Spring Lake

On the LakeGrade rubric, Spring Lake pulls an A: clarity readings still being added and 12 µg/L of phosphorus put it in the top bracket for Wisconsin. Clarity, phosphorus, and chlorophyll-a all rate similarly, so there is no obvious single lever to pull on watershed management.

A TSI near 40 places Spring Lake in the mesotrophic band — moderate productivity, with seasonal swings between clearer spring water and richer late-summer conditions. Spring Lake reaches 22 ft at its deepest point — typical for Wisconsin mid-sized lakes, with seasonal stratification but limited cold-water refuge. Spring Lake covers 105 acres alongside partial shoreline records — a mid-sized water that supports a working fishery without being so large that conditions diverge between basins. Within Waukesha County's 45 graded waters, Spring Lake sits at rank 1, near the top of the local distribution.

Zebra mussels have been documented at Spring Lake, which alters the filter-feeding balance and can paradoxically increase water clarity while disrupting the food web. Bass fishing is part of the appeal: the species list runs to 4, anchored by largemouth and/or smallmouth bass. Public access is available — the lake is on the Wisconsin DNR 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.