Lake of the Woods

The LakeGrade rubric puts Lake of the Woods at a C: clarity at 5.5 ft, 26 µg/L of phosphorus, and a TSI of 52 signal an intermediate trophic state. The lake's weakest score is on Secchi depth — the water looks more turbid than its phosphorus number alone would predict.

At a TSI of 52, Lake of the Woods reads as eutrophic — nutrient-rich enough that summer algal growth and reduced clarity are expected, not unusual. The lake's maximum depth is not yet documented in state morphometric records — context for its physical structure remains limited. The lake's surface area is not consistently recorded across state datasets — physical context remains partial. Within the 11 graded lakes of Lake of the Woods County, Lake of the Woods sits at rank 9, near the bottom of the county list.

Zebra mussel presence at Lake of the Woods means the lake's clarity numbers carry an asterisk — filtered water is not the same as nutrient-poor water. The state fisheries records do not list documented species for Lake of the Woods, which usually reflects a lack of formal fisheries survey work rather than an empty lake. A documented public access point at Lake of the Woods 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.