Bde Maka Ska Lake

The LakeGrade rubric puts Bde Maka Ska Lake at a C: clarity at 10.7 ft, 86 µg/L of phosphorus, and a TSI of 56 signal an intermediate trophic state. High phosphorus is the leading drag on the score — likely from upland agriculture, lawn runoff, or in-lake sediment release.

A TSI in the eutrophic range signals a lake doing what nutrient-loaded waters do — supporting an active algal community at the cost of clear water. The lake's 82 ft maximum depth is in the upper tier for Minnesota — deep enough for cold-water fish to find refuge in summer. Bde Maka Ska Lake covers 424 acres alongside 3.1 miles of shoreline — a mid-sized water that supports a working fishery without being so large that conditions diverge between basins. Within Hennepin County's 95 graded waters, Bde Maka Ska Lake sits at rank 16, near the top of the local distribution.

Zebra mussel presence at Bde Maka Ska Lake means the lake's clarity numbers carry an asterisk — filtered water is not the same as nutrient-poor water. Bde Maka Ska Lake's fishery is anchored by muskellunge, with 14 documented species in total — a destination water for muskie anglers. Public access is available — the lake is on the Minnesota PCA public-access list. The lake has a long ice-out record — 97 observations on file, with a median ice-out around Apr 9. 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.