on Lake Whitney?
- Lake Whitney has 1 documented boat landing in the USGS National Boat Ramps inventory. Named access points include Whitney Lake. Public access is listed as yes.
Can I fish at Lake Whitney?
- Lake Whitney 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 Whitney across LakeQuality
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Where this data comes from
8 measurements from 2 monitoring stations, 2017. Retrieved from the EPA Water Quality Portal on 2026-08-02.
Collected and reported by
- Nebraska Department of Environment and Energy
21NEB001_WQX8 samples · 2017
Analytical methods
- 447.0 ~ EPA; Chlorophyll a and b in phytoplankton by HPLC/UV
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)
Named boat-access points from the USGS National Boat Ramps inventory