Meadowlark Lake
Seward County, Nebraska55 acresView mapDirections
Nebraska DEE publishes the water-quality measurements for Meadowlark Lake. Here is what has been measured.
- Hypereutrophic
- Impaired · Algal growth
- 16 ft max depth
- Public access
Meadowlark Lake in Seward County, Nebraska has water-quality measurements published by Nebraska DEE, shown here as reported. Water clarity: 1.8 ft visibility. Phosphorus: 235.5 µg/L. Chlorophyll-a (algae): 49.8 µg/L. Surface area: 55 acres.
Meadowlark Lake is a 55-acre highly nutrient-loaded hypereutrophic lake in Seward County, Nebraska with an estimated average depth of about 16 feet. Overall water quality is improving over recent sampling years. Limited fish-species data available. Public access is available with 1 public boat landing. Compared to the 1 other monitored lakes in Seward County, Meadowlark Lake ranks #2 for water quality.
Source: EPA Water Quality Portal sampling records, NDEE, last sampled 2022-09-08. Methodology: how these readings are compared.
What Meadowlark Lake is good for
From access and monitoring records, not editorial picks.
- Boat launch1 documented ramp
Swimming conditions
Readings onlyAlgae risk
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. Meadowlark Lake is listed impaired under Clean Water Act §303(d) (IR 5) for algal growth, mercury, nutrients (phosphorus, nitrogen). Check local advisories before you swim.
Whether Meadowlark Lake 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 Meadowlark Lake
These are the measurements Nebraska DEE publishes for Meadowlark 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 1.8 ft of visibility. Phosphorus 235.5 µg/L. Chlorophyll-a 49.8 µg/L. TSI 73.
| Measure | Reading | Where it sits |
|---|---|---|
| Water clarity (Secchi depth) | 1.8ft | Measured, not scored How deep a black-and-white disk stays visible from the surface. Higher is clearer. |
| Total phosphorus | 236µg/L | Poor GoodFairPoor |
| Chlorophyll-a (algae) | 49.8µg/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. | 73 | Hypereutrophic OligotrophicMesotrophicEutrophicHypereutrophic |
Very high nutrients, dense algae, poor clarity
Ask about Meadowlark Lake
Answers come straight from the public measurements and survey records on this page.
Lake Details
Max depth
~16 ft est.
Surface area
55 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 Meadowlark Lake.
Lake Size & Watershed
Watershed (drainage) area
5 sq mi
HydroLAKES / HydroSHEDS
Shoreline
1.2 mi
HydroLAKES / HydroSHEDS
Elevation
1,352 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
- Meadow LarkPublic
Named access points in the USGS National Boat Ramps inventory, within about 3 miles. More lakes with boat ramps
Stays via Stay22
Stays near Meadowlark Lake
Compare lakeside cabins, hotels, and vacation rentals near Meadowlark Lake in Seward 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. The water-quality readings cover nutrients and algae, not lodging. Cabins and rentals around Meadowlark Lake are listed below.
Top-rated places to stay near Meadowlark Lake
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Fishing Meadowlark Lake
Water quality readings over time
3 seasons of samples on record (2015–2022). Calling a direction takes at least 4 years of the same measurement.
Water clarity
Stable3 years
Phosphorus
Improving-224 µg/L/yr2 years
Chlorophyll-a
Improving-3.76 µg/L/yr3 years
Reservoir Info (USACE NID)
Meadowlark Lake is a man-made reservoir impounded by the Oak-Middle 57-A (completed 1968), built primarily for flood risk reduction on the Tr-Peanut Creek; earth-type dam, 48 ft tall and 1,530 ft long.
- Surface area
- 55 ac
- Normal storage
- 383 ac-ft
- Max storage
- 1,697 ac-ft
- Drainage area
- 5.9 sq mi
- Hazard class
- Low
- Owner
- Lower Platte South Natural Resources District
Source: USACE National Inventory of Dams, NID ID NE00080 · Operator website · Matched by proximity (0.14 km)
EPA Impairment Status
Meadowlark Lake 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-LP2-L0220 · Official waterbody report
Nearby Lakes in Seward County
Frequently asked questions about Meadowlark Lake
Where is Meadowlark Lake?
- Meadowlark Lake is a lake in Seward County, Nebraska. Its water-quality measurements are published by Nebraska DEE and shown on this page as reported.
What is the water quality of Meadowlark Lake?
- Meadowlark Lake in Seward County, Nebraska has water-quality measurements published by Nebraska DEE, shown here as reported. Water clarity: 1.8 ft visibility. Phosphorus: 235.5 µg/L. Chlorophyll-a (algae): 49.8 µg/L. Surface area: 55 acres.
Is Meadowlark Lake safe to swim in?
- Nutrient and algae readings are not a swimming clearance. Meadowlark Lake is listed impaired under Clean Water Act §303(d) (IR 5) for algal growth, mercury, nutrients (phosphorus, nitrogen). Check local advisories before you swim.
How deep is Meadowlark Lake?
- No published bathymetric survey covers Meadowlark 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 55 acres.
Are there boat ramps on Meadowlark Lake?
- Meadowlark Lake has 1 documented boat landing in the USGS National Boat Ramps inventory. Named access points include Meadow Lark. Public access is listed as yes.
Can I fish at Meadowlark Lake?
- Meadowlark Lake 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 Meadowlark Lake across LakeQuality
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Where this data comes from
50 measurements from 1 monitoring station, 2015–2022. Retrieved from the EPA Water Quality Portal on 2026-08-02.
Collected and reported by
- Nebraska Department of Environment and Energy
21NEB001_WQX50 samples · 2015–2022
Analytical methods
- Total Phosphorus After Block Digestion
- 447.0 ~ EPA; Chlorophyll a and b in phytoplankton by HPLC/UV
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)
Named boat-access points from the USGS National Boat Ramps inventory