Josephine Lake

The LakeGrade rubric puts Josephine Lake at a C: clarity at 8.2 ft, 41 µg/L of phosphorus, and a TSI of 52 signal an intermediate trophic state. Clarity, phosphorus, and chlorophyll-a all rate similarly, so there is no obvious single lever to pull on watershed management.

Eutrophic conditions are the baseline here: clarity drops noticeably in late summer, and dissolved oxygen near the bottom can become a concern. The lake bottoms out at 44 ft — a moderate depth that supports a warm-water fishery without the year-round cold refuge a deeper basin provides. At 116 acres, Josephine Lake fits the Minnesota median for monitored lakes, with 1.7 miles of shoreline. Josephine Lake ranks 20 of 49 in Ramsey County — solidly in the upper half of the local distribution.

Eurasian watermilfoil has been documented at Josephine Lake, requiring shoreline management to keep dense mats from crowding native vegetation. Walleye are documented at Josephine Lake, one of 9 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 — 18 observed ice-outs, centered near Apr 6. 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.