Littlefield Lake
Audubon County, Iowa69 acresView mapDirections
Iowa DNR publishes the water-quality measurements for Littlefield Lake. Here is what has been measured.
- Hypereutrophic
- Impaired · Algal growth
- 50 ft max depth
Littlefield Lake in Audubon County, Iowa has water-quality measurements published by Iowa DNR, shown here as reported. Water clarity: 0.9 ft visibility. Phosphorus: 225 µg/L. Chlorophyll-a (algae): 103.1 µg/L. Surface area: 69 acres.
Free interactive depth-contour map of Littlefield Lake, reaching a maximum surveyed depth of 14 ft. Toggle Depth contours to overlay the bathymetric survey lines. Contour data from Iowa DNR.
Littlefield Lake is a 69-acre highly nutrient-loaded hypereutrophic lake in Audubon County, Iowa with an estimated average depth of about 50 feet. Overall water quality is declining over recent sampling years.
Source: EPA Water Quality Portal sampling records, Iowa DNR, last sampled 2024-09-29. Methodology: how these readings are compared.
Swimming conditions
Readings onlyRecreation use not supported
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. Littlefield Lake is listed impaired under Clean Water Act §303(d) (IR 4A) for algal growth, turbidity. Check local advisories before you swim.
Whether Littlefield Lake is safe to swim in today is a call for the Iowa Department of Natural Resources and the county health department, who post current advisories. LakeQuality does not issue swimming clearances.
Water quality measurements for Littlefield Lake
These are the measurements Iowa DNR publishes for Littlefield 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 0.9 ft of visibility. Phosphorus 225 µg/L. Chlorophyll-a 103.1 µg/L. TSI 79.
| Measure | Reading | Where it sits |
|---|---|---|
| Water clarity (Secchi depth) | 0.9ft | Measured, not scored How deep a black-and-white disk stays visible from the surface. Higher is clearer. |
| Total phosphorus | 225µg/L | Poor GoodFairPoor |
| Chlorophyll-a (algae) | 103µg/L | Poor GoodFairPoor |
| Trophic state (TSI)Carlson's 0–100 index of how much algae a lake can support, from clarity, phosphorus and chlorophyll-a. | 79 | Hypereutrophic OligotrophicMesotrophicEutrophicHypereutrophic |
Very high nutrients, dense algae, poor clarity
Ask about Littlefield Lake
Answers come straight from the public measurements and survey records on this page.
Water Temperature
Littlefield Lake typically sits around 70°F at the surface in September. Summer average is about 78°F. Usually warmest in Jul (about 81°F) and coldest in Sep (about 70°F). These are typical values by month — not a live reading.
Column height runs from this lake’s coldest month (70°F) to its warmest (81°F).
Typical surface water temperature by month, from 29 field readings (2010–2023) via the EPA Water Quality Portal. See the full Littlefield Lake water temperature breakdown →
Lake Details
Max depth
~50 ft est.
Surface area
69 acres
Depth marked “est.” is a modeled maximum from GLOBathy (Khazaei et al. 2022, CC0), not a measured survey. Iowa has not published bathymetry for Littlefield Lake.
Lake Size & Watershed
Watershed (drainage) area
4 sq mi
HydroLAKES / HydroSHEDS
Shoreline
1.4 mi
HydroLAKES / HydroSHEDS
Elevation
1,286 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.
Stays via Stay22
Stays near Littlefield Lake
Compare lakeside cabins, hotels, and vacation rentals near Littlefield Lake in Audubon County, Iowa — 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. The water-quality readings cover nutrients and algae, not lodging. Cabins and rentals around Littlefield Lake are listed below.
Top-rated places to stay near Littlefield Lake
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Fishing Littlefield Lake
Water Quality Trend: Worsening
Based on 5 years of monitoring (2020–2024).
Water clarity
Worsening5 years
Phosphorus
Stable+1.15 µg/L/yr4 years
Chlorophyll-a
Worsening+30.75 µg/L/yr5 years
Reservoir Info (USACE NID)
Littlefield Lake is a man-made reservoir impounded by the Littlefield Lake Dam (completed 1977), built primarily for flood risk reduction on the TR-TROUBLESOME CREEK; earth-type dam, 45 ft tall and 1,205 ft long.
- Surface area
- 69 ac
- Normal storage
- 561 ac-ft
- Max storage
- 2,278 ac-ft
- Drainage area
- 3.95 sq mi
- Hazard class
- High
- Owner
- Audubon County Conservation Board
All listed purposes: Flood Risk Reduction;Recreation.
Source: USACE National Inventory of Dams, NID ID IA01691 · Operator website
EPA Impairment Status
Littlefield Lake is officially listed as impaired under Clean Water Act §303(d) in the 2024 EPA reporting cycle (IR category 4A).
Causes of impairment
Designated uses not supporting: Recreation.
A Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) plan has been approved.
Source: EPA ATTAINS assessment unit IA 05-NSH-1439 · Official waterbody report
Nearby Lakes in Audubon County
Frequently asked questions about Littlefield Lake
Where is Littlefield Lake?
- Littlefield Lake is a lake in Audubon County, Iowa. Its water-quality measurements are published by Iowa DNR and shown on this page as reported.
What is the water quality of Littlefield Lake?
- Littlefield Lake in Audubon County, Iowa has water-quality measurements published by Iowa DNR, shown here as reported. Water clarity: 0.9 ft visibility. Phosphorus: 225 µg/L. Chlorophyll-a (algae): 103.1 µg/L. Surface area: 69 acres.
Is Littlefield Lake safe to swim in?
- Nutrient and algae readings are not a swimming clearance. Littlefield Lake is listed impaired under Clean Water Act §303(d) (IR 4A) for algal growth, turbidity. Check local advisories before you swim.
What is the water temperature of Littlefield Lake?
- Littlefield Lake typically sits around 70°F at the surface in September, from 29 EPA Water Quality Portal field readings (2010–2023). That is a typical value for the month, not a live reading.
How deep is Littlefield Lake?
- No published bathymetric survey covers Littlefield Lake, so its depth has not been measured. The HydroLAKES global model estimates an average depth of about 50 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 69 acres.
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Where this data comes from
61 measurements from 1 monitoring station, 2020–2024. Retrieved from the EPA Water Quality Portal on 2026-08-02.
Collected and reported by
- Iowa DNR Surface Water Monitoring Data
21IOWA_WQX61 samples · 2020–2024
Analytical methods
- Unknown
- Phosphorus by Colorimetry
- 445.0 ~ EPA; Chlorophyll and Pheophytin in Algae by Fluorescence
- In-Vitro Determination of Chlorophyll
- ISU modification of APHA 2130-B
Monitoring station identifiers (1)
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)