Sandhill Lake
Polk County, WisconsinView mapDirections
Wisconsin DNR publishes the water-quality measurements for Sandhill Lake. Here is what has been measured.
- Mesotrophic
- 24 ft max depth
- Limited data
Sandhill Lake in Polk County, Wisconsin has water-quality measurements published by Wisconsin DNR, shown here as reported. Water clarity: 8.2 ft visibility. Phosphorus: 19.2 µg/L.
Sandhill Lake is a mesotrophic lake in Polk County, Wisconsin with an estimated average depth of about 24 feet. Overall water quality is declining over recent sampling years. Compared to the 54 other monitored lakes in Polk County, Sandhill Lake ranks #20 for water quality.
Source: EPA Water Quality Portal sampling records, Wisconsin DNR Surface Water, last sampled 2023-09-11. Methodology: how these readings are compared.
Swimming conditions
Readings onlyLimited data
Based on clarity and algae readings from past sampling — there is no live water temperature and a current cyanobacteria reading for this lake. Check your state or county health department before you swim.
Nutrient and algae readings are not a swimming clearance. Check local advisories before you swim.
Whether Sandhill Lake is safe to swim in today is a call for the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources and the county health department, who post current advisories. LakeQuality does not issue swimming clearances.
Water quality measurements for Sandhill Lake
These are the measurements Wisconsin DNR publishes for Sandhill Lake, shown as reported. The condition class beside each reading is the EPA National Lakes Assessment class for this lake’s ecoregion.
Moderate clarity, visible to about 8.2 ft. Phosphorus 19.2 µg/L. TSI 47.
| Measure | Reading | Where it sits |
|---|---|---|
| Water clarity (Secchi depth) | 8.2ft | Measured, not scored How deep a black-and-white disk stays visible from the surface. Higher is clearer. |
| Total phosphorus | 19.2µg/L | Good GoodFairPoor |
| Chlorophyll-a (algae) | No reading The green pigment in algae — a direct measure of how much algae is in the water. | |
| Trophic state (TSI)Carlson's 0–100 index of how much algae a lake can support, from clarity, phosphorus and chlorophyll-a. | 47 | Mesotrophic OligotrophicMesotrophicEutrophicHypereutrophic |
Moderate nutrients, good water quality
Ask about Sandhill Lake
Answers come straight from the public measurements and survey records on this page.
Lake Details
Max depth
~24 ft est.
Depth marked “est.” is a modeled maximum from GLOBathy (Khazaei et al. 2022, CC0), not a measured survey. Wisconsin has not published bathymetry for Sandhill Lake.
Lake Size & Watershed
Watershed (drainage) area
8 sq mi
HydroLAKES / HydroSHEDS
Surface area
57 acres
HydroLAKES / HydroSHEDS
Shoreline
1.5 mi
HydroLAKES / HydroSHEDS
Elevation
1,037 ft
Size, shoreline, and watershed area from HydroLAKES (HydroSHEDS). Mean depth here is modelled, not surveyed — HydroLAKES v1.0 estimates lake depth from surrounding terrain rather than from soundings. Treat it as an approximation, and prefer a state bathymetric survey where one exists.
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Fishing Sandhill Lake
Water quality readings over time
2 seasons of samples on record (2022–2023). Calling a direction takes at least 4 years of the same measurement.
Water clarity
Worsening2 years
Phosphorus
Worsening+2.2 µg/L/yr2 years
Nearby Lakes in Polk County
Frequently asked questions about Sandhill Lake
Where is Sandhill Lake?
- Sandhill Lake is a lake in Polk County, Wisconsin. Its water-quality measurements are published by Wisconsin DNR and shown on this page as reported.
What is the water quality of Sandhill Lake?
- Sandhill Lake in Polk County, Wisconsin has water-quality measurements published by Wisconsin DNR, shown here as reported. Water clarity: 8.2 ft visibility. Phosphorus: 19.2 µg/L.
Is Sandhill Lake safe to swim in?
- Nutrient and algae readings are not a swimming clearance. Check local advisories before you swim.
How deep is Sandhill Lake?
- No published bathymetric survey covers Sandhill Lake, so its depth has not been measured. The HydroLAKES global model estimates an average depth of about 24 feet, but that is a modelled estimate derived from surrounding terrain rather than a measurement on the water, so treat it as approximate.
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Where this data comes from
14 measurements from 2 monitoring stations, 2022–2023. Retrieved from the EPA Water Quality Portal on 2026-08-02.
Collected and reported by
- Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources
WIDNR_WQX14 samples · 2022–2023
Analytical methods
- Phosphorus by Colorimetry
Monitoring station identifiers (2)
EPA condition classes from the National Lakes Assessment (EPA 841-R-24-006, Table 6-3), applied by ecoregion. See where the data comes from and data sources.
Other records on this page
Lake size & watershed from HydroLAKES (HydroSHEDS)