Jordan Pond

On the LakeGrade scale Jordan Pond grades a B, with clarity at 11.5 ft and 36 µg/L of phosphorus placing it above the Wisconsin median. Clarity, phosphorus, and chlorophyll-a all rate similarly, so there is no obvious single lever to pull on watershed management.

A TSI near 49 places Jordan Pond in the mesotrophic band — moderate productivity, with seasonal swings between clearer spring water and richer late-summer conditions. At only 7 ft deep, Jordan Pond is shallow — wind keeps the water column mixed and sediment resuspension drives phosphorus levels harder to manage. The lake is compact at 84 acres, with partial shoreline records and little volume to buffer nutrient inputs. Within the 29 graded lakes of Portage County, Jordan Pond sits at rank 27, near the bottom of the county list.

Eurasian watermilfoil has been documented at Jordan Pond, 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 Jordan Pond 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.