Amy Bell Lake

On the LakeGrade rubric, Amy Bell Lake pulls an A: clarity readings still being added and 18 µg/L of phosphorus put it in the top bracket for Wisconsin. Clarity, phosphorus, and chlorophyll-a all rate similarly, so there is no obvious single lever to pull on watershed management.

The lake sits in the mesotrophic zone — the band where most well-managed Wisconsin lakes fall. A maximum depth of 37 ft puts Amy Bell Lake in the middle of Wisconsin's depth distribution. Amy Bell Lake is small — 30 acres alongside partial shoreline records — which makes it sensitive to even modest changes in watershed runoff or recreational pressure. Among the 15 graded lakes in Washington County, Amy Bell Lake ranks 2 — in the top quartile locally.

Amy Bell Lake carries an invasive watermilfoil record — boat-launch decontamination and shoreline care matter more here than at uninfested lakes. Bass fishing is part of the appeal: the species list runs to 3, anchored by largemouth and/or smallmouth bass. 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.