Lake Wisconsin Palisade Street Bay

Lake Wisconsin Palisade Street Bay grades an F: water clarity, phosphorus, and chlorophyll-a all rate poorly, placing it among the most stressed lakes monitored in Wisconsin. 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. A maximum depth of 24 ft puts Lake Wisconsin Palisade Street Bay in the middle of Wisconsin's depth distribution. Lake Wisconsin Palisade Street Bay covers 7,197 acres alongside partial shoreline records, large enough that conditions can vary meaningfully between bays. Within the 11 graded lakes of Sauk County, Lake Wisconsin Palisade Street Bay sits at rank 11, near the bottom of the county list.

Zebra mussel presence at Lake Wisconsin Palisade Street Bay means the lake's clarity numbers carry an asterisk — filtered water is not the same as nutrient-poor water. Walleye are documented at Lake Wisconsin Palisade Street Bay, one of 7 fish species on record for the lake. A documented public access point at Lake Wisconsin Palisade Street Bay makes the lake usable for shore fishing, paddle craft, and trailered boats. The grade is based on limited monitoring — fewer than three independent measurement years contribute, so future updates may shift the letter.