Mcdonald Lake

Mcdonald Lake earns a C — middle-of-the-pack water quality, with one or two parameters dragging the average down from a stronger grade. Clarity is the limiting factor — phosphorus is reasonable but suspended particles or algal cells keep water transparency below Minnesota norms.

A TSI in the eutrophic range signals a lake doing what nutrient-loaded waters do — supporting an active algal community at the cost of clear water. The lake bottoms out at 28 ft — a moderate depth that supports a warm-water fishery without the year-round cold refuge a deeper basin provides. The lake is compact at 45 acres, with 1.3 miles of shoreline and little volume to buffer nutrient inputs. Mcdonald Lake ranks 12 of 31 in Washington County — solidly in the upper half of the local distribution.

No invasive species are currently listed at Mcdonald Lake — the lake remains off the Minnesota infested-waters roster. The state fisheries records do not list documented species for Mcdonald Lake, which usually reflects a lack of formal fisheries survey work rather than an empty lake. No formal public access is documented at Mcdonald Lake — most use is by shoreline residents and their guests. 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.