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Federal water data

County water report

Dodge County Water Report

Drinking-water compliance, watershed health, monitoring records, and river conditions for Dodge County, Nebraska.

Water grade

C

Water score

56.3

State rank

#51

of 90

Health violations

3

EPA SDWIS, 5-year lookback

Watershed impaired

57.9%

19 water bodies assessed

Monitoring sites

27

33,648 recent measurements

Live streamflow

40%

Platte River at North Bend, Nebr.

Water at a glance

Key Water Indicators for Dodge County

EPA SDWIS

Safety Grade

C

Score: 56.3 / 100

EPA SDWIS

Active Violations

3

5-year health-based lookback

EPA ATTAINS

Watershed Health

58% impaired

19 bodies assessed

USGS NWIS

Streamflow Snapshot

40% of mean

Platte River at North Bend, Nebr.

EPA WQP

Monitoring Sites

27

33,648 recent readings

Source: EPA SDWIS · Safe Drinking Water Information System

Drinking Water Compliance

Compliance grade

C

Based on EPA SDWIS compliance history.

Water score

Higher scores indicate cleaner recent compliance records.

56.3/100

Health violations

3

Health-based violations

Violations per 100K served

9.3

Population-normalized SDWIS rate

Editorial analysis

Understanding Dodge County’s Water

Drinking Water Quality Overview

EPA SDWIS

Dodge County's drinking water earned a C grade, scoring 56.3 out of 100. Over the past five years, EPA SDWIS records 3 health-based violations — a small cluster that warrants attention.

Watershed Conditions

EPA ATTAINS

Under the Clean Water Act §303(d), EPA ATTAINS tracks whether waterways meet quality standards for drinking, recreation, and aquatic life (reporting cycle: 2022). A substantial 57.9% of assessed waterways are impaired (11 of 19 water bodies) across Dodge County's watersheds. The leading impairment causes are escherichia coli (e. coli) and arsenic. Impairment does not mean tap water is unsafe — it measures ambient waterway conditions upstream of treatment, not finished drinking water.

River & Streamflow Status

USGS NWIS

USGS NWIS gauge data (as of 2026-05-14T13:15:00.000-05:00) puts Platte River at 1.9k cfs — well below its long-term average at 40% of mean — low-flow conditions worth noting for water-dependent ecosystems. Streamflow is a leading indicator of drought stress, sediment load, and dilution capacity: low flows concentrate pollutants and warm water temperatures, stressing aquatic life and, in surface-water-dependent systems, the source water quality for treatment plants.

Monitoring Network

EPA WQP

EPA's Water Quality Portal (WQP) aggregates monitoring data from federal, state, and tribal agencies. Dodge County has moderate coverage with 27 active monitoring sites with 33,648 recent measurements on record. Predominant monitoring categories include organics, pesticide and physical. More monitoring sites generally indicate greater scientific attention to local water conditions — and provide the baseline data that regulators use to set future impairment listings.

Editorial advisory

What the data suggests for Dodge County

Water Verdict

Dodge County receives a fair water quality assessment with a grade of C and a score of 56.3 out of 100. The water supply meets baseline federal standards, but there may be periods of elevated contaminant levels or infrastructure concerns worth monitoring.

Violation Context

Dodge County has recorded 3 health-based violations, indicating multiple instances where federal contaminant limits or treatment requirements were not met. At 9.3 violations per 100,000 people served, this rate is high and signals significant water quality management issues.

Consumer Guidance

Tap water in Dodge County meets baseline standards but the compliance record shows room for improvement, with a Grade C rating. Dodge County's drinking-water compliance score is 56.3 out of 100. The violation rate for Dodge County is 9.3 per 100,000 people served. Residents who are immunocompromised, pregnant, or have young children may benefit from using an NSF 53-certified filter. Contacting your local utility for the current Consumer Confidence Report will confirm which specific violations were recorded and whether they have been resolved. E. coli is the leading impairment cause in Dodge County's watershed. With 27 active water-quality monitoring sites in Dodge County, data coverage is strong. A pipeline streamflow snapshot from the Platte River gauge is also available on this page.

Regional Context

Dodge County has water quality close to the average county in Nebraska. Its water score is within 1.8 points of the state average, meaning its overall water system performance is broadly representative of Nebraska as a whole.

Advisory text summarizes county-level public records and is not a replacement for your utility's current Consumer Confidence Report or direct local notices.

Contaminants & Resources

Key issues flagged in Dodge County's water environment

Watershed Impairment Causes (EPA ATTAINS)

  • 1

    E. coli (bacteria)

    Impairment cause per EPA Clean Water Act §303(d) assessment

  • 2

    Arsenic

    Impairment cause per EPA Clean Water Act §303(d) assessment

  • 3

    Cause Unknown

    Impairment cause per EPA Clean Water Act §303(d) assessment

Source: EPA ATTAINS · Reporting cycle 2022

Official EPA Resources for Dodge County

EPA How's My Waterway

Interactive watershed health data for Dodge County

EPA ECHO: Drinking Water Systems

Search water utilities and violation records for Dodge County

Consumer Confidence Reports (NE)

Annual water quality reports from utilities in Nebraska

Clean Water Act §303(d)

Watershed Health

Impaired Water Bodies

57.9%

11 of 19 assessed

Moderate concern

Top Impairment Causes

  • 1

    ESCHERICHIA COLI (E. COLI)

  • 2

    ARSENIC

  • 3

    CAUSE UNKNOWN

Source: EPA ATTAINS · Reporting cycle 2022

Impairment is determined under the Clean Water Act §303(d): a water body is impaired when it fails to meet state-defined quality standards for designated uses (drinking, recreation, aquatic life). Assessment coverage varies by state; counties without assessed water bodies are not shown.

Past 5 years

Water Quality Monitoring

Monitoring Sites

27

Active in the past 5 years

Measurements Recorded

34K

33,648 total readings

Most Measured

  • Organics, Pesticide
  • Physical
  • Nutrient

Categories measured most frequently

Data from the EPA Water Quality Portal (WQP), aggregating monitoring records from federal, state, and tribal sources. Each measurement represents a single sample analyzed for a specific characteristic (e.g., E. coli, pH, dissolved oxygen, nitrogen).

Live USGS Streamgage

River & Stream Conditions

Current Discharge

1,860cfs

May 14, 6:15 PM UTC

vs Long-Term Average

40%

Well below typical

Primary Streamgage

Platte River at North Bend, Nebr.

USGS site
06796000
Drainage area
70,400 sq mi
Long-term mean
4,615 cfs

One representative streamgage (the one with the largest drainage area in the county). Many counties have multiple gauges; this view summarizes the primary one. The long-term mean is the full-record annual average; the percent-of-typical value compares the latest reading against that average.

Free tool

Estimate Your Water Costs

Water Cost Estimate

3

3 people  ·  ~225 gal/day

Annual Total

$558

Monthly

$47

Water Bill

$558/yr

Filter Cost

$0/yr

Safety Grade for Dodge County:D — Poor

Elevated violations or significant watershed impairment.

Estimates use the national average residential water rate ($0.0068/gal, EPA/AWWA 2023) and EPA WaterSense per-person consumption baseline (75 gal/person/day). Actual bills vary by utility, usage tier, and local infrastructure fees. For informational purposes only.

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Frequently Asked Questions

What is the water quality in Dodge County, Nebraska?
Dodge County, Nebraska has a drinking-water quality grade of C with a score of 56.3/100, based on EPA SDWIS compliance data. The county has 3 health-based drinking water violations over the past 5 years. Watershed health, monitoring records, and streamflow snapshots are reported separately on this page.
Are there any water violations in Dodge County?
Dodge County has 3 health-based drinking water violations recorded by the EPA over the past 5 years. Health-based violations indicate instances where contaminant levels exceeded EPA Maximum Contaminant Levels (MCLs). Violations may have been resolved — check with your local water utility for current status.
How healthy are the watersheds in Dodge County?
EPA ATTAINS assessments under Clean Water Act §303(d) indicate 57.9% of Dodge County's 19 assessed water bodies are classified as impaired (11 impaired). The top reported causes are ESCHERICHIA COLI (E. COLI), ARSENIC, CAUSE UNKNOWN. Impairment means the water body fails to meet state quality standards for at least one designated use — drinking water source, recreation, aquatic life, or fish consumption. Note: watershed impairment doesn't always translate to tap-water issues; treatment plants can remove most regulated contaminants.
How much water-quality monitoring happens in Dodge County?
EPA's Water Quality Portal records 33,648 measurements from 27 monitoring sites in Dodge County over the past five years. The most frequently measured characteristic groups are Organics, Pesticide, Physical, Nutrient. Each measurement is a single sample analyzed for one characteristic (E. coli, pH, dissolved oxygen, etc.). High monitoring density means more scientific evidence behind any reported signal — it does not by itself indicate water quality.
What's happening with rivers in Dodge County right now?
Dodge County's primary USGS streamgage on the Platte River has a pipeline snapshot of 1,860 cubic feet per second — 40% of the long-term mean of 4,614.55 cfs. This is well below typical — often a signal of drought stress on source water. For the latest gauge feed, visit waterdata.usgs.gov.
How does Dodge County water compare to the Nebraska average?
Dodge County's SDWIS water quality score of 56.3/100 is lower than the Nebraska state average of 58.1. The average water quality grade across Nebraska is D, based on data from 90 counties with available SDWIS data.
Is tap water safe to drink in Dodge County?
Based on EPA SDWIS data, Dodge County has a water quality grade of C (56.3/100). This indicates moderate compliance. Some violations have been recorded but overall standards are maintained. The grade speaks to the public water system, not the watershed — for watershed-level concerns, see the Watershed Health zone. For the most up-to-date information, contact your local water utility or review your Consumer Confidence Report (CCR).
Does Dodge County have clean drinking water?
Dodge County has 3 health-based drinking water violations according to EPA records. With a water quality score of 56.3/100 and grade C, the county's drinking water has had some compliance issues but continues to be monitored. Note: drinking-water compliance speaks to the public water system, not necessarily to the watershed itself — check the Watershed Health zone for ATTAINS §303(d) data.
How does Dodge County rank for water quality in Nebraska?
Dodge County ranks #51 out of 90 counties in Nebraska by SDWIS water quality score (1 = best). With a score of 56.3/100, it falls in the middle third of counties statewide. The ranking reflects EPA SDWIS compliance only — not watershed impairment, monitoring density, or streamflow, which are tracked separately on this page.

Counties with Similar Water Quality

Dawson County

Nebraska

C

55.0

Water score

Sarpy County

Nebraska

C

58.0

Water score

Hall County

Nebraska

C

61.4

Water score

Data Sources

Drinking-water compliance data from the EPA Safe Drinking Water Information System (SDWIS) via the ECHO enforcement database. Scores reflect compliance history and health-based violation counts.

Watershed health and impaired-waterway data from the EPA ATTAINS Clean Water Act §303(d) assessments, state-reported and EPA-finalized.

Water-quality monitoring counts from the EPA Water Quality Portal (WQP), federated USGS, EPA, and state agency sampling records over a rolling 5-year window.

Live streamflow from the USGS National Water Information System (NWIS), continuous discharge measurements from the largest-drainage gauge in each county, compared against the full-record long-term annual mean.

Disclaimer: This data is informational only. It is not health, legal, or professional advice. For concerns about your specific water supply, contact your local water utility.

By Evan Brooks, Data EditorUpdated Reviewed by Evan Brooks, Data Editor

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