Geneva Lake

On the LakeGrade scale Geneva Lake grades a B, with clarity at 14.1 ft and 22 µg/L of phosphorus placing it above the Minnesota median. The three sub-grades — clarity, phosphorus, and chlorophyll-a — track close together, so no single parameter is dragging the average.

The lake sits in the mesotrophic zone — the band where most well-managed Minnesota lakes fall. At 63 ft of maximum depth, Geneva Lake stratifies reliably through the summer — the hypolimnion stays cooler and clearer than the surface layer suggests. The lake's 640 acres and 5.2 miles of shoreline put it in the mid-range bucket — large enough for varied use, small enough that watershed inputs reach the whole basin. Geneva Lake sits at rank 32 of 51 in Douglas County, in the lower half of the local distribution.

Zebra mussel presence at Geneva Lake means the lake's clarity numbers carry an asterisk — filtered water is not the same as nutrient-poor water. Walleye are documented at Geneva Lake, one of 17 fish species on record for the lake. Public access is available — the lake is on the Minnesota PCA public-access list. The lake has a partial ice record — 8 observed ice-outs, centered near Apr 12. The grade is based on limited monitoring — fewer than three independent measurement years contribute, so future updates may shift the letter.