Milwaukee Harbor Estuary Lake

On the scoring rubric Milwaukee Harbor Estuary Lake grades a D: clarity at 3.9 ft and phosphorus readings still being added keep it in the lower bracket for Milwaukee County. Sub-grades cluster within a single letter of each other, which usually means the lake is in stable trophic balance rather than fighting one specific stressor.

At a TSI of 57, Milwaukee Harbor Estuary Lake reads as eutrophic — nutrient-rich enough that summer algal growth and reduced clarity are expected, not unusual. 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. Milwaukee Harbor Estuary Lake ranks 14 of 15 in Milwaukee County — at the lower end of the locally monitored distribution.

Milwaukee Harbor Estuary Lake has no invasive species recorded in Wisconsin state databases as of 2025, though prevention practices still apply at all access points. The state fisheries records do not list documented species for Milwaukee Harbor Estuary Lake, which usually reflects a lack of formal fisheries survey work rather than an empty lake. 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.