Orchard Lake

Orchard Lake earns a C — middle-of-the-pack water quality, with one or two parameters dragging the average down from a stronger grade. The two scored sub-grades — clarity and phosphorus — track close together, so neither one is dragging the average down.

Eutrophic conditions are the baseline here: clarity drops noticeably in late summer, and dissolved oxygen near the bottom can become a concern. The lake bottoms out at 33 ft — a moderate depth that supports a warm-water fishery without the year-round cold refuge a deeper basin provides. At 238 acres, Orchard Lake fits the Minnesota median for monitored lakes, with 3.0 miles of shoreline. Orchard Lake sits at rank 20 of 36 in Dakota County, in the lower half of the local distribution.

Eurasian watermilfoil is established at Orchard Lake, which can dampen recreational access and pressure the native plant community. Orchard Lake's fishery is anchored by muskellunge, with 13 documented species in total — a destination water for muskie anglers. Public access is available — the lake is on the Minnesota PCA public-access list. Ice-out has been recorded 6 times at Orchard Lake, with a median around Apr 8. 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.