Mission Lake
Brown County, Kansas154 acresView mapDirections
KDHE publishes the water-quality measurements for Mission Lake. Here is what has been measured.
- Eutrophic
- Impaired · Nutrients (phosphorus, nitrogen)
- 41 ft max depth
- Limited data
Mission Lake in Brown County, Kansas has water-quality measurements published by KDHE, shown here as reported. Water clarity: 1 ft visibility. Phosphorus: 170 µg/L. Chlorophyll-a (algae): 9.3 µg/L. Surface area: 154 acres.
Mission Lake is a 154-acre productive, nutrient-rich eutrophic lake in Brown County, Kansas with an estimated average depth of about 41 feet. Phosphorus level is improving over recent sampling years. Compared to the 1 other monitored lakes in Brown County, Mission Lake ranks #1 for water quality.
Source: EPA Water Quality Portal sampling records, KDHE, last sampled 2017-09-12. 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. Mission Lake is listed impaired under Clean Water Act §303(d) (IR 4A) for nutrients (phosphorus, nitrogen), pesticides, sediment / turbidity. Check local advisories before you swim.
Whether Mission Lake is safe to swim in today is a call for the Kansas Department of Health and Environment and the county health department, who post current advisories. LakeQuality does not issue swimming clearances.
Water quality measurements for Mission Lake
These are the measurements KDHE publishes for Mission 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 ft of visibility. Phosphorus 170 µg/L. Chlorophyll-a 9.3 µg/L. TSI 69.
| Measure | Reading | Where it sits |
|---|---|---|
| Water clarity (Secchi depth) | 1ft | Measured, not scored How deep a black-and-white disk stays visible from the surface. Higher is clearer. |
| Total phosphorus | 170µg/L | Poor GoodFairPoor |
| Chlorophyll-a (algae) | 9.3µg/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 Mission Lake
Answers come straight from the public measurements and survey records on this page.
Lake Details
Max depth
~41 ft est.
Surface area
154 acres
Depth marked “est.” is a modeled maximum from GLOBathy (Khazaei et al. 2022, CC0), not a measured survey. Kansas has not published bathymetry for Mission Lake.
Lake Size & Watershed
Watershed (drainage) area
9 sq mi
HydroLAKES / HydroSHEDS
Shoreline
2.4 mi
HydroLAKES / HydroSHEDS
Elevation
1,037 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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Stays near Mission Lake
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Fishing Mission Lake
Water quality readings over time
2 seasons of samples on record (2013–2017). Calling a direction takes at least 4 years of the same measurement.
Water clarity
Stable2 years
Phosphorus
Improving-10 µg/L/yr2 years
Chlorophyll-a
Worsening+19.72 µg/L/yr2 years
Reservoir Info (USACE NID)
Mission Lake is a man-made reservoir impounded by the Mission Lake (completed 1924), built primarily for water supply on the Mission Creek; earth-type dam, 36 ft tall and 1,010 ft long.
- Surface area
- 154 ac
- Normal storage
- 1,070 ac-ft
- Max storage
- 2,450 ac-ft
- Drainage area
- 8.52 sq mi
- Hazard class
- High
- Owner
- HORTON, CITY OF
All listed purposes: Water Supply;Recreation.
Source: USACE National Inventory of Dams, NID ID KS02458 · Operator website
EPA Impairment Status
Mission 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: Drinking water, Aquatic life, Recreation.
A Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) plan has been approved.
Source: EPA ATTAINS assessment unit KS-LM013601 · Official waterbody report
Nearby Lakes in Brown County
Frequently asked questions about Mission Lake
Where is Mission Lake?
- Mission Lake is a lake in Brown County, Kansas. Its water-quality measurements are published by KDHE and shown on this page as reported.
What is the water quality of Mission Lake?
- Mission Lake in Brown County, Kansas has water-quality measurements published by KDHE, shown here as reported. Water clarity: 1 ft visibility. Phosphorus: 170 µg/L. Chlorophyll-a (algae): 9.3 µg/L. Surface area: 154 acres.
Is Mission Lake safe to swim in?
- Nutrient and algae readings are not a swimming clearance. Mission Lake is listed impaired under Clean Water Act §303(d) (IR 4A) for nutrients (phosphorus, nitrogen), pesticides, sediment / turbidity. Check local advisories before you swim.
How deep is Mission Lake?
- No published bathymetric survey covers Mission Lake, so its depth has not been measured. The HydroLAKES global model estimates an average depth of about 41 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 154 acres.
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Where this data comes from
10 measurements from 1 monitoring station, 2013–2017. Retrieved from the EPA Water Quality Portal on 2026-08-02.
Collected and reported by
- Kansas Department Of Health And Environment
21KAN001_WQX10 samples · 2013–2017
Analytical methods
- Depth, Secchi disk depth
- Phosphorus by Colorimetry
- 10200 H ~ Chlorophyll a-b-c Determination
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)