Cornelia Lake

Cornelia Lake earns an F: 110 µg/L of phosphorus and clarity at 0.8 ft signal heavy nutrient loading from the surrounding watershed. Sub-grades cluster within a single letter of each other, which usually means the lake is in stable trophic balance rather than fighting one specific stressor.

Hypereutrophic conditions mean the lake is operating at the upper end of the productivity scale, with all the bloom risk that implies. At only 7 ft deep, Cornelia Lake is shallow — wind keeps the water column mixed and sediment resuspension drives phosphorus levels harder to manage. The lake is compact at 53 acres, with 2.3 miles of shoreline and little volume to buffer nutrient inputs. Cornelia Lake ranks 74 of 95 in Hennepin County — at the lower end of the locally monitored distribution.

Cornelia Lake has no invasive species recorded in Minnesota state databases as of 2020, though prevention practices still apply at all access points. 6 fish species are on record, with panfish making up the recreational core. No formal public access is documented at Cornelia Lake — most use is by shoreline residents and their guests. The grade is based on limited monitoring — fewer than three independent measurement years contribute, so future updates may shift the letter.