Porters Lake

Porters Lake sits at the top of the Wisconsin DNR grading rubric with an A, a mark reached by the cleanest lakes in Wisconsin. Clarity, phosphorus, and chlorophyll-a all rate similarly, so there is no obvious single lever to pull on watershed management.

A TSI near 41 places Porters Lake in the mesotrophic band — moderate productivity, with seasonal swings between clearer spring water and richer late-summer conditions. A maximum depth of 16 ft puts Porters Lake in the middle of Wisconsin's depth distribution. At 76 acres, Porters Lake sits below the Wisconsin median: a small water where shoreline activity has an outsized effect on water quality. Among the 32 graded lakes in Waushara County, Porters Lake sits at rank 16, above the county median.

Eurasian watermilfoil is established at Porters Lake, which can dampen recreational access and pressure the native plant community. The fishery is bass-led, with 3 documented species across the lake's records. A documented public access point at Porters Lake makes the lake usable for shore fishing, paddle craft, and trailered boats. 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.