Goodners Lake

On the scoring rubric Goodners Lake grades a D: clarity at 5.0 ft and 71 µg/L of phosphorus keep it in the lower bracket for Stearns County. With clarity and phosphorus scored, the sub-grades cluster within a letter of each other, pointing to stable conditions rather than one specific stressor.

Eutrophic conditions are the baseline here: clarity drops noticeably in late summer, and dissolved oxygen near the bottom can become a concern. Goodners Lake reaches 24 ft at its deepest point — typical for Minnesota mid-sized lakes, with seasonal stratification but limited cold-water refuge. Goodners Lake covers 191 acres alongside 3.6 miles of shoreline — a mid-sized water that supports a working fishery without being so large that conditions diverge between basins. Goodners Lake sits at rank 39 of 55 in Stearns County, in the lower half of the local distribution.

Goodners Lake has no invasive species recorded in Minnesota state databases as of 2024, though prevention practices still apply at all access points. The fishery is bass-led, with 11 documented species across the lake's records. Public access is available — the lake is on the Minnesota PCA public-access list. The grade is based on limited monitoring — fewer than three independent measurement years contribute, so future updates may shift the letter.