Sands Timber Lake
Taylor County, Iowa70 acresView mapDirections
Iowa DNR publishes the water-quality measurements for Sands Timber Lake. Here is what has been measured.
- Hypereutrophic
- Impaired · Turbidity
- 23 ft max depth
- Limited data
Sands Timber Lake in Taylor County, Iowa has water-quality measurements published by Iowa DNR, shown here as reported. Water clarity: 1.8 ft visibility. Phosphorus: 98 µg/L. Chlorophyll-a (algae): 70.1 µg/L. Surface area: 70 acres.
Free interactive depth-contour map of Sands Timber Lake, reaching a maximum surveyed depth of 14 ft. Toggle Depth contours to overlay the bathymetric survey lines. Contour data from Iowa DNR.
Sands Timber Lake is a 70-acre highly nutrient-loaded hypereutrophic lake in Taylor County, Iowa with an estimated average depth of about 23 feet. Overall water quality is improving over recent sampling years. Compared to the 3 other monitored lakes in Taylor County, Sands Timber Lake ranks #1 for water quality.
Source: EPA Water Quality Portal sampling records, Iowa DNR, last sampled 2022-09-06. 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. Sands Timber Lake is listed impaired under Clean Water Act §303(d) (IR 5) for turbidity. Check local advisories before you swim.
Whether Sands Timber Lake is safe to swim in today is a call for the Iowa Department of Natural Resources and the county health department, who post current advisories. LakeQuality does not issue swimming clearances.
Water quality measurements for Sands Timber Lake
These are the measurements Iowa DNR publishes for Sands Timber 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 1.8 ft of visibility. Phosphorus 98 µg/L. Chlorophyll-a 70.1 µg/L. TSI 70.
| Measure | Reading | Where it sits |
|---|---|---|
| Water clarity (Secchi depth) | 1.8ft | Measured, not scored How deep a black-and-white disk stays visible from the surface. Higher is clearer. |
| Total phosphorus | 98µg/L | Poor GoodFairPoor |
| Chlorophyll-a (algae) | 70.1µg/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. | 70 | Hypereutrophic OligotrophicMesotrophicEutrophicHypereutrophic |
Very high nutrients, dense algae, poor clarity
Ask about Sands Timber Lake
Answers come straight from the public measurements and survey records on this page.
Water Temperature
Sands Timber Lake typically sits around 80°F at the surface in August. Summer average is about 81°F. Usually warmest in Jul (about 82°F) and coldest in May (about 67°F). These are typical values by month — not a live reading.
Column height runs from this lake’s coldest month (67°F) to its warmest (82°F).
Typical surface water temperature by month, from 9 field readings (2018–2022) via the EPA Water Quality Portal. See the full Sands Timber Lake water temperature breakdown →
Lake Details
Max depth
~23 ft est.
Surface area
70 acres
Depth marked “est.” is a modeled maximum from GLOBathy (Khazaei et al. 2022, CC0), not a measured survey. Iowa has not published bathymetry for Sands Timber Lake.
Lake Size & Watershed
Watershed (drainage) area
7 sq mi
HydroLAKES / HydroSHEDS
Shoreline
1.5 mi
HydroLAKES / HydroSHEDS
Elevation
1,106 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 Sands Timber Lake
Compare lakeside cabins, hotels, and vacation rentals near Sands Timber Lake in Taylor County, Iowa — 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 Sands Timber Lake are listed below.
Top-rated places to stay near Sands Timber Lake
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Fishing Sands Timber Lake
Water quality readings over time
3 seasons of samples on record (2020–2022). Calling a direction takes at least 4 years of the same measurement.
Water clarity
Improving3 years
Phosphorus
Improving-28.2 µg/L/yr3 years
Chlorophyll-a
Improving-31.2 µg/L/yr3 years
Reservoir Info (USACE NID)
Sands Timber Lake is a man-made reservoir impounded by the Blockton Watershed Site S-5 (completed 1993), built primarily for flood risk reduction on the TR-PLATTE RIVER; earth-type dam, 41 ft tall and 1,170 ft long.
- Surface area
- 70 ac
- Normal storage
- 435 ac-ft
- Max storage
- 3,021 ac-ft
- Drainage area
- 6.4 sq mi
- Hazard class
- Significant
- Owner
- Taylor County SWCD
All listed purposes: Flood Risk Reduction;Recreation.
Source: USACE National Inventory of Dams, NID ID IA02665 · Operator website · Matched by proximity (0.06 km)
EPA Impairment Status
Sands Timber Lake is officially listed as impaired under Clean Water Act §303(d) in the 2024 EPA reporting cycle (IR category 5).
Causes of impairment
Designated uses not supporting: Aquatic life.
Source: EPA ATTAINS assessment unit IA 05-PLA-2064 · Official waterbody report
Regulated Pollution Sources Nearby
1 EPA-permitted facility operate within about 5 miles of Sands Timber Lake under Clean Water Act (NPDES) discharge permits.
- Blockton City Of (Southern Ia Rural Water Assn.)Blockton · 2.4 mi away · NPDES IA0076023
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.
Nearby Lakes in Taylor County
Frequently asked questions about Sands Timber Lake
Where is Sands Timber Lake?
- Sands Timber Lake is a lake in Taylor County, Iowa. Its water-quality measurements are published by Iowa DNR and shown on this page as reported.
What is the water quality of Sands Timber Lake?
- Sands Timber Lake in Taylor County, Iowa has water-quality measurements published by Iowa DNR, shown here as reported. Water clarity: 1.8 ft visibility. Phosphorus: 98 µg/L. Chlorophyll-a (algae): 70.1 µg/L. Surface area: 70 acres.
Is Sands Timber Lake safe to swim in?
- Nutrient and algae readings are not a swimming clearance. Sands Timber Lake is listed impaired under Clean Water Act §303(d) (IR 5) for turbidity. Check local advisories before you swim.
What is the water temperature of Sands Timber Lake?
- Sands Timber Lake typically sits around 80°F at the surface in August, from 9 EPA Water Quality Portal field readings (2018–2022). That is a typical value for the month, not a live reading.
How deep is Sands Timber Lake?
- No published bathymetric survey covers Sands Timber Lake, so its depth has not been measured. The HydroLAKES global model estimates an average depth of about 23 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 70 acres.
Explore Sands Timber Lake across LakeQuality
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Where this data comes from
36 measurements from 1 monitoring station, 2020–2022. Retrieved from the EPA Water Quality Portal on 2026-08-02.
Collected and reported by
- Iowa DNR Surface Water Monitoring Data
21IOWA_WQX36 samples · 2020–2022
Analytical methods
- Unknown
- Phosphorus by Colorimetry
- 445.0 ~ EPA; Chlorophyll and Pheophytin in Algae by Fluorescence
- ISU modification of APHA 2130-B
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
Regulated discharger data from EPA ECHO (ICIS-NPDES)
Lake size & watershed from HydroLAKES (HydroSHEDS)