Circle Lake
Rice County, Minnesota830 acresView mapDirections
No nutrient or algae sampling on record from Minnesota PCA for this lake.
- Impaired · Mercury
- 14 ft max depth
Circle Lake in Rice County, Minnesota has water-quality measurements published by Minnesota PCA, shown here as reported. Maximum depth: 14 ft. Surface area: 830 acres.
Circle Lake is a 830-acre lake in Rice County, Minnesota with a maximum depth of 14 feet.
Source: EPA Water Quality Portal sampling records, Minnesota DNR LakeFinder. Methodology: how these readings are compared.
Swimming conditions
No readingRecreation use not supported
Nutrient and algae readings are not a swimming clearance. Circle Lake is listed impaired under Clean Water Act §303(d) (IR 4A) for mercury, nutrients (phosphorus, nitrogen). Check local advisories before you swim.
Whether Circle 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 Circle Lake
These are the measurements Minnesota PCA publishes for Circle 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.
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Answers come straight from the public measurements and survey records on this page.
Lake Details
Max depth
14 ft
Surface area
830 acres
Shoreline
7 mi
The depth above comes from a bathymetric survey of this lake, not from a regional estimate.
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Fishing Circle Lake
EPA Impairment Status
Circle 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, Recreation.
A Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) plan has been approved.
Source: EPA ATTAINS assessment unit MN66-0027-00 · Official waterbody report
Nearby Lakes in Rice County
Frequently asked questions about Circle Lake
Where is Circle Lake?
- Circle Lake is a lake in Rice County, Minnesota. Its water-quality measurements are published by Minnesota PCA and shown on this page as reported.
What is the water quality of Circle Lake?
- Circle Lake in Rice County, Minnesota has water-quality measurements published by Minnesota PCA, shown here as reported. Maximum depth: 14 ft. Surface area: 830 acres.
Is Circle Lake safe to swim in?
- Nutrient and algae readings are not a swimming clearance. Circle Lake is listed impaired under Clean Water Act §303(d) (IR 4A) for mercury, nutrients (phosphorus, nitrogen). Check local advisories before you swim.
How deep is Circle Lake?
- Circle Lake has a maximum depth of 14 feet. The lake covers 830 acres.
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Where this data comes from
Measurements for Circle 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