East Sarah Lake

East Sarah Lake earns a D — measurements through 2024 show persistent nutrient pressure that limits clarity through the summer.

Eutrophic conditions are the baseline here: clarity drops noticeably in late summer, and dissolved oxygen near the bottom can become a concern. At 59 ft of maximum depth, East Sarah Lake stratifies reliably through the summer — the hypolimnion stays cooler and clearer than the surface layer suggests. The lake's 557 acres and 7.5 miles of shoreline put it in the mid-range bucket — large enough for varied use, small enough that watershed inputs reach the whole basin. East Sarah Lake ranks 43 of 95 in Hennepin County — solidly in the upper half of the local distribution.

Eurasian watermilfoil has been documented at East Sarah Lake, requiring shoreline management to keep dense mats from crowding native vegetation. Walleye are documented at East Sarah Lake, one of 13 fish species on record for the lake. A documented public access point at East Sarah Lake makes the lake usable for shore fishing, paddle craft, and trailered boats. Ice-out has been recorded 11 times at East Sarah Lake, with a median around Apr 3. 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.