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LakeQuality

Olpe City Lake

Lyon County, Kansas75 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
No reading
No gauge
Clarity
0.5 ft
Secchi · sampled 2014
Max depth
~36 ft est.
GLOBathy model
Level
No reading
No gauge
Trend
No reading
Not enough history
  • Impaired · Nutrients (phosphorus, nitrogen)
  • 36 ft max depth
  • Limited data

Olpe City Lake in Lyon County, Kansas is not rated for water quality — its monitoring record does not meet the evidence bar. Water clarity: 0.5 ft visibility. Phosphorus: 115 µg/L. Chlorophyll-a (algae): 13 µg/L. Surface area: 75 acres.

Clarity
0.5 ft
Max depth
~36 ft est.
Area
75 acres
Phosphorus
115 µg/L
Chlorophyll-a
13 µg/L
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Watch Olpe City Lake’s letter

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Why Olpe City Lake 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 Olpe City Lake, no nutrient or algae measurement meets the evidence bar (at least 3 samples within 10 years). Sampling here has recorded water clarity, phosphorus and algae (chlorophyll-a).

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 KDHE and volunteer programs, and published through the EPA Water Quality Portal. Read the full grading methodology.

Olpe City Lake is a 75-acre lake in Lyon County, Kansas with an estimated average depth of about 36 feet.

Source: EPA Water Quality Portal sampling records, KDHE, last sampled 2014-08-06. Grade methodology: LakeQuality methodology.

Swimming Safety

Not rated

Limited data

The letter is not a swimming clearance. Olpe City Lake is listed impaired under Clean Water Act §303(d) (IR 4A) for nutrients (phosphorus, nitrogen), sediment / turbidity. Check local advisories before you swim.

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Water quality measurements for Olpe City Lake

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

Very murky, less than 0.5 ft of visibility. Phosphorus 115 µg/L. Chlorophyll-a 13 µg/L. TSI 72.

MetricValueGrade
Water Clarity (Secchi Depth)0.5 ftNot graded
Phosphorus115 µg/LNot graded
Chlorophyll-a (Algae)13 µg/LNot graded
Trophic State Index (TSI)72Hypereutrophic

Very high nutrients, dense algae, poor clarity

Lake Details

CharacteristicValue
Maximum Depth~36 ft est.
Average Depth~8 ft est.
Surface Area75 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 Olpe City Lake.

Lake Size & Watershed

Watershed (drainage) area
3 sq mi
Shoreline
1.6 mi
Elevation
1,207 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.

Fishing Olpe City Lake

Reservoir Info (USACE NID)

Olpe City Lake is a man-made reservoir impounded by the Olpe City Lake (completed 1965), built primarily for water supply on the Eagle Creek-Tr; earth-type dam, 43 ft tall and 1,700 ft long.

Surface area
75 ac
Normal storage
475 ac-ft
Max storage
879 ac-ft
Drainage area
1.52 sq mi
Hazard class
Low
Owner
OLPE, CITY OF

All listed purposes: Water Supply;Recreation.

Source: USACE National Inventory of Dams, NID ID KS02502 · Operator website

EPA Impairment Status

Olpe City Lake is officially listed as impaired under Clean Water Act §303(d) in the 2024 EPA reporting cycle (IR category 4A).

Causes of impairment

Nutrients (phosphorus, nitrogen)Sediment / turbidity

A Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) plan has been approved.

Source: EPA ATTAINS assessment unit KS-LM041001 · Official waterbody report

Graded lakes near Olpe City Lake

Olpe City Lake has no grade, but these lakes within a short drive do.

Nearby Lakes in Lyon County

Frequently asked questions about Olpe City Lake

Where is Olpe City Lake?

Olpe City Lake is a lake in Lyon County, Kansas. 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 Olpe City Lake?

Olpe City Lake in Lyon County, Kansas is not rated for water quality — its monitoring record does not meet the evidence bar. Water clarity: 0.5 ft visibility. Phosphorus: 115 µg/L. Chlorophyll-a (algae): 13 µg/L. Surface area: 75 acres.

Is Olpe City Lake safe to swim in?

The letter is not a swimming clearance. Olpe City Lake is listed impaired under Clean Water Act §303(d) (IR 4A) for nutrients (phosphorus, nitrogen), sediment / turbidity. Check local advisories before you swim.

How deep is Olpe City Lake?

No published bathymetric survey covers Olpe City Lake, so its depth has not been measured. The HydroLAKES global model estimates an average depth of about 36 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 75 acres.

Where this data comes from

5 measurements from 1 monitoring station, 2014. Retrieved from the EPA Water Quality Portal on 2026-08-02.

Collected and reported by

  • Kansas Department Of Health And Environment21KAN001_WQX5 samples · 2014

Analytical methods

  • Depth, Secchi disk depth
  • Phosphorus by Colorimetry
  • 10200 H ~ Chlorophyll a-b-c Determination
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

Lake size & watershed from HydroLAKES (HydroSHEDS)