Eutrophic Lakes in Iowa

110 eutrophic lakes in Iowa. High nutrients, frequent algae, reduced clarity.

A eutrophic lake is a productive ecosystem with the trade-offs that come with productivity: more food at the base of the food web, more clarity reduction by mid-summer, more dissolved-oxygen variability near the bottom. 110 Iowa lakes register as eutrophic. Only 0% are deep — eutrophy correlates with shallowness, agricultural watersheds, and the kind of nutrient-input history that takes decades to shift.

Eutrophic lakes typically grade C or D on the LakeGrade rubric. The same nutrient richness that defines the trophic class drives the lower grade.

#	Lake	County	Grade	Clarity	Depth	TSI
1	Arrowhead Lake	Sac	C	5.6 ft	-	51
2	Railroad Lake	Scott	C	5.1 ft	-	53
3	Mariposa Lake	Jasper	C	5.1 ft	-	53
4	Mormon Trail Lake	Adair	C	6.2 ft	-	52
5	Willow Lake	Harrison	C	4.8 ft	-	54
6	Lake Wapello	Davis	C	7.5 ft	-	52
7	Oldham Lake	Monona	C	5.1 ft	-	53
8	Green Castle Lake	Marshall	C	4.6 ft	-	52
9	Poll Miller Park Lake	Lee	C	5.9 ft	-	51
10	Kent Park Lake	Johnson	C	4.8 ft	-	55
11	Upper Gar Lake	Dickinson	C	3.9 ft	-	57
12	Big Spirit Lake	Dickinson	C	5.5 ft	-	55
13	Newell Pit Lake	Buena Vista	C	4.1 ft	-	56
14	Lost Grove Lake	Scott	C	3.9 ft	-	58
15	Blue Grass Lake	Scott	C	4.5 ft	-	56
16	Lake Petocka	Polk	C	3.3 ft	-	56
17	Lake of the Hills	Scott	C	5.1 ft	-	56
18	Storm Lake Max Depth	Buena Vista	D	1.7 ft	-	62
19	Lost Island Lake	Palo Alto	D	2.6 ft	-	61
20	Lake Minnewashta	Dickinson	D	2.8 ft	-	61
21	Pleasant Creek Lake	Linn	D	3.6 ft	-	61
22	East Okoboji Lake	Dickinson	D	3.9 ft	-	60
23	Mitchell Lake	Black Hawk	D	2.3 ft	-	62
24	Cold Springs Lake	Cass	D	4.8 ft	-	58
25	Bob White Lake	Wayne	D	0.6 ft	-	69
26	Moorehead Lake	Ida	D	3.7 ft	-	59
27	Rathbun Lake	Appanoose	D	3 ft	-	59
28	Dog Creek Lake	O'Brien	D	3.4 ft	-	61
29	Hickory Grove Lake	Story	D	3.6 ft	-	60
30	Stolley Pit Lake	Clay	D	2.7 ft	-	61
31	Thomas Mitchell Lake	Polk	D	3.3 ft	-	58
32	Iowa Lkt Lake	Iowa	D	3.7 ft	-	58
33	Lake Iowa Park Beach	Iowa	D	3.4 ft	-	59
34	Nodaway Lake	Adair	D	2.8 ft	-	63
35	Loch Ayr Lake	Ringgold	D	2 ft	-	66
36	Nelson Lake	Crawford	D	3.8 ft	-	61
37	Clear Lake	Cerro Gordo	D	2.1 ft	-	65
38	Hooper Pond Lake	Warren	D	2.5 ft	-	63
39	Black Pit Lake	Cerro Gordo	D	5.6 ft	-	60
40	Lower Gar Lake	Dickinson	D	2.6 ft	-	62
41	Manteno Lake	Shelby	D	2.7 ft	-	63
42	Lake Cornelia	Wright	D	2.5 ft	-	64
43	Hawthorn Lake	Mahaska	D	2.4 ft	-	64
44	Yellow Smoke Lake	Crawford	D	3 ft	-	61
45	Easter Lake	Polk	D	2.9 ft	-	62
46	Three Mile Lake	Union	D	2.7 ft	-	63
47	Otter Creek Lake	Tama	D	1.3 ft	-	67
48	Lake Macbride	Johnson	D	2.9 ft	-	63
49	West Lake Osceola	Clarke	D	2.2 ft	-	65
50	Spring Lake	Cherokee	D	2.5 ft	-	63
51	Gustafson Lake	Buena Vista	D	2.3 ft	-	64
52	Binder Lake	Adams	D	3 ft	-	62
53	Central Park Lake	Jones	D	3.3 ft	-	61
54	Springbrook Lake	Guthrie	D	3 ft	-	61
55	Thayer Lake	Union	D	3.5 ft	-	62
56	Green Belt Lake	Black Hawk	D	2.4 ft	-	63
57	Snyder Bend Lake	Woodbury	D	2.1 ft	-	65
58	Fisher Lake	Black Hawk	D	2.6 ft	-	63
59	Big Creek Lake	Polk	F	2.6 ft	-	64
60	Arrowhead Lake	Pottawattamie	F	1.8 ft	-	69
61	Crystal Lake Max Depth	Hancock	F	1.6 ft	-	70
62	Grays Lake	Polk	F	1.6 ft	-	69
63	Diamond Lake	Poweshiek	F	1.6 ft	-	69
64	Lake Belva Deer	Keokuk	F	2.1 ft	-	67
65	Badger Lake	Webster	F	2.8 ft	-	64
66	Blue Heron Lake	Polk	F	2.2 ft	-	68
67	Greenfield Lake	Adair	F	2.1 ft	-	68
68	Silver Lake Max Depth	Dickinson	F	2.7 ft	-	65
69	Silver Lake Max Depth	Delaware	F	2.4 ft	-	65
70	Twelve Mile Lake	Union	F	2.4 ft	-	66
71	Crawford Creek Lake	Ida	F	1.6 ft	-	70
72	Lake Ahquabi	Warren	F	1.8 ft	-	68
73	Meadow Lake	Adair	F	1.7 ft	-	69
74	Beeds Lake	Franklin	F	2.5 ft	-	67
75	Lake Iowa	Iowa	F	1.9 ft	-	69
76	Don Williams Lake	Boone	F	1.8 ft	-	68
77	George Wyth Lake	Black Hawk	F	1.9 ft	-	68
78	Ellis Lake	Lucas	F	2 ft	-	67
79	Fort des Moines Park Pond	Polk	F	2.8 ft	-	63
80	Morris Lake	Lucas	F	1.6 ft	-	69
81	Lake Anita	Cass	F	2.2 ft	-	66
82	Roberts Creek Lake	Marion	F	1.5 ft	-	70
83	Rodgers Lake	Benton	F	2.6 ft	-	66
84	Center Lake	Dickinson	F	2.3 ft	-	66
85	Brushy Creek Lake	Webster	F	2.8 ft	-	65
86	Lake Icaria	Adams	F	2.7 ft	-	63
87	Red Haw Lake	Lucas	F	3.1 ft	-	62
88	Beaver Lake	Dallas	F	1.9 ft	-	70
89	Fin And Feather Lake	Cerro Gordo	F	2.3 ft	-	66
90	Five Island Lake	Palo Alto	F	1.6 ft	-	70
91	Eldred Sherwood Lake	Hancock	F	3 ft	-	63
92	Big Hollow Lake	Des Moines	F	1.8 ft	-	68
93	Wilson Lake	Taylor	F	1.6 ft	-	70
94	Fogle Lake	Ringgold	F	2.3 ft	-	65
95	Lake of Three Fires Max Depth	Taylor	F	2 ft	-	69
96	Lake Geode	Des Moines	F	2.1 ft	-	65
97	Smith Lake	Kossuth	F	2.4 ft	-	65
98	Lake Sugema	Van Buren	F	2.3 ft	-	65
99	Mill Creek Lake	O'Brien	F	3 ft	-	64
100	Viking Lake	Montgomery	F	3.3 ft	-	62

All eutrophic lakes →Minnesota version →Wisconsin version →Illinois version →Michigan version →Ohio version →Pennsylvania version →New York version →Missouri version →Indiana version →North Dakota version →South Dakota version →All Iowa lakes →

Source: EPA National Aquatic Resource Surveys, 2026.