East Twin Lake

On the LakeGrade rubric, East Twin Lake pulls an A: clarity at 10.8 ft and 18 µg/L of phosphorus put it in the top bracket for Wisconsin. The three sub-grades — clarity, phosphorus, and chlorophyll-a — track close together, so no single parameter is dragging the average.

A TSI near 44 places East Twin Lake in the mesotrophic band — moderate productivity, with seasonal swings between clearer spring water and richer late-summer conditions. At only 8 ft deep, East Twin Lake is shallow — wind keeps the water column mixed and sediment resuspension drives phosphorus levels harder to manage. East Twin Lake is small — 13 acres alongside partial shoreline records — which makes it sensitive to even modest changes in watershed runoff or recreational pressure. Within Marquette County's 14 graded lakes, East Twin Lake ranks 10 — below the local median, though not at the bottom.

Eurasian watermilfoil is established at East Twin Lake, which can dampen recreational access and pressure the native plant community. The state fisheries records do not list documented species for East Twin Lake, which usually reflects a lack of formal fisheries survey work rather than an empty 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.