Big Sand Lake
Cass County, Minnesota730 acresView mapDirections
No nutrient or algae sampling on record from Minnesota PCA for this lake.
- Impaired · Mercury
- 23 ft max depth
Big Sand Lake in Cass County, Minnesota has water-quality measurements published by Minnesota PCA, shown here as reported. Maximum depth: 23 ft. Surface area: 730 acres.
Big Sand Lake is a 730-acre lake in Cass County, Minnesota with a maximum depth of 23 feet.
Source: EPA Water Quality Portal sampling records, Minnesota DNR LakeFinder. Methodology: how these readings are compared.
Swimming conditions
No readingNot rated
Nutrient and algae readings are not a swimming clearance. Big Sand Lake is listed impaired under Clean Water Act §303(d) (IR 4A) for mercury. Check local advisories before you swim.
Whether Big Sand Lake is safe to swim in today is a call for the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency and the Minnesota DNR and the county health department, who post current advisories. LakeQuality does not issue swimming clearances.
Water quality measurements for Big Sand Lake
These are the measurements Minnesota PCA publishes for Big Sand Lake, shown as reported. The condition class beside each reading is the EPA National Lakes Assessment class for this lake’s ecoregion.
No clarity data. TSI undefined.
Ask about Big Sand Lake
Answers come straight from the public measurements and survey records on this page.
Lake Details
Max depth
23 ft
Surface area
730 acres
Shoreline
8 mi
The depth above comes from a bathymetric survey of this lake, not from a regional estimate.
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Fishing Big Sand Lake
EPA Impairment Status
Big Sand Lake is officially listed as impaired under Clean Water Act §303(d) in the 2024 EPA reporting cycle (IR category 4A).
Causes of impairment
Designated uses not supporting: Fish consumption.
A Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) plan has been approved.
Source: EPA ATTAINS assessment unit MN11-0077-00 · Official waterbody report
Nearby Lakes in Cass County
Frequently asked questions about Big Sand Lake
Where is Big Sand Lake?
- Big Sand Lake is a lake in Cass County, Minnesota. Its water-quality measurements are published by Minnesota PCA and shown on this page as reported.
What is the water quality of Big Sand Lake?
- Big Sand Lake in Cass County, Minnesota has water-quality measurements published by Minnesota PCA, shown here as reported. Maximum depth: 23 ft. Surface area: 730 acres.
Is Big Sand Lake safe to swim in?
- Nutrient and algae readings are not a swimming clearance. Big Sand Lake is listed impaired under Clean Water Act §303(d) (IR 4A) for mercury. Check local advisories before you swim.
How deep is Big Sand Lake?
- Big Sand Lake has a maximum depth of 23 feet. The lake covers 730 acres.
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Where this data comes from
Measurements for Big Sand Lake come from the EPA Water Quality Portal. Per-sample source details are not recorded for this lake.
Other records on this page
Impairment status from EPA ATTAINS 303(d) database
Lake details from Minnesota DNR LakeFinder