Tanners Lake

Tanners Lake sits at a C on the grading scale — not impaired, not pristine, with summer measurements that vary year to year. The two scored sub-grades — clarity and phosphorus — track close together, so neither one is dragging the average down.

At a TSI of 52, Tanners Lake reads as eutrophic — nutrient-rich enough that summer algal growth and reduced clarity are expected, not unusual. The lake bottoms out at 46 ft — a moderate depth that supports a warm-water fishery without the year-round cold refuge a deeper basin provides. Tanners Lake is small — 74 acres alongside 1.7 miles of shoreline — which makes it sensitive to even modest changes in watershed runoff or recreational pressure. Tanners Lake ranks 24 of 31 in Washington County — at the lower end of the locally monitored distribution.

No invasive species are currently listed at Tanners Lake — the lake remains off the Minnesota infested-waters roster. Walleye are documented at Tanners Lake, one of 10 fish species on record for the lake. A documented public access point at Tanners Lake makes the lake usable for shore fishing, paddle craft, and trailered boats. 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.