Schwappauf Lake

Schwappauf Lake pulls a D on the LakeGrade rubric — phosphorus loading and limited clarity hold it below the Minnesota average. With clarity and phosphorus scored, the sub-grades cluster within a letter of each other, pointing to stable conditions rather than one specific stressor.

A TSI in the eutrophic range signals a lake doing what nutrient-loaded waters do — supporting an active algal community at the cost of clear water. A maximum depth of 29 ft puts Schwappauf Lake in the middle of Minnesota's depth distribution. Schwappauf Lake is small — 40 acres alongside 1.1 miles of shoreline — which makes it sensitive to even modest changes in watershed runoff or recreational pressure. Schwappauf Lake sits at rank 48 of 95 in Hennepin County, in the lower half of the local distribution.

No invasive species are currently listed at Schwappauf Lake — the lake remains off the Minnesota infested-waters roster. The state fisheries records do not list documented species for Schwappauf 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.