Villard Lake

Villard Lake sits at a C on the grading scale — not impaired, not pristine, with summer measurements that vary year to year. With clarity and phosphorus scored, the sub-grades cluster within a letter of each other, pointing to stable conditions rather than one specific stressor.

Eutrophic conditions are the baseline here: clarity drops noticeably in late summer, and dissolved oxygen near the bottom can become a concern. A maximum depth of 16 ft puts Villard Lake in the middle of Minnesota's depth distribution. The lake's 544 acres and 3.6 miles of shoreline put it in the mid-range bucket — large enough for varied use, small enough that watershed inputs reach the whole basin. Among the 25 graded lakes in Pope County, Villard Lake sits at rank 12, above the county median.

Zebra mussel presence at Villard Lake means the lake's clarity numbers carry an asterisk — filtered water is not the same as nutrient-poor water. The fishery includes walleye among the lake's 14 documented species — a notable draw for Minnesota anglers. Public access is available — the lake is on the Minnesota PCA public-access list. The grade is based on limited monitoring — fewer than three independent measurement years contribute, so future updates may shift the letter.