Stella Lake

The LakeGrade rubric puts Stella Lake at a C: clarity at 7.5 ft, phosphorus readings still being added, and a TSI of 48 signal an intermediate trophic state.

The lake sits in the mesotrophic zone — the band where most well-managed Minnesota lakes fall. Stella Lake is unusually deep for Minnesota at 75 ft, which buffers the lake against summer warming and helps the deep water stay oxygenated. At 599 acres, Stella Lake fits the Minnesota median for monitored lakes, with 4.7 miles of shoreline. Among the 23 graded lakes in Meeker County, Stella Lake ranks 5 — in the top quartile locally.

Zebra mussel presence at Stella Lake means the lake's clarity numbers carry an asterisk — filtered water is not the same as nutrient-poor water. Walleye are documented at Stella Lake, one of 15 fish species on record for the lake. A documented public access point at Stella Lake makes the lake usable for shore fishing, paddle craft, and trailered boats. The lake has a long ice-out record — 33 observations on file, with a median ice-out around Apr 7. 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.