Kettle Moraine Lake

On the LakeGrade rubric, Kettle Moraine Lake pulls an A: clarity at 11.0 ft and 16 µg/L of phosphorus put it in the top bracket for Wisconsin. The two scored sub-grades — clarity and phosphorus — track close together, so neither one is dragging the average down.

Mesotrophic conditions dominate at Kettle Moraine Lake: enough nutrients for a healthy fishery, not so much that algal blooms become a chronic problem. The lake bottoms out at 30 ft — a moderate depth that supports a warm-water fishery without the year-round cold refuge a deeper basin provides. At 209 acres, Kettle Moraine Lake fits the Wisconsin median for monitored lakes, with partial shoreline records. Kettle Moraine Lake ranks 2 of 10 in Fond du Lac County, putting it in the upper tier of locally monitored lakes.

Zebra mussels have been documented at Kettle Moraine Lake, which alters the filter-feeding balance and can paradoxically increase water clarity while disrupting the food web. Walleye are documented at Kettle Moraine Lake, one of 4 fish species on record for the lake. 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.