Spring Lake

The LakeGrade rubric puts Spring Lake at a C: clarity at 7.0 ft, 42 µg/L of phosphorus, and a TSI of 54 signal an intermediate trophic state. With clarity and phosphorus scored, the sub-grades cluster within a letter of each other, pointing to stable conditions rather than one specific stressor.

At a TSI of 54, Spring Lake reads as eutrophic — nutrient-rich enough that summer algal growth and reduced clarity are expected, not unusual. Spring Lake reaches 37 ft at its deepest point — typical for Minnesota mid-sized lakes, with seasonal stratification but limited cold-water refuge. At 592 acres, Spring Lake fits the Minnesota median for monitored lakes, with 4.5 miles of shoreline. Spring Lake ranks 6 of 17 in Scott County — solidly in the upper half of the local distribution.

Spring Lake is on the Minnesota infested-waters list for zebra mussels — boaters should follow clean-drain-dry protocols when moving gear to or from the lake. Walleye are documented at Spring Lake, one of 15 fish species on record for the lake. Public access is available — the lake is on the Minnesota PCA public-access list. Ice-out has been recorded 5 times at Spring Lake, with a median around Mar 31. 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.