Boom Lake

On the scoring rubric Boom Lake grades a D: clarity at 4.5 ft and phosphorus readings still being added keep it in the lower bracket for Oneida County. Clarity, phosphorus, and chlorophyll-a all rate similarly, so there is no obvious single lever to pull on watershed management.

At a TSI of 55, Boom Lake reads as eutrophic — nutrient-rich enough that summer algal growth and reduced clarity are expected, not unusual. Boom Lake reaches 30 ft at its deepest point — typical for Wisconsin mid-sized lakes, with seasonal stratification but limited cold-water refuge. The lake's 365 acres and partial shoreline records put it in the mid-range bucket — large enough for varied use, small enough that watershed inputs reach the whole basin. Within the 134 graded lakes of Oneida County, Boom Lake sits at rank 116, near the bottom of the county list.

An invasive species record — Chinese Mystery Snail — has been logged at Boom Lake; Wisconsin DNR maintains the official infested-waters list. Walleye are documented at Boom Lake, one of 6 fish species on record for the lake. Public access is available — the lake is on the Wisconsin DNR 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.