Henrietta Lake

On the scoring rubric Henrietta Lake grades a D: clarity at 4.5 ft and phosphorus readings still being added keep it in the lower bracket for Waukesha County. Sub-grades cluster within a single letter of each other, which usually means the lake is in stable trophic balance rather than fighting one specific stressor.

A TSI in the eutrophic range signals a lake doing what nutrient-loaded waters do — supporting an active algal community at the cost of clear water. A maximum depth of just 7 ft means sediment-bound phosphorus releases back into the water column whenever wind stirs the bottom — a classic shallow-lake dynamic. At 15 acres, Henrietta Lake sits below the Wisconsin median: a small water where shoreline activity has an outsized effect on water quality. Henrietta Lake ranks 43 of 45 in Waukesha County — at the lower end of the locally monitored distribution.

Eurasian watermilfoil has been documented at Henrietta Lake, requiring shoreline management to keep dense mats from crowding native vegetation. The fishery is bass-led, with 3 documented species across the lake's records. A documented public access point at Henrietta Lake makes the lake usable for shore fishing, paddle craft, and trailered boats. 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.