Quivira Lake
Wyandotte County, Kansas207 acresView mapDirections
KDHE publishes the water-quality measurements for Quivira Lake. Here is what has been measured.
- Eutrophic
- 31 ft max depth
- Limited data
Quivira Lake in Wyandotte County, Kansas has water-quality measurements published by KDHE, shown here as reported. Water clarity: 3 ft visibility. Phosphorus: 50 µg/L. Chlorophyll-a (algae): 22.4 µg/L. Surface area: 207 acres.
Quivira Lake is a 207-acre productive, nutrient-rich eutrophic lake in Wyandotte County, Kansas with an estimated average depth of about 31 feet. Overall water quality is improving over recent sampling years. Compared to the 3 other monitored lakes in Wyandotte County, Quivira Lake ranks #2 for water quality.
Source: EPA Water Quality Portal sampling records, KDHE, last sampled 2018-09-17. Methodology: how these readings are compared.
Swimming conditions
Readings onlyLimited data
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 Quivira 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 Quivira Lake
These are the measurements KDHE publishes for Quivira 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 3 ft of visibility. Phosphorus 50 µg/L. Chlorophyll-a 22.4 µg/L. TSI 61.
| Measure | Reading | Where it sits |
|---|---|---|
| Water clarity (Secchi depth) | 3ft | Measured, not scored How deep a black-and-white disk stays visible from the surface. Higher is clearer. |
| Total phosphorus | 50µg/L | Fair GoodFairPoor |
| Chlorophyll-a (algae) | 22.4µg/L | Poor GoodFairPoor |
| Trophic state (TSI)Carlson's 0–100 index of how much algae a lake can support, from clarity, phosphorus and chlorophyll-a. | 61 | Eutrophic OligotrophicMesotrophicEutrophicHypereutrophic |
High nutrients, frequent algae, reduced clarity
Ask about Quivira Lake
Answers come straight from the public measurements and survey records on this page.
Lake Details
Max depth
~31 ft est.
Surface area
207 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 Quivira Lake.
Lake Size & Watershed
Watershed (drainage) area
5 sq mi
HydroLAKES / HydroSHEDS
Shoreline
2.6 mi
HydroLAKES / HydroSHEDS
Elevation
830 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 Quivira Lake
Compare lakeside cabins, hotels, and vacation rentals near Quivira Lake in Wyandotte County, Kansas — 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. The water-quality readings cover nutrients and algae, not lodging. Cabins and rentals around Quivira Lake are listed below.
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Fishing Quivira Lake
Water quality readings over time
3 seasons of samples on record (2016–2018). Calling a direction takes at least 4 years of the same measurement.
Water clarity
Improving2 years
Phosphorus
Improving-15 µg/L/yr3 years
Chlorophyll-a
Improving-9.95 µg/L/yr3 years
Reservoir Info (USACE NID)
Quivira Lake is a man-made reservoir impounded by the Lake Quivira Dam (completed 1935), built primarily for recreation on the Tooley Creek; rockfill-type dam, 36 ft tall and 1,600 ft long.
- Surface area
- 207 ac
- Normal storage
- 766 ac-ft
- Max storage
- 1,977 ac-ft
- Drainage area
- 4.5 sq mi
- Hazard class
- High
- Owner
- LAKE QUIVIRA, CITY OF
Source: USACE National Inventory of Dams, NID ID KS02974 · Operator website
Nearby Lakes in Wyandotte County
Frequently asked questions about Quivira Lake
Where is Quivira Lake?
- Quivira Lake is a lake in Wyandotte County, Kansas. Its water-quality measurements are published by KDHE and shown on this page as reported.
What is the water quality of Quivira Lake?
- Quivira Lake in Wyandotte County, Kansas has water-quality measurements published by KDHE, shown here as reported. Water clarity: 3 ft visibility. Phosphorus: 50 µg/L. Chlorophyll-a (algae): 22.4 µg/L. Surface area: 207 acres.
Is Quivira Lake safe to swim in?
- Nutrient and algae readings are not a swimming clearance. Check local advisories before you swim.
How deep is Quivira Lake?
- No published bathymetric survey covers Quivira Lake, so its depth has not been measured. The HydroLAKES global model estimates an average depth of about 31 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 207 acres.
Explore Quivira Lake across LakeQuality
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Eutrophic Lakes in Kansas
Where this data comes from
42 measurements from 1 monitoring station, 2016–2018. Retrieved from the EPA Water Quality Portal on 2026-08-02.
Collected and reported by
- USGS Kansas Water Science Center
USGS-KS42 samples · 2016–2018
Analytical methods
- Phosphorus, wu, microKJ ASF, H+
- Plant pigments, sonication & 445
- Pigments, algae, EPA445.0 w/ACTN
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
Lake size & watershed from HydroLAKES (HydroSHEDS)