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LakeQuality

North Bethany City Reservoir

Harrison County, Missouri76 acresView mapDirections

NR
Not rated

Not enough samples to grade — no nutrient or algae measurement meets the evidence bar (at least 3 samples within 10 years). No letter yet. Here is what we do have.

Water temp
~82°F
Typical for Aug · EPA WQP
Clarity
No reading
No sample
Max depth
~42 ft est.
GLOBathy model
Level
No reading
No gauge
Trend
No reading
Not enough history
  • Impaired · Mercury
  • 42 ft max depth
  • Public access
  • Limited data

North Bethany City Reservoir in Harrison County, Missouri is not rated for water quality — its monitoring record does not meet the evidence bar. Surface area: 76 acres.

Typical in August
82°F
Max depth
~42 ft est.
Area
76 acres
Public access
Yes
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Watch North Bethany City Reservoir’s letter

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Why North Bethany City Reservoir has no grade

We grade a lake only when the monitoring record supports a letter: at least three phosphorus or chlorophyll-a samples in the last ten years, scored against EPA National Lakes Assessment thresholds for this lake’s ecoregion. For North Bethany City Reservoir, no nutrient or algae measurement meets the evidence bar (at least 3 samples within 10 years).

Not Rated is not an F. It is EPA Integrated Reporting Category 3 — insufficient information. The water here may be excellent or poor; nobody has measured enough of it to say. Everything below that has been measured is still reported on this page.

Sampling is run by Missouri DNR and volunteer programs, and published through the EPA Water Quality Portal. Read the full grading methodology.

North Bethany City Reservoir is a 76-acre lake in Harrison County, Missouri with an estimated average depth of about 42 feet. Limited fish-species data available. Public access is available with 1 public boat landing.

Source: EPA Water Quality Portal sampling records, Missouri DNR, last sampled 2022-10-12. Grade methodology: LakeQuality methodology.

What North Bethany City Reservoir is good for

From access and monitoring records, not editorial picks.

  • Boat launch1 documented ramp

Swimming Safety

Not rated

Limited data

The letter is not a swimming clearance. North Bethany City Reservoir is listed impaired under Clean Water Act §303(d) (IR 5) for mercury. Check local advisories before you swim.

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Water quality measurements for North Bethany City Reservoir

These readings exist but are not enough for an A–F grade — see why.

No clarity data.

MetricValueGrade
Water Clarity (Secchi Depth)No recent samples
PhosphorusNo recent samples
Chlorophyll-a (Algae)No recent samples

Water Temperature

North Bethany City Reservoir typically sits around 82°F at the surface in August. Summer average is about 80°F. Usually warmest in Aug (about 82°F) and coldest in May (about 66°F). These are typical values by month — not a live reading.

Jan
Feb
Mar
Apr
May
66°
Jun
78°
Jul
81°
Aug
82°
Sep
Oct
Nov
Dec

Typical surface water temperature by month, from 17 field readings (20152022) via the EPA Water Quality Portal. See the full North Bethany City Reservoir water temperature breakdown →

Lake Details

CharacteristicValue
Maximum Depth~42 ft est.
Average Depth~11 ft est.
Surface Area76 acres
Public AccessYes

Depth marked “est.” is a modeled maximum from GLOBathy (Khazaei et al. 2022, CC0), not a measured survey. Missouri has not published bathymetry for North Bethany City Reservoir.

Lake Size & Watershed

Watershed (drainage) area
1 sq mi
Shoreline
1.7 mi
Elevation
932 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

1
Boat Landings
Yes
Public Access
  • Bethany (North Bethany City Reservoir)Public

Named access points in the USGS National Boat Ramps inventory, within about 3 miles. More lakes with boat ramps

Fishing North Bethany City Reservoir

Reservoir Info (USACE NID)

North Bethany City Reservoir is a man-made reservoir impounded by the City of Bethany Dam (completed 1960), built primarily for water supply on the TRIBUTARY TO WEST FORK BIG CK; earth-type dam, 60 ft tall and 1,000 ft long.

Surface area
76 ac
Normal storage
2,820 ac-ft
Max storage
3,850 ac-ft
Drainage area
1.15 sq mi
Hazard class
High
Owner
CITY OF BETHANY

All listed purposes: Water Supply;Recreation.

Source: USACE National Inventory of Dams, NID ID MO10071 · Operator website · Matched by proximity (0.09 km)

EPA Impairment Status

North Bethany City Reservoir is officially listed as impaired under Clean Water Act §303(d) in the 2022 EPA reporting cycle (IR category 5).

Causes of impairment

Mercury

Source: EPA ATTAINS assessment unit MO_7109.00 · Official waterbody report · Matched by proximity (0.38 km)

Regulated Pollution Sources Nearby

2 EPA-permitted facilities operate within about 5 miles of North Bethany City Reservoir under Clean Water Act (NPDES) discharge permits. 1 facility has a reported Clean Water Act violation in the past three years.

  • Bethany Wwtf
    Bethany · 4.4 mi away · NPDES MO0033502
    Recent violation
  • Bethany Army Reserve Center (Arc)
    Bethany · 3.4 mi away · NPDES MONX00241

Facilities permitted to discharge under the Clean Water Act within ~5 miles; proximity does not by itself mean a facility affects this lake. Source: EPA ECHO (ICIS-NPDES), as of 2026-07.

Graded lakes near North Bethany City Reservoir

North Bethany City Reservoir has no grade, but these lakes within a short drive do.

Nearby Lakes in Harrison County

Frequently asked questions about North Bethany City Reservoir

Where is North Bethany City Reservoir?

North Bethany City Reservoir is a lake in Harrison County, Missouri. LakeQuality has not rated this lake (UNRATED) — no nutrient or algae measurement meets the evidence bar (at least 3 samples within 10 years).

What is the water quality grade for North Bethany City Reservoir?

North Bethany City Reservoir in Harrison County, Missouri is not rated for water quality — its monitoring record does not meet the evidence bar. Surface area: 76 acres.

Is North Bethany City Reservoir safe to swim in?

The letter is not a swimming clearance. North Bethany City Reservoir is listed impaired under Clean Water Act §303(d) (IR 5) for mercury. Check local advisories before you swim.

What is the water temperature of North Bethany City Reservoir?

North Bethany City Reservoir typically sits around 82°F at the surface in August, from 17 EPA Water Quality Portal field readings (2015–2022). That is a typical value for the month, not a live reading.

How deep is North Bethany City Reservoir?

No published bathymetric survey covers North Bethany City Reservoir, so its depth has not been measured. The HydroLAKES global model estimates an average depth of about 42 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 76 acres.

Are there boat ramps on North Bethany City Reservoir?

North Bethany City Reservoir has 1 documented boat landing in the USGS National Boat Ramps inventory. Named access points include Bethany (North Bethany City Reservoir). Public access is listed as yes.

Where this data comes from

3 measurements from 1 monitoring station, 2022. Retrieved from the EPA Water Quality Portal on 2026-08-02.

Collected and reported by

  • Missouri Dept. of Natural ResourcesMDNR3 samples · 2022

Analytical methods

  • Depth, Secchi disk in meters
  • Nitrogen and Phosphorus, Total, Whole-water, Alkaline Persulfate Digest
  • 445.0 ~ EPA; Chlorophyll and Pheophytin in Algae by Fluorescence
Monitoring station identifiers (1)

Grade thresholds from the EPA National Lakes Assessment (EPA 841-R-24-006, Table 6-3), applied by ecoregion. See how grades are calculated and data sources.

Other records on this page

Impairment status from EPA ATTAINS 303(d) database

Regulated discharger data from EPA ECHO (ICIS-NPDES)

Lake size & watershed from HydroLAKES (HydroSHEDS)

Named boat-access points from the USGS National Boat Ramps inventory