Oliver Reservoir
Kimball County, Nebraska264 acresView mapDirections
Nebraska DEE publishes the water-quality measurements for Oliver Reservoir. Here is what has been measured.
- Eutrophic
- 21 ft max depth
Oliver Reservoir in Kimball County, Nebraska has water-quality measurements published by Nebraska DEE, shown here as reported. Water clarity: 1.7 ft visibility. Phosphorus: 71.8 µg/L. Chlorophyll-a (algae): 7.9 µg/L. Surface area: 264 acres.
Oliver Reservoir is a 264-acre productive, nutrient-rich eutrophic lake in Kimball County, Nebraska with an estimated average depth of about 21 feet. Overall water quality is improving over recent sampling years.
Source: EPA Water Quality Portal sampling records, NDEE, last sampled 2024-09-25. Methodology: how these readings are compared.
Oliver Reservoir covers about 260 acres in Kimball County. Vrbo is where to look for cabins and lake homes around Oliver Reservoir, and Booking.com and Expedia search hotels near the lake for your dates.
Swimming conditions
Readings onlyLow algae
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. Check local advisories before you swim.
Whether Oliver Reservoir 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 Oliver Reservoir
These are the measurements Nebraska DEE publishes for Oliver Reservoir, 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 1.7 ft of visibility. Phosphorus 71.8 µg/L. Chlorophyll-a 7.9 µg/L. TSI 62.
| Measure | Reading | Where it sits |
|---|---|---|
| Water clarity (Secchi depth) | 1.7ft | Measured, not scored How deep a black-and-white disk stays visible from the surface. Higher is clearer. |
| Total phosphorus | 71.8µg/L | Measured, not scored The nutrient that most limits algae growth in freshwater. More phosphorus, more algae potential. |
| Chlorophyll-a (algae) | 7.9µg/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. | 62 | Eutrophic OligotrophicMesotrophicEutrophicHypereutrophic |
High nutrients, frequent algae, reduced clarity
Ask about Oliver Reservoir
Answers come straight from the public measurements and survey records on this page.
Lake Details
Max depth
~21 ft est.
Surface area
264 acres
Depth marked “est.” is a modeled maximum from GLOBathy (Khazaei et al. 2022, CC0), not a measured survey. Nebraska has not published bathymetry for Oliver Reservoir.
Lake Size & Watershed
Watershed (drainage) area
1,242 sq mi
HydroLAKES / HydroSHEDS
Shoreline
4.1 mi
HydroLAKES / HydroSHEDS
Elevation
4,813 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 Oliver Reservoir
Compare lakeside cabins, hotels, and vacation rentals near Oliver Reservoir in Kimball 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.
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Fishing Oliver Reservoir
Water Quality Trend: Improving
Based on 11 years of monitoring (2014–2024).
Water clarity
Stable11 years
Phosphorus
Improving-16.66 µg/L/yr4 years
Chlorophyll-a
Improving-0.75 µg/L/yr10 years
Reservoir Info (USACE NID)
Oliver Reservoir is a man-made reservoir impounded by the Oliver Dam (completed 1910), built primarily for irrigation on the Lodgepole Creek; earth-type dam, 48 ft tall and 5,800 ft long.
- Surface area
- 264 ac
- Normal storage
- 2,678 ac-ft
- Max storage
- 8,428 ac-ft
- Drainage area
- 1,203.5 sq mi
- Hazard class
- High
- Owner
- South Platte Natural Resources District
Source: USACE National Inventory of Dams, NID ID NE00749 · Operator website
Nearby Lakes in Kimball County
Frequently asked questions about Oliver Reservoir
Where is Oliver Reservoir?
- Oliver Reservoir is a lake in Kimball County, Nebraska. Its water-quality measurements are published by Nebraska DEE and shown on this page as reported.
What is the water quality of Oliver Reservoir?
- Oliver Reservoir in Kimball County, Nebraska has water-quality measurements published by Nebraska DEE, shown here as reported. Water clarity: 1.7 ft visibility. Phosphorus: 71.8 µg/L. Chlorophyll-a (algae): 7.9 µg/L. Surface area: 264 acres.
Is Oliver Reservoir safe to swim in?
- Nutrient and algae readings are not a swimming clearance. Check local advisories before you swim.
How deep is Oliver Reservoir?
- No published bathymetric survey covers Oliver Reservoir, so its depth has not been measured. The HydroLAKES global model estimates an average depth of about 21 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 264 acres.
Explore Oliver Reservoir across LakeQuality
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Where this data comes from
142 measurements from 2 monitoring stations, 2014–2024. Retrieved from the EPA Water Quality Portal on 2026-08-02.
Collected and reported by
- Nebraska Department of Environment and Energy
21NEB001_WQX142 samples · 2014–2024
Analytical methods
- Total Phosphorus After Block Digestion
- 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
Lake size & watershed from HydroLAKES (HydroSHEDS)