Smith Lake
Sheridan County, Nebraska425 acresView mapDirections
Nebraska DEE publishes the water-quality measurements for Smith Lake. Here is what has been measured.
- Hypereutrophic
- Impaired · pH / acidity
- 14 ft max depth
- Public access
Smith Lake in Sheridan County, Nebraska has water-quality measurements published by Nebraska DEE, shown here as reported. Water clarity: 1.7 ft visibility. Phosphorus: 248 µg/L. Chlorophyll-a (algae): 56.1 µg/L. Surface area: 425 acres.
Smith Lake is a 425-acre highly nutrient-loaded hypereutrophic lake in Sheridan County, Nebraska with an estimated average depth of about 14 feet. Overall water quality is declining over recent sampling years. Limited fish-species data available. Public access is available with 1 public boat landing.
Source: EPA Water Quality Portal sampling records, NDEE, last sampled 2024-09-24. Methodology: how these readings are compared.
What Smith Lake is good for
From access and monitoring records, not editorial picks.
- Boat launch1 documented ramp
Swimming conditions
Readings onlyAlgae risk
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. Smith Lake is listed impaired under Clean Water Act §303(d) (IR 5) for pH / acidity. Check local advisories before you swim.
Whether Smith Lake 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 Smith Lake
These are the measurements Nebraska DEE publishes for Smith 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 1.7 ft of visibility. Phosphorus 248 µg/L. Chlorophyll-a 56.1 µg/L. TSI 75.
| 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 | 248µg/L | Good GoodFairPoor |
| Chlorophyll-a (algae) | 56.1µg/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. | 75 | Hypereutrophic OligotrophicMesotrophicEutrophicHypereutrophic |
Very high nutrients, dense algae, poor clarity
Ask about Smith Lake
Answers come straight from the public measurements and survey records on this page.
Lake Details
Max depth
~14 ft est.
Surface area
425 acres
Public access
Yes
Listed by Nebraska DEE
Depth marked “est.” is a modeled maximum from GLOBathy (Khazaei et al. 2022, CC0), not a measured survey. Nebraska has not published bathymetry for Smith Lake.
Lake Size & Watershed
Watershed (drainage) area
1,548 sq mi
HydroLAKES / HydroSHEDS
Shoreline
2.7 mi
HydroLAKES / HydroSHEDS
Elevation
3,799 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.
Recreation & Access
- Smith LakePublic
Named access points in the USGS National Boat Ramps inventory, within about 3 miles. More lakes with boat ramps
Stays via Stay22
Stays near Smith Lake
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Fishing Smith Lake
Water Quality Trend: Worsening
Based on 9 years of monitoring (2014–2024).
Water clarity
Worsening9 years
Phosphorus
Worsening+13.87 µg/L/yr5 years
Chlorophyll-a
Stable+0.88 µg/L/yr8 years
Reservoir Info (USACE NID)
Smith Lake is a man-made reservoir impounded by the Smith Lake Dam (completed 1948), built primarily for recreation on the Pine Creek; earth-type dam, 14 ft tall and 184 ft long.
- Surface area
- 425 ac
- Normal storage
- 698 ac-ft
- Max storage
- 2,100 ac-ft
- Drainage area
- 21.33 sq mi
- Hazard class
- Low
- Owner
- Nebraska Game & Parks Commission
Source: USACE National Inventory of Dams, NID ID NE00783 · Operator website
EPA Impairment Status
Smith Lake is officially listed as impaired under Clean Water Act §303(d) in the 2022 EPA reporting cycle (IR category 5).
Causes of impairment
Designated uses not supporting: Aquatic life.
Source: EPA ATTAINS assessment unit NE-NI4-L0040 · Official waterbody report
Nearby Lakes in Sheridan County
Frequently asked questions about Smith Lake
Where is Smith Lake?
- Smith Lake is a lake in Sheridan County, Nebraska. Its water-quality measurements are published by Nebraska DEE and shown on this page as reported.
What is the water quality of Smith Lake?
- Smith Lake in Sheridan County, Nebraska has water-quality measurements published by Nebraska DEE, shown here as reported. Water clarity: 1.7 ft visibility. Phosphorus: 248 µg/L. Chlorophyll-a (algae): 56.1 µg/L. Surface area: 425 acres.
Is Smith Lake safe to swim in?
- Nutrient and algae readings are not a swimming clearance. Smith Lake is listed impaired under Clean Water Act §303(d) (IR 5) for pH / acidity. Check local advisories before you swim.
How deep is Smith Lake?
- No published bathymetric survey covers Smith Lake, so its depth has not been measured. The HydroLAKES global model estimates an average depth of about 14 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 425 acres.
Are there boat ramps on Smith Lake?
- Smith Lake has 1 documented boat landing in the USGS National Boat Ramps inventory. Named access points include Smith Lake. Public access is listed as yes.
Can I fish at Smith Lake?
- Smith Lake has 1 documented boat landing in the USGS National Boat Ramps inventory. Seasons, size and bag limits, and whether you need a license are set by Nebraska's fish and wildlife agency, so check its current regulations before you go.
Explore Smith Lake across LakeQuality
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Where this data comes from
128 measurements from 1 monitoring station, 2014–2024. Retrieved from the EPA Water Quality Portal on 2026-08-02.
Collected and reported by
- Nebraska Department of Environment and Energy
21NEB001_WQX128 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 (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
Lake size & watershed from HydroLAKES (HydroSHEDS)
Named boat-access points from the USGS National Boat Ramps inventory