Moses Lake

Moses Lake sits at the top of the Minnesota PCA grading rubric with an A, a mark reached by the cleanest lakes in Minnesota. The three sub-grades — clarity, phosphorus, and chlorophyll-a — track close together, so no single parameter is dragging the average.

The lake's low TSI puts it in oligotrophic territory — the cleanest of the four trophic classes, but also the most vulnerable to nutrient-driven shifts. Moses Lake reaches 32 ft at its deepest point — typical for Minnesota mid-sized lakes, with seasonal stratification but limited cold-water refuge. At 824 acres, Moses Lake fits the Minnesota median for monitored lakes, with 4.5 miles of shoreline. Moses Lake ranks 11 of 51 in Douglas County, putting it in the upper tier of locally monitored lakes.

Zebra mussel presence at Moses Lake means the lake's clarity numbers carry an asterisk — filtered water is not the same as nutrient-poor water. The fishery includes walleye alongside the lake's other 17 documented species — a notable draw for Minnesota anglers. Public access is available — the lake is on the Minnesota PCA public-access list. Ice-out has been recorded 6 times at Moses Lake, with a median around Apr 17. The grade is based on limited monitoring — fewer than three independent measurement years contribute, so future updates may shift the letter.