Yates Center Reservoir
Woodson County, KansasView mapDirections
KDHE publishes the water-quality measurements for Yates Center Reservoir. Here is what has been measured.
- Mesotrophic
- Impaired · Nutrients (phosphorus, nitrogen)
- 31 ft max depth
- Limited data
Yates Center Reservoir in Woodson County, Kansas has water-quality measurements published by KDHE, shown here as reported. Water clarity: 1.6 ft visibility. Chlorophyll-a (algae): 5.6 µg/L.
Yates Center Reservoir is a mesotrophic lake in Woodson County, Kansas with an estimated average depth of about 31 feet. Overall water quality is declining over recent sampling years. Compared to the 2 other monitored lakes in Woodson County, Yates Center Reservoir ranks #1 for water quality.
Source: EPA Water Quality Portal sampling records, KDHE, last sampled 2018-06-05. 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. Yates Center Reservoir is listed impaired under Clean Water Act §303(d) (IR 5) for nutrients (phosphorus, nitrogen). Check local advisories before you swim.
Whether Yates Center Reservoir 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 Yates Center Reservoir
These are the measurements KDHE publishes for Yates Center Reservoir, 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 1.6 ft of visibility. Chlorophyll-a 5.6 µg/L. TSI 59.
| Measure | Reading | Where it sits |
|---|---|---|
| Water clarity (Secchi depth) | 1.6ft | 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) | 5.6µg/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. | 59 | Mesotrophic OligotrophicMesotrophicEutrophicHypereutrophic |
Moderate nutrients, good water quality
Ask about Yates Center Reservoir
Answers come straight from the public measurements and survey records on this page.
Lake Details
Max depth
~31 ft est.
Depth marked “est.” is a modeled maximum from GLOBathy (Khazaei et al. 2022, CC0), not a measured survey. Kansas has not published bathymetry for Yates Center Reservoir.
Lake Size & Watershed
Watershed (drainage) area
3 sq mi
HydroLAKES / HydroSHEDS
Surface area
99 acres
HydroLAKES / HydroSHEDS
Shoreline
2.5 mi
HydroLAKES / HydroSHEDS
Elevation
1,070 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 Yates Center Reservoir
Water quality readings over time
2 seasons of samples on record (2017–2018). Calling a direction takes at least 4 years of the same measurement.
Chlorophyll-a
Worsening+9.2 µg/L/yr2 years
Reservoir Info (USACE NID)
Yates Center Reservoir is a man-made reservoir impounded by the Back-Up Water Supply (completed 1936), built primarily for water supply on the South Owl Creek; earth-type dam, 41 ft tall and 1,000 ft long.
- Max storage
- 2,015.6 ac-ft
- Drainage area
- 4.48 sq mi
- Hazard class
- High
- Owner
- YATES CENTER, CITY OF
Source: USACE National Inventory of Dams, NID ID KS02535 · Operator website · Matched by proximity (0.49 km)
EPA Impairment Status
Yates Center Reservoir is officially listed as impaired under Clean Water Act §303(d) in the 2024 EPA reporting cycle (IR category 5).
Causes of impairment
Source: EPA ATTAINS assessment unit KS-LM069201 · Official waterbody report
Nearby Lakes in Woodson County
Frequently asked questions about Yates Center Reservoir
Where is Yates Center Reservoir?
- Yates Center Reservoir is a lake in Woodson County, Kansas. Its water-quality measurements are published by KDHE and shown on this page as reported.
What is the water quality of Yates Center Reservoir?
- Yates Center Reservoir in Woodson County, Kansas has water-quality measurements published by KDHE, shown here as reported. Water clarity: 1.6 ft visibility. Chlorophyll-a (algae): 5.6 µg/L.
Is Yates Center Reservoir safe to swim in?
- Nutrient and algae readings are not a swimming clearance. Yates Center Reservoir is listed impaired under Clean Water Act §303(d) (IR 5) for nutrients (phosphorus, nitrogen). Check local advisories before you swim.
How deep is Yates Center Reservoir?
- No published bathymetric survey covers Yates Center Reservoir, 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.
Explore Yates Center Reservoir across LakeQuality
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Where this data comes from
4 measurements from 1 monitoring station, 2017–2018. Retrieved from the EPA Water Quality Portal on 2026-08-02.
Collected and reported by
- Kansas Department Of Health And Environment
21KAN001_WQX4 samples · 2017–2018
Analytical methods
- Depth, Secchi disk depth
- 10200 H ~ Chlorophyll a-b-c Determination
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)