Fourteen Lake

Fourteen Lake comes in at a B on the grading rubric — a respectable showing for a Minnesota lake of its size and depth. The three sub-grades — clarity, phosphorus, and chlorophyll-a — track close together, so no single parameter is dragging the average.

Mesotrophic conditions dominate at Fourteen Lake: enough nutrients for a healthy fishery, not so much that algal blooms become a chronic problem. A maximum depth of just 15 ft means sediment-bound phosphorus releases back into the water column whenever wind stirs the bottom — a classic shallow-lake dynamic. The lake's 386 acres and 3.8 miles of shoreline put it in the mid-range bucket — large enough for varied use, small enough that watershed inputs reach the whole basin. Fourteen Lake ranks 56 of 187 in St. Louis County — solidly in the upper half of the local distribution.

No invasive species are currently listed at Fourteen Lake — the lake remains off the Minnesota infested-waters roster. Walleye are documented at Fourteen Lake, one of 7 fish species on record for the lake. No formal public access is documented at Fourteen 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.