Swan Lake

Swan Lake earns a D — measurements through 2023 show persistent nutrient pressure that limits clarity through the summer. The three sub-grades — clarity, phosphorus, and chlorophyll-a — track close together, so no single parameter is dragging the average.

A TSI in the eutrophic range signals a lake doing what nutrient-loaded waters do — supporting an active algal community at the cost of clear water. At only 10 ft deep, Swan Lake is shallow — wind keeps the water column mixed and sediment resuspension drives phosphorus levels harder to manage. Swan Lake covers 352 acres alongside 2.9 miles of shoreline — a mid-sized water that supports a working fishery without being so large that conditions diverge between basins. Swan Lake ranks 2 of 5 in McLeod County — solidly in the upper half of the local distribution.

Swan Lake has no invasive species recorded in Minnesota state databases as of 2023, though prevention practices still apply at all access points. Walleye are documented at Swan Lake, one of 14 fish species on record for the lake. A documented public access point at Swan Lake makes the lake usable for shore fishing, paddle craft, and trailered boats. Ice-out has been logged at Swan Lake more than two dozen times, putting the median around Apr 8 — a useful baseline for tracking climate trends. 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.