Smith Lake

The LakeGrade rubric puts Smith Lake at a C: clarity at 9.0 ft, phosphorus readings still being added, and a TSI of 45 signal an intermediate trophic state. Clarity, phosphorus, and chlorophyll-a all rate similarly, so there is no obvious single lever to pull on watershed management.

The lake sits in the mesotrophic zone — the band where most well-managed Minnesota lakes fall. A maximum depth of 25 ft puts Smith Lake in the middle of Minnesota's depth distribution. At 43 acres, Smith Lake sits below the Minnesota median: a small water where shoreline activity has an outsized effect on water quality. Smith Lake ranks 110 of 141 in Itasca County — at the lower end of the locally monitored distribution.

No invasive species are currently listed at Smith Lake — the lake remains off the Minnesota infested-waters roster. Walleye are documented at Smith Lake, one of 10 fish species on record for the lake. Public access is available — the lake is on the Minnesota PCA public-access list. 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.