Round Lake

On the LakeGrade rubric, Round Lake pulls an A: clarity at 11.6 ft and 18 µg/L of phosphorus put it in the top bracket for Minnesota. Clarity, phosphorus, and chlorophyll-a all rate similarly, so there is no obvious single lever to pull on watershed management.

A TSI near 44 places Round Lake in the mesotrophic band — moderate productivity, with seasonal swings between clearer spring water and richer late-summer conditions. A maximum depth of 24 ft puts Round Lake in the middle of Minnesota's depth distribution. At 158 acres, Round Lake fits the Minnesota median for monitored lakes, with 2.0 miles of shoreline. Among the 97 graded lakes in Otter Tail County, Round Lake sits at rank 25, above the county median.

Round Lake has no invasive species recorded in Minnesota state databases as of 2024, though prevention practices still apply at all access points. The state fisheries records do not list documented species for Round Lake, which usually reflects a lack of formal fisheries survey work rather than an empty lake. The lake lacks a documented public access point, so visitor use is limited. 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.