Rice Lake

Rice Lake earns an F: phosphorus readings still being added and clarity at 2.3 ft signal heavy nutrient loading from the surrounding watershed. The three sub-grades — clarity, phosphorus, and chlorophyll-a — track close together, so no single parameter is dragging the average.

At a TSI of 65, Rice Lake reads as eutrophic — nutrient-rich enough that summer algal growth and reduced clarity are expected, not unusual. At only 12 ft deep, Rice Lake is shallow — wind keeps the water column mixed and sediment resuspension drives phosphorus levels harder to manage. 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. Rice Lake ranks 96 of 104 in Hennepin County — at the lower end of the locally monitored distribution.

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. Ice-out has been recorded 21 times at Rice Lake, with a median around 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.