Wildwood Lake
Lancaster County, Nebraska107 acresView mapDirections
Nebraska DEE publishes the water-quality measurements for Wildwood Lake. Here is what has been measured.
- Hypereutrophic
- Impaired · Algal growth
Wildwood Lake in Lancaster County, Nebraska has water-quality measurements published by Nebraska DEE, shown here as reported. Water clarity: 1.7 ft visibility. Phosphorus: 227.5 µg/L. Chlorophyll-a (algae): 85.8 µg/L. Surface area: 107.4 acres.
Wildwood Lake is a 107-acre highly nutrient-loaded hypereutrophic lake in Lancaster County, Nebraska. Overall water quality is declining over recent sampling years. Compared to the 12 other monitored lakes in Lancaster County, Wildwood Lake ranks #13 for water quality.
Source: EPA Water Quality Portal sampling records, NDEE, last sampled 2022-09-08. Methodology: how these readings are compared.
Wildwood Lake covers about 110 acres in Lancaster County. If you are planning to stay, you can search lake houses and cabins around Wildwood Lake on Vrbo, or look for a hotel room near the lake on Booking.com or Expedia.
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. Wildwood Lake is listed impaired under Clean Water Act §303(d) (IR 5) for algal growth, mercury, nutrients (phosphorus, nitrogen), oxygen depletion (low DO). Check local advisories before you swim.
Whether Wildwood 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 Wildwood Lake
These are the measurements Nebraska DEE publishes for Wildwood 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 227.5 µg/L. Chlorophyll-a 85.8 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 | 228µg/L | Poor GoodFairPoor |
| Chlorophyll-a (algae) | 85.8µg/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. | 75 | Hypereutrophic OligotrophicMesotrophicEutrophicHypereutrophic |
Very high nutrients, dense algae, poor clarity
Ask about Wildwood Lake
Answers come straight from the public measurements and survey records on this page.
Lake Details
Surface area
107 acres
No bathymetric survey has been published for Wildwood Lake, so its depth is not documented here.
Stays via Stay22
Stays near Wildwood Lake
Compare lakeside cabins, hotels, and vacation rentals near Wildwood Lake in Lancaster County, Nebraska — 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 Wildwood Lake are listed below.
Top-rated places to stay near Wildwood Lake
Prices for Oct 30–Nov 1, 4 adults. Change dates on the map below.
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Fishing Wildwood Lake
Water quality readings over time
3 seasons of samples on record (2012–2022). Calling a direction takes at least 4 years of the same measurement.
Water clarity
Improving3 years
Phosphorus
Worsening+9.9 µg/L/yr3 years
Chlorophyll-a
Worsening+2.58 µg/L/yr3 years
Reservoir Info (USACE NID)
Wildwood Lake is a man-made reservoir impounded by the North Oak Creek 1-A (completed 1979), built primarily for flood risk reduction on the Wagon Tongue Creek; earth-type dam, 54 ft tall and 1,910 ft long.
- Surface area
- 107.4 ac
- Normal storage
- 900 ac-ft
- Max storage
- 3,222.2 ac-ft
- Drainage area
- 7.85 sq mi
- Hazard class
- High
- Owner
- Lower Platte South Natural Resources District
Source: USACE National Inventory of Dams, NID ID NE01665 · Operator website · Matched by proximity (0.1 km)
EPA Impairment Status
Wildwood 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-LP2-L0120 · Official waterbody report
Nearby Lakes in Lancaster County
Frequently asked questions about Wildwood Lake
Where is Wildwood Lake?
- Wildwood Lake is a lake in Lancaster County, Nebraska. Its water-quality measurements are published by Nebraska DEE and shown on this page as reported.
What is the water quality of Wildwood Lake?
- Wildwood Lake in Lancaster County, Nebraska has water-quality measurements published by Nebraska DEE, shown here as reported. Water clarity: 1.7 ft visibility. Phosphorus: 227.5 µg/L. Chlorophyll-a (algae): 85.8 µg/L. Surface area: 107.4 acres.
Is Wildwood Lake safe to swim in?
- Nutrient and algae readings are not a swimming clearance. Wildwood Lake is listed impaired under Clean Water Act §303(d) (IR 5) for algal growth, mercury, nutrients (phosphorus, nitrogen), oxygen depletion (low DO). Check local advisories before you swim.
Explore Wildwood Lake across LakeQuality
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Other Lakes in Nebraska
Hypereutrophic Lakes in Nebraska
Where this data comes from
40 measurements from 1 monitoring station, 2021–2022. Retrieved from the EPA Water Quality Portal on 2026-08-02.
Collected and reported by
- Nebraska Department of Environment and Energy
21NEB001_WQX40 samples · 2021–2022
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