Pony Creek Lake
Brown County, Kansas171 acresView mapDirections
KDHE publishes the water-quality measurements for Pony Creek Lake. Here is what has been measured.
- Impaired · Nutrients (phosphorus, nitrogen)
- Limited data
Pony Creek Lake in Brown County, Kansas has water-quality measurements published by KDHE, shown here as reported. Water clarity: 2.2 ft visibility. Phosphorus: 83 µg/L. Chlorophyll-a (algae): 62 µg/L. Surface area: 171 acres.
Pony Creek Lake is a 171-acre lake in Brown County, Kansas.
Source: EPA Water Quality Portal sampling records, KDHE, last sampled 2017-08-29. Methodology: how these readings are compared.
Pony Creek Lake covers about 170 acres in Brown County. For a place on the water, look through cabin and lake-house rentals near Pony Creek Lake on Vrbo. For a hotel or motel room, Booking.com and Expedia both search around the lake.
Swimming conditions
No readingRecreation use not supported
Nutrient and algae readings are not a swimming clearance. Pony Creek Lake is listed impaired under Clean Water Act §303(d) (IR 4A) for nutrients (phosphorus, nitrogen). Check local advisories before you swim.
Whether Pony Creek 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 Pony Creek Lake
These are the measurements KDHE publishes for Pony Creek 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 2.2 ft of visibility. Phosphorus 83 µg/L. Chlorophyll-a 62 µg/L. TSI 68.
| Measure | Reading | Where it sits |
|---|---|---|
| Water clarity (Secchi depth) | 2.2ft | Measured, not scored How deep a black-and-white disk stays visible from the surface. Higher is clearer. |
| Total phosphorus | 83µg/L | Measured, not scored The nutrient that most limits algae growth in freshwater. More phosphorus, more algae potential. |
| Chlorophyll-a (algae) | 62µg/L | Measured, not scored The green pigment in algae — a direct measure of how much algae is in the water. |
| Trophic state (TSI)Carlson's 0–100 index of how much algae a lake can support, from clarity, phosphorus and chlorophyll-a. | 68 | Eutrophic OligotrophicMesotrophicEutrophicHypereutrophic |
High nutrients, frequent algae, reduced clarity
Ask about Pony Creek Lake
Answers come straight from the public measurements and survey records on this page.
Lake Details
Surface area
171 acres
No bathymetric survey has been published for Pony Creek Lake, so its depth is not documented here.
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Stays near Pony Creek Lake
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Fishing Pony Creek Lake
Reservoir Info (USACE NID)
Pony Creek Lake is a man-made reservoir impounded by the Pony Creek Lake (completed 1993), built primarily for water supply on the Pony Creek; earth-type dam, 67 ft tall and 2,200 ft long.
- Surface area
- 171 ac
- Normal storage
- 2,630 ac-ft
- Max storage
- 6,023 ac-ft
- Drainage area
- 6.51 sq mi
- Hazard class
- High
- Owner
- SABETHA, CITY OF
All listed purposes: Water Supply;Flood Risk Reduction.
Source: USACE National Inventory of Dams, NID ID KS07569 · Operator website
EPA Impairment Status
Pony Creek 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-LM073001 · Official waterbody report
Nearby Lakes in Brown County
Frequently asked questions about Pony Creek Lake
Where is Pony Creek Lake?
- Pony Creek 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 Pony Creek Lake?
- Pony Creek Lake in Brown County, Kansas has water-quality measurements published by KDHE, shown here as reported. Water clarity: 2.2 ft visibility. Phosphorus: 83 µg/L. Chlorophyll-a (algae): 62 µg/L. Surface area: 171 acres.
Is Pony Creek Lake safe to swim in?
- Nutrient and algae readings are not a swimming clearance. Pony Creek Lake is listed impaired under Clean Water Act §303(d) (IR 4A) for nutrients (phosphorus, nitrogen). Check local advisories before you swim.
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Where this data comes from
5 measurements from 1 monitoring station, 2017. Retrieved from the EPA Water Quality Portal on 2026-08-02.
Collected and reported by
- Kansas Department Of Health And Environment
21KAN001_WQX5 samples · 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