Rice Lake

On the LakeGrade rubric Rice Lake fails the cutoffs — a TSI of 70 and persistent algal pressure put it in the bottom tier. Clarity, phosphorus, and chlorophyll-a all rate similarly, so there is no obvious single lever to pull on watershed management.

At a TSI of 70, Rice 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. Within the 24 graded lakes of Anoka County, Rice Lake sits at rank 20, near the bottom of the county list.

Rice Lake has no invasive species recorded in Minnesota state databases as of 2022, though prevention practices still apply at all access points. The state fisheries records do not list documented species for Rice Lake, which usually reflects a lack of formal fisheries survey work rather than an empty lake. Public access is available — the lake is on the Minnesota PCA public-access list. The lake has a partial ice record — 9 observed ice-outs, centered near Mar 30. 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.