Emerald Lake

On the LakeGrade scale Emerald Lake grades a B, with clarity at 9.5 ft and 12 µg/L of phosphorus placing it above the Minnesota median. Clarity is the limiting factor — phosphorus is reasonable but suspended particles or algal cells keep water transparency below Minnesota norms.

A TSI near 42 places Emerald Lake in the mesotrophic band — moderate productivity, with seasonal swings between clearer spring water and richer late-summer conditions. The lake's maximum depth is not yet documented in state morphometric records — context for its physical structure remains limited. The lake's surface area is not consistently recorded across state datasets — physical context remains partial. Within Beltrami County's 92 graded lakes, Emerald Lake ranks 50 — below the local median, though not at the bottom.

Emerald Lake has no invasive species recorded in Minnesota state databases as of 2025, though prevention practices still apply at all access points. The state fisheries records do not list documented species for Emerald Lake, which usually reflects a lack of formal fisheries survey work rather than an empty lake. 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.