Odana Pond

Odana Pond earns an F: 316 µg/L of phosphorus and clarity at 1.0 ft signal heavy nutrient loading from the surrounding watershed. Clarity, phosphorus, and chlorophyll-a all rate similarly, so there is no obvious single lever to pull on watershed management.

A TSI above 70 puts Odana Pond in hypereutrophic territory: visible blooms are common, and clarity rarely climbs even in early summer. At only 5 ft deep, Odana Pond is shallow — wind keeps the water column mixed and sediment resuspension drives phosphorus levels harder to manage. The lake is compact at 14 acres, with partial shoreline records and little volume to buffer nutrient inputs. Within Dane County's 21 graded lakes, Odana Pond ranks 14 — below the local median, though not at the bottom.

No invasive species are currently listed at Odana Pond — the lake remains off the Wisconsin infested-waters roster. The state fisheries records do not list documented species for Odana Pond, 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.