Sturgeon Lake
St. Joseph County, Michigan193 acresView mapDirections
EGLE publishes the water-quality measurements for Sturgeon Lake. Here is what has been measured.
- Impaired · PFAS
- 34 ft max depth
- Public access
- Limited data
Sturgeon Lake in St. Joseph County, Michigan has water-quality measurements published by EGLE, shown here as reported. Water clarity: 3 ft visibility. Phosphorus: 77 µg/L. Surface area: 193.4 acres.
Sturgeon Lake is a 193-acre lake in St. Joseph County, Michigan with an estimated average depth of about 34 feet. Limited fish-species data available. Public access is available.
Source: EPA Water Quality Portal sampling records, EGLE, last sampled 2023-09-25. Methodology: how these readings are compared.
Swimming conditions
No readingLimited data
Nutrient and algae readings are not a swimming clearance. Sturgeon Lake is listed impaired under Clean Water Act §303(d) (IR 5) for pFAS. Check local advisories before you swim.
Whether Sturgeon Lake is safe to swim in today is a call for the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy (EGLE) and the county health department, who post current advisories. LakeQuality does not issue swimming clearances.
Water quality measurements for Sturgeon Lake
These are the measurements EGLE publishes for Sturgeon Lake, shown as reported. The condition class beside each reading is the EPA National Lakes Assessment class for this lake’s ecoregion.
Very murky, less than 3 ft of visibility. Phosphorus 77 µg/L. TSI 64.
| Measure | Reading | Where it sits |
|---|---|---|
| Water clarity (Secchi depth) | 3ft | Measured, not scored How deep a black-and-white disk stays visible from the surface. Higher is clearer. |
| Total phosphorus | 77µg/L | Measured, not scored The nutrient that most limits algae growth in freshwater. More phosphorus, more algae potential. |
| Chlorophyll-a (algae) | No reading The green pigment in algae — a direct measure of how much algae is in the water. | |
| Trophic state (TSI)Carlson's 0–100 index of how much algae a lake can support, from clarity, phosphorus and chlorophyll-a. | 64 | Eutrophic OligotrophicMesotrophicEutrophicHypereutrophic |
High nutrients, frequent algae, reduced clarity
Ask about Sturgeon Lake
Answers come straight from the public measurements and survey records on this page.
Lake Details
Max depth
~34 ft est.
Surface area
193 acres
Public access
Yes
Listed by EGLE
Depth marked “est.” is a modeled maximum from GLOBathy (Khazaei et al. 2022, CC0), not a measured survey. Michigan has not published bathymetry for Sturgeon Lake.
Lake Size & Watershed
Watershed (drainage) area
554 sq mi
HydroLAKES / HydroSHEDS
Shoreline
4.3 mi
HydroLAKES / HydroSHEDS
Elevation
837 ft
Size, shoreline, and watershed area from HydroLAKES (HydroSHEDS). Mean depth here is modelled, not surveyed — HydroLAKES v1.0 estimates lake depth from surrounding terrain rather than from soundings. Treat it as an approximation, and prefer a state bathymetric survey where one exists.
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Fishing Sturgeon Lake
EPA Impairment Status
Sturgeon Lake is officially listed as impaired under Clean Water Act §303(d) in the 2024 EPA reporting cycle (IR category 5).
Causes of impairment
Designated uses not supporting: Fish consumption.
Source: EPA ATTAINS assessment unit MI040500010406-03 · Official waterbody report
Nearby Lakes in St. Joseph County
Frequently asked questions about Sturgeon Lake
Where is Sturgeon Lake?
- Sturgeon Lake is a lake in St. Joseph County, Michigan. Its water-quality measurements are published by EGLE and shown on this page as reported.
What is the water quality of Sturgeon Lake?
- Sturgeon Lake in St. Joseph County, Michigan has water-quality measurements published by EGLE, shown here as reported. Water clarity: 3 ft visibility. Phosphorus: 77 µg/L. Surface area: 193.4 acres.
Is Sturgeon Lake safe to swim in?
- Nutrient and algae readings are not a swimming clearance. Sturgeon Lake is listed impaired under Clean Water Act §303(d) (IR 5) for pFAS. Check local advisories before you swim.
How deep is Sturgeon Lake?
- No published bathymetric survey covers Sturgeon Lake, so its depth has not been measured. The HydroLAKES global model estimates an average depth of about 34 feet, but that is a modelled estimate derived from surrounding terrain rather than a measurement on the water, so treat it as approximate. The lake covers 193.4 acres.
Can I fish at Sturgeon Lake?
- Public access to Sturgeon Lake is listed as yes on the lake record. Seasons, size and bag limits, and whether you need a license are set by Michigan's fish and wildlife agency, so check its current regulations before you go.
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Where this data comes from
12 measurements from 1 monitoring station, 2023. Retrieved from the EPA Water Quality Portal on 2026-08-26.
Collected and reported by
- Michigan EGLE - MiCorps
21MICH_MICORPS12 samples · 2023
Analytical methods
- Phosphorus by Colorimetry
Monitoring station identifiers (1)
EPA condition classes from the National Lakes Assessment (EPA 841-R-24-006, Table 6-3), applied by ecoregion. See where the data comes from and data sources.
Other records on this page
Impairment status from EPA ATTAINS 303(d) database
Lake size & watershed from HydroLAKES (HydroSHEDS)