Winona Lake
Kosciusko County, IndianaView mapDirections
IDEM publishes the water-quality measurements for Winona Lake. Here is what has been measured.
- Impaired · PCBs
- 48 ft max depth
- Limited data
Winona Lake in Kosciusko County, Indiana has water-quality measurements published by IDEM, shown here as reported. Water clarity: 2.8 ft visibility.
Winona Lake is a lake in Kosciusko County, Indiana with an estimated average depth of about 48 feet. Overall water quality is improving over recent sampling years.
Source: EPA Water Quality Portal sampling records, IDEM, last sampled 2021-08-09. Methodology: how these readings are compared.
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Swimming conditions
No readingBacteria tested: exceedances
Based on E. coli testing, Winona Lake routinely exceeded the EPA safe-swimming threshold (235 MPN/100mL) — on 29.2% of 24 samples across 3 seasons.
This is a historical summary of past testing, not a current condition — bacteria levels change quickly, especially after rain. Always check Indiana’s current beach and health-department advisories before swimming.
Whether Winona Lake is safe to swim in today is a call for the Indiana Department of Environmental Management and the county health department, who post current advisories. LakeQuality does not issue swimming clearances.
Water quality measurements for Winona Lake
These are the measurements IDEM publishes for Winona 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 2.8 ft of visibility. TSI 62.
| Measure | Reading | Where it sits |
|---|---|---|
| Water clarity (Secchi depth) | 2.8ft | Measured, not scored How deep a black-and-white disk stays visible from the surface. Higher is clearer. |
| Total phosphorus | No reading The nutrient that most limits algae growth in freshwater. More phosphorus, more algae potential. | |
| Chlorophyll-a (algae) | No reading 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. | 62 | Eutrophic OligotrophicMesotrophicEutrophicHypereutrophic |
High nutrients, frequent algae, reduced clarity
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Lake Details
Max depth
~48 ft est.
Depth marked “est.” is a modeled maximum from GLOBathy (Khazaei et al. 2022, CC0), not a measured survey. Indiana has not published bathymetry for Winona Lake.
Lake Size & Watershed
Watershed (drainage) area
50 sq mi
HydroLAKES / HydroSHEDS
Surface area
524 acres
HydroLAKES / HydroSHEDS
Shoreline
5.2 mi
HydroLAKES / HydroSHEDS
Elevation
801 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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Fishing Winona Lake
Water Quality Trend: Improving
Based on 4 years of monitoring (2020–2023).
Water clarity
Improving3 years
Phosphorus
Improving-44.19 µg/L/yr4 years
Chlorophyll-a
Worsening+3.55 µg/L/yr2 years
EPA Impairment Status
Winona 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: Fish consumption.
Source: EPA ATTAINS assessment unit INB06P1007_00 · Official waterbody report
Regulated Pollution Sources Nearby
19 EPA-permitted facilities operate within about 5 miles of Winona Lake under Clean Water Act (NPDES) discharge permits.
- Winona Lake Municipal WwtpWinona Lake · 0.5 mi away · NPDES IN0024881
- Crystal Lake Egg Products IncWarsaw · 0.7 mi away · NPDES IN0046191
- Associated Milk Producers IncWarsaw · 0.9 mi away · NPDES IN0001554
- Grace College Residence HallWinona Lake · 0.9 mi away · NPDES INR10K711
- Grace College Athletic Track And FieldWinona Lake · 1.2 mi away · NPDES INR10L867
- Lake City Greenway - Park Avenue To Grace CollegeWinona Lake · 1.2 mi away · NPDES INR10H036
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 Kosciusko County
Frequently asked questions about Winona Lake
Where is Winona Lake?
- Winona Lake is a lake in Kosciusko County, Indiana. Its water-quality measurements are published by IDEM and shown on this page as reported.
What is the water quality of Winona Lake?
- Winona Lake in Kosciusko County, Indiana has water-quality measurements published by IDEM, shown here as reported. Water clarity: 2.8 ft visibility.
Is Winona Lake safe to swim in?
- Based on E. coli testing, Winona Lake routinely exceeded the EPA safe-swimming threshold (235 MPN/100mL) — on 29.2% of 24 samples across 3 seasons. That is a historical summary of past bacteria testing, not a current reading and not a swimming clearance. Bacteria levels can spike quickly after heavy rain, so whether Winona Lake is safe to swim in today is a call for Indiana's water agency and the county health department; check their current beach advisories before you swim.
How deep is Winona Lake?
- No published bathymetric survey covers Winona Lake, so its depth has not been measured. The HydroLAKES global model estimates an average depth of about 48 feet, but that is a modelled estimate derived from surrounding terrain rather than a measurement on the water, so treat it as approximate.
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Where this data comes from
11 measurements from 1 monitoring station, 2021. Retrieved from the EPA Water Quality Portal on 2026-08-02.
Collected and reported by
- North American Lake Management Society
NALMS11 samples · 2021
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)