Seventeen Lake

Seventeen Lake grades an F: water clarity, phosphorus, and chlorophyll-a all rate poorly, placing it among the most stressed lakes monitored in Wisconsin. 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 in the eutrophic range signals a lake doing what nutrient-loaded waters do — supporting an active algal community at the cost of clear water. Seventeen Lake is a shallow lake at 8 ft maximum depth, which means it warms quickly, mixes constantly, and amplifies nutrient inputs. At 61 acres, Seventeen Lake sits below the Wisconsin median: a small water where shoreline activity has an outsized effect on water quality. Within the 191 graded lakes of Vilas County, Seventeen Lake sits at rank 188, near the bottom of the county list.

Seventeen Lake has no invasive species recorded in Wisconsin state databases as of 2022, though prevention practices still apply at all access points. The fishery is bass-led, with 2 documented species across the lake's records. 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.