Waverly Lake

Waverly Lake comes in at a B on the grading rubric — a respectable showing for a Minnesota lake of its size and depth. Sub-grades cluster within a single letter of each other, which usually means the lake is in stable trophic balance rather than fighting one specific stressor.

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. The lake's 71 ft maximum depth is in the upper tier for Minnesota — deep enough for cold-water fish to find refuge in summer. Waverly Lake covers 494 acres alongside 4.4 miles of shoreline — a mid-sized water that supports a working fishery without being so large that conditions diverge between basins. Waverly Lake ranks 21 of 64 in Wright County — solidly in the upper half of the local distribution.

Zebra mussels have been documented at Waverly Lake, which alters the filter-feeding balance and can paradoxically increase water clarity while disrupting the food web. The fishery includes walleye alongside the lake's other 17 documented species — a notable draw for Minnesota anglers. Public access is available — the lake is on the Minnesota PCA public-access list. 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.