Alvin Lake

On the LakeGrade scale Alvin Lake grades a B, with clarity at 10.5 ft and phosphorus readings still being added placing it above the Minnesota median. Sub-grades cluster within a single letter of each other, which usually means the lake is in stable trophic balance rather than fighting one specific stressor.

A TSI near 43 places Alvin Lake in the mesotrophic band — moderate productivity, with seasonal swings between clearer spring water and richer late-summer conditions. The lake's 163 ft maximum depth is in the upper tier for Minnesota — deep enough for cold-water fish to find refuge in summer. Alvin Lake covers 2,605 acres alongside 12.8 miles of shoreline, large enough that conditions can vary meaningfully between bays. Alvin Lake sits at rank 34 of 51 in Douglas County, in the lower half of the local distribution.

Alvin Lake is on the Minnesota infested-waters list for zebra mussels — boaters should follow clean-drain-dry protocols when moving gear to or from the lake. Walleye are documented at Alvin Lake, one of 21 fish species on record for the lake. Public access is available — the lake is on the Minnesota PCA public-access list. The lake has a partial ice record — 16 observed ice-outs, centered near Apr 21. Monitoring depth is thin here: the LakeGrade rubric is applied to a small number of sample years, and the grade will be revised as more data accumulates.