Van Etten Lake
Iosco County, Michigan1,407 acresView mapDirections
EGLE publishes the water-quality measurements for Van Etten Lake. Here is what has been measured.
- Mesotrophic
- Impaired · Mercury
Van Etten Lake in Iosco County, Michigan has water-quality measurements published by EGLE, shown here as reported. Water clarity: 6 ft visibility. Phosphorus: 34 µg/L. Chlorophyll-a (algae): 6.9 µg/L. Surface area: 1406.5 acres.
Van Etten Lake is a 1,407-acre mesotrophic lake in Iosco County, Michigan. Water clarity is improving over recent sampling years. Compared to the 4 other monitored lakes in Iosco County, Van Etten Lake ranks #5 for water quality.
Source: EPA Water Quality Portal sampling records, EGLE, last sampled 2023-09-10. Methodology: how these readings are compared.
Van Etten Lake covers about 1,400 acres in Iosco County. For a place on the water, look through cabin and lake-house rentals near Van Etten Lake on Vrbo. For a hotel or motel room, Booking.com and Expedia both search around the lake.
What Van Etten Lake is good for
From access and monitoring records, not editorial picks.
- Big water1,407 acres
Swimming conditions
Readings onlyModerate algae
Based on clarity and algae readings from past sampling — there is no live water temperature and a current cyanobacteria reading for this lake. Check your state or county health department before you swim.
Nutrient and algae readings are not a swimming clearance. Van Etten Lake is listed impaired under Clean Water Act §303(d) (IR 5) for mercury, nutrients (phosphorus, nitrogen), pFAS, pCBs. Check local advisories before you swim.
Whether Van Etten 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 Van Etten Lake
These are the measurements EGLE publishes for Van Etten Lake, shown as reported. The condition class beside each reading is the EPA National Lakes Assessment class for this lake’s ecoregion.
Murky, only visible to about 6 ft. Phosphorus 34 µg/L. Chlorophyll-a 6.9 µg/L. TSI 52.
| Measure | Reading | Where it sits |
|---|---|---|
| Water clarity (Secchi depth) | 6ft | Measured, not scored How deep a black-and-white disk stays visible from the surface. Higher is clearer. |
| Total phosphorus | 34µg/L | Fair GoodFairPoor |
| Chlorophyll-a (algae) | 6.9µg/L | Good GoodFairPoor |
| Trophic state (TSI)Carlson's 0–100 index of how much algae a lake can support, from clarity, phosphorus and chlorophyll-a. | 52 | Mesotrophic OligotrophicMesotrophicEutrophicHypereutrophic |
Moderate nutrients, good water quality
Ask about Van Etten Lake
Answers come straight from the public measurements and survey records on this page.
→ Van Etten Lake water level: the live USGS gauge reading
Lake Details
Surface area
1,407 acres
No bathymetric survey has been published for Van Etten Lake, so its depth is not documented here.
Stays via Stay22
Stays near Van Etten Lake
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Top-rated places to stay near Van Etten Lake
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Fishing Van Etten Lake
Water Quality Trend: Stable
Based on 8 years of monitoring (2016–2023).
Water clarity
Improving8 years
Phosphorus
Stable-0.46 µg/L/yr7 years
Chlorophyll-a
Worsening+1 µg/L/yr7 years
EPA Impairment Status
Van Etten 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: Aquatic life, Fish consumption.
A Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) plan has been approved.
Source: EPA ATTAINS assessment unit MI040700070609-04 · Official waterbody report
Nearby Lakes in Iosco County
Frequently asked questions about Van Etten Lake
Where is Van Etten Lake?
- Van Etten Lake is a lake in Iosco County, Michigan. Its water-quality measurements are published by EGLE and shown on this page as reported.
What is the water quality of Van Etten Lake?
- Van Etten Lake in Iosco County, Michigan has water-quality measurements published by EGLE, shown here as reported. Water clarity: 6 ft visibility. Phosphorus: 34 µg/L. Chlorophyll-a (algae): 6.9 µg/L. Surface area: 1406.5 acres.
Is Van Etten Lake safe to swim in?
- Nutrient and algae readings are not a swimming clearance. Van Etten Lake is listed impaired under Clean Water Act §303(d) (IR 5) for mercury, nutrients (phosphorus, nitrogen), pFAS, pCBs. Check local advisories before you swim.
Explore Van Etten Lake across LakeQuality
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Where this data comes from
182 measurements from 1 monitoring station, 2016–2023. Retrieved from the EPA Water Quality Portal on 2026-08-26.
Collected and reported by
- Michigan EGLE - MiCorps
21MICH_MICORPS182 samples · 2016–2023
Analytical methods
- Phosphorus by Colorimetry
- 445.0 ~ EPA; Chlorophyll and Pheophytin in Algae by Fluorescence
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