Indian Lake

Indian Lake earns an F: 202 µg/L of phosphorus and clarity at 2.5 ft signal heavy nutrient loading from the surrounding watershed. The three sub-grades — clarity, phosphorus, and chlorophyll-a — track close together, so no single parameter is dragging the average.

A TSI above 70 puts Indian Lake in hypereutrophic territory: visible blooms are common, and clarity rarely climbs even in early summer. At only 6 ft deep, Indian Lake is shallow — wind keeps the water column mixed and sediment resuspension drives phosphorus levels harder to manage. The lake's 197 acres and 3.0 miles of shoreline put it in the mid-range bucket — large enough for varied use, small enough that watershed inputs reach the whole basin. Indian Lake ranks 1 of 4 in Nobles County, putting it in the upper tier of locally monitored lakes.

An invasive species record — bighead carp — has been logged at Indian Lake; Minnesota PCA maintains the official infested-waters list. The fishery includes walleye alongside the lake's other 14 documented species — a notable draw for Minnesota anglers. Public access is available — the lake is on the Minnesota PCA public-access list. The lake has a partial ice record — 7 observed ice-outs, centered near Mar 25. 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.