Little Elkhart Lake

Little Elkhart Lake earns an A — every scored parameter (clarity and phosphorus) rates among the best monitored waters in Sheboygan County. With clarity and phosphorus scored, the sub-grades cluster within a letter of each other, pointing to stable conditions rather than one specific stressor.

A TSI near 45 places Little Elkhart Lake in the mesotrophic band — moderate productivity, with seasonal swings between clearer spring water and richer late-summer conditions. The lake bottoms out at 25 ft — a moderate depth that supports a warm-water fishery without the year-round cold refuge a deeper basin provides. At 52 acres, Little Elkhart Lake sits below the Wisconsin median: a small water where shoreline activity has an outsized effect on water quality. Little Elkhart Lake ranks 2 of 6 in Sheboygan County — solidly in the upper half of the local distribution.

Little Elkhart Lake carries an invasive watermilfoil record — boat-launch decontamination and shoreline care matter more here than at uninfested lakes. The fishery is bass-led, with 3 documented species across the lake's records. The grade is based on limited monitoring — fewer than three independent measurement years contribute, so future updates may shift the letter.