Little Mary Lake

Little Mary Lake grades an F: every scored parameter (clarity and phosphorus) rates poorly, placing it among the most stressed lakes monitored in Minnesota. With clarity and phosphorus scored, the sub-grades cluster within a letter of each other, pointing to stable conditions rather than one specific stressor.

The hypereutrophic status — TSI 74 — reflects sustained heavy nutrient loading from the surrounding watershed and frequent algal pressure. 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. Little Mary Lake ranks 60 of 64 in Wright County — at the lower end of the locally monitored distribution.

Eurasian watermilfoil has been documented at Little Mary Lake, requiring shoreline management to keep dense mats from crowding native vegetation. The state fisheries records do not list documented species for Little Mary Lake, which usually reflects a lack of formal fisheries survey work rather than an empty lake. A documented public access point at Little Mary Lake 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.