Lily Lake

On the LakeGrade rubric, Lily Lake pulls an A: clarity at 33.1 ft and phosphorus readings still being added put it in the top bracket for Wisconsin. The three sub-grades — clarity, phosphorus, and chlorophyll-a — track close together, so no single parameter is dragging the average.

Trophically, Lily Lake reads as oligotrophic — nutrient-poor, clear, and ecologically more sensitive to disturbance than richer lakes. The lake bottoms out at 19 ft — a moderate depth that supports a warm-water fishery without the year-round cold refuge a deeper basin provides. Lily Lake is small — 42 acres alongside partial shoreline records — which makes it sensitive to even modest changes in watershed runoff or recreational pressure. Lily Lake ranks 1 of 3 in Brown County — solidly in the upper half of the local distribution.

Eurasian watermilfoil is established at Lily Lake, which can dampen recreational access and pressure the native plant community. Bass fishing is part of the appeal: the species list runs to 3, anchored by largemouth and/or smallmouth bass. Public access is available — the lake is on the Wisconsin DNR public-access list. 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.