Crescent Lake

Crescent Lake comes in at a B on the grading rubric — a respectable showing for a Wisconsin lake of its size and depth. The lake's weakest score is on Secchi depth — the water looks more turbid than its phosphorus number alone would predict.

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. The lake bottoms out at 43 ft — a moderate depth that supports a warm-water fishery without the year-round cold refuge a deeper basin provides. The lake is compact at 15 acres, with partial shoreline records and little volume to buffer nutrient inputs. Among the 74 graded lakes in Polk County, Crescent Lake sits at rank 28, above the county median.

No invasive species are currently listed at Crescent Lake — the lake remains off the Wisconsin infested-waters roster. 2 fish species are documented at Crescent Lake, a mixed warm-water community typical for Wisconsin lakes of this size. 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.