Big Kandiyohi Lake

On the scoring rubric Big Kandiyohi Lake grades a D: clarity at 5.2 ft and 145 µg/L of phosphorus keep it in the lower bracket for Kandiyohi County. Clarity, phosphorus, and chlorophyll-a all rate similarly, so there is no obvious single lever to pull on watershed management.

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. A maximum depth of 18 ft puts Big Kandiyohi Lake in the middle of Minnesota's depth distribution. Big Kandiyohi Lake covers 2,730 acres alongside 14.3 miles of shoreline, large enough that conditions can vary meaningfully between bays. Big Kandiyohi Lake sits at rank 23 of 35 in Kandiyohi County, in the lower half of the local distribution.

No invasive species are currently listed at Big Kandiyohi Lake — the lake remains off the Minnesota infested-waters roster. The fishery includes walleye alongside the lake's other 16 documented species — a notable draw for Minnesota anglers. Public access is available — the lake is on the Minnesota PCA public-access list. 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.