Rice Lake

Rice Lake earns an F: 348 µg/L of phosphorus and clarity at 2.0 ft signal heavy nutrient loading from the surrounding watershed. Sub-grades cluster within a single letter of each other, which usually means the lake is in stable trophic balance rather than fighting one specific stressor.

A TSI above 70 puts Rice Lake in hypereutrophic territory: visible blooms are common, and clarity rarely climbs even in early summer. Rice Lake is a shallow lake at 12 ft maximum depth, which means it warms quickly, mixes constantly, and amplifies nutrient inputs. Rice Lake covers 365 acres alongside 9.5 miles of shoreline — a mid-sized water that supports a working fishery without being so large that conditions diverge between basins. Within Hennepin County's 95 graded lakes, Rice Lake ranks 67 — below the local median, though not at the bottom.

Rice Lake is on the Minnesota infested-waters list for zebra mussels — boaters should follow clean-drain-dry protocols when moving gear to or from the lake. Bass fishing is part of the appeal: the species list runs to 16, anchored by largemouth and/or smallmouth bass. The lake lacks a documented public access point, so visitor use is limited. The lake has a partial ice record — 21 observed ice-outs, centered near Apr 2. 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.