What are eutrophic lakes in Minnesota?

568 eutrophic lakes in Minnesota. High nutrients, frequent algae, reduced clarity.

What does eutrophic mean?

High nutrients, frequent algae, reduced clarity.

Eutrophic Lakes in Minnesota

A eutrophic lake is a productive ecosystem with the trade-offs that come with productivity: more food at the base of the food web, more clarity reduction by mid-summer, more dissolved-oxygen variability near the bottom. 568 Minnesota lakes register as eutrophic. Only 9% are deep — eutrophy correlates with shallowness, agricultural watersheds, and the kind of nutrient-input history that takes decades to shift.

Eutrophic lakes typically grade C or D on our A–F scale. The same nutrient richness that defines the trophic class drives the lower grade.

#	Lake	County	Grade	Clarity	Depth	TSI
1	South Sturgeon Lake	St. Louis	A	2.5 ft	43 ft	53
2	Schram Lake	Beltrami	A	3.9 ft	-	51
3	Colby Lake	St. Louis	A	3 ft	30 ft	51
4	Jessie Lake	Beltrami	A	4.6 ft	35 ft	50
5	East Twin Lake	St. Louis	A	2.8 ft	-	62
6	Howard Lake	Anoka	A	3.3 ft	-	51
7	Elbow Lake	Cook	A	3.7 ft	9 ft	50
8	Lost Lake	Hennepin	A	3.2 ft	6 ft	59
9	Sabin Lake	St. Louis	A	2.1 ft	52 ft	53
10	Nichols Lake	St. Louis	A	5.1 ft	31 ft	50
11	Isabella Lake	Lake	A	4.4 ft	19 ft	50
12	Grass Lake	Anoka	A	4.3 ft	-	50
13	Silver Island Lake	Lake	A	4.4 ft	16 ft	51
14	Lake St Croix	Pierce	B	7.2 ft	78 ft	51
15	Third Crow Wing Lake	Hubbard	B	2.5 ft	35 ft	54
16	Badger Lake	Polk	B	6.6 ft	19 ft	51
17	Sarah Lake	Polk	B	7.7 ft	27 ft	51
18	Pool	Washington	B	5.9 ft	78 ft	53
19	Shoepack Lake	St. Louis	B	4.6 ft	24 ft	51
20	Kittleson Lake	Polk	B	7.1 ft	-	50
21	O'Connors Lake	Washington	B	6.6 ft	-	53
22	Mud Lake	Wright	C	5.6 ft	65 ft	52
23	Big Lake	Stearns	C	6.9 ft	42 ft	52
24	Birch Lake	St. Louis	C	3.9 ft	25 ft	52
25	Round Lake	Hennepin	C	6.6 ft	37 ft	54
26	Horseshoe Lake	Chisago	C	4.6 ft	53 ft	54
27	Long Lake	Meeker	C	7.5 ft	28 ft	53
28	Unnamed Lake	Dakota	C	6 ft	-	51
29	Maple Lake	Polk	C	3.3 ft	14 ft	59
30	Twin Lake	Ramsey	C	7.5 ft	33 ft	52
31	Clear Lake	Washington	C	6.2 ft	28 ft	52
32	One Pine Lake	St. Louis	C	4.5 ft	13 ft	53
33	Kraemer Lake	Stearns	C	6.9 ft	30 ft	51
34	Blue Lake	Scott	C	1.9 ft	50 ft	67
35	Auburn Lake	Carver	C	6.4 ft	84 ft	51
36	Johanna Lake	Pope	C	5.1 ft	10 ft	55
37	Fish Lake	Jackson	C	4.5 ft	-	57
38	Fish Lake	Dakota	C	7.2 ft	33.5 ft	52
39	Washington Lake	Meeker	C	4.5 ft	17 ft	55
40	Sand Lake	Carlton	C	5 ft	27 ft	54
41	Sand Lake	Lake	C	4.1 ft	11 ft	52
42	Irving Lake	Beltrami	C	5.6 ft	19 ft	53
43	Union Lake	Wright	C	5.5 ft	35 ft	52
44	Allie Lake	Renville	C	3 ft	12 ft	66
45	Green Lake	Chisago	C	6 ft	32 ft	51
46	Bass Lake	Washington	C	6.5 ft	-	51
47	Bass Lake	Otter Tail	C	8.5 ft	36 ft	53
48	Island Lake	Itasca	C	8.9 ft	35 ft	51
49	Crooked Lake	Anoka	C	7.1 ft	26 ft	50
50	Portage Lake	Hubbard	C	5.5 ft	17 ft	53
51	George Lake	Stearns	C	7.3 ft	32 ft	51
52	George Lake	Cass	C	5 ft	20 ft	54
53	Arrowhead Lake	Crow Wing	C	6.9 ft	13 ft	50
54	Koronis Lake	Stearns	C	6 ft	132 ft	53
55	Bingham Lake	Cottonwood	C	4 ft	10 ft	55
56	Phalen Lake	Ramsey	C	8.1 ft	91 ft	51
57	Skogman Lake	Isanti	C	5.4 ft	36 ft	54
58	Goose Lake	Chisago	C	4.5 ft	55 ft	54
59	Roy Lake	Mahnomen	C	6 ft	16 ft	52
60	Rock Lake	Cass	C	5.9 ft	17 ft	53
61	Minnewawa Lake	Aitkin	C	5 ft	21 ft	53
62	Crystal Lake	Dakota	C	7 ft	37 ft	53
63	Camelot Lake	Hennepin	C	1.3 ft	31 ft	63
64	Big Sandy Lake	Aitkin	C	4.5 ft	84 ft	54
65	Mary Lake	Crow Wing	C	4.9 ft	34 ft	51
66	Ann Lake	Carver	C	8.7 ft	45 ft	50
67	Tulaby Lake	Mahnomen	C	7.8 ft	43 ft	50
68	Jessie Lake	Itasca	C	8.5 ft	42 ft	52
69	Calhoun Lake	Kandiyohi	C	6.9 ft	13 ft	50
70	Sleepy Eye Lake	Brown	C	3.3 ft	21 ft	59
71	Coon Lake	Anoka	C	5.7 ft	27 ft	51
72	Upper Cormorant Lake	Becker	C	8 ft	29 ft	51
73	Gem Lake	Ramsey	C	6.9 ft	-	53
74	Bde Maka Ska Lake	Hennepin	C	9.8 ft	82 ft	53
75	Lower Mission Lake	Crow Wing	C	6.9 ft	27 ft	54
76	Walker Lake	Otter Tail	C	7.5 ft	29 ft	50
77	Thomas Lake	Dakota	C	5.6 ft	8 ft	51
78	Francis Lake	Meeker	C	6.5 ft	17 ft	51
79	Harriet Lake	Hennepin	C	9.7 ft	87 ft	57
80	East Twin Lake	St. Louis	C	4.9 ft	22 ft	51
81	Carlson Lake	Dakota	C	7.5 ft	19 ft	50
82	Rush Lake	Otter Tail	C	7.5 ft	68 ft	51
83	Wolf Lake	Becker	C	3.9 ft	16 ft	52
84	Villard Lake	Pope	C	4.6 ft	16 ft	55
85	Idlewild Lake	Hennepin	C	6.2 ft	9 ft	52
86	Brooks Lake	Wright	C	5.6 ft	21 ft	54
87	Lower Trelipe Lake	Cass	C	6.9 ft	32 ft	51
88	Mcdonough Lake	Dakota	C	4.5 ft	13 ft	53
89	Perch Lake	Carlton	C	2.2 ft	-	58
90	Sucker Lake	Ramsey	C	5.9 ft	26 ft	52
91	South Center Lake	Chisago	C	4.7 ft	109 ft	55
92	Hyland Lake	Hennepin	C	4.9 ft	12 ft	55
93	Pine Lake	Aitkin	C	6.5 ft	28 ft	51
94	Duck Lake	Hennepin	C	5.9 ft	-	51
95	Toad Lake	Becker	C	7 ft	29 ft	51
96	Upper Prior Lake	Scott	C	5 ft	50 ft	54
97	Sibley Lake	Crow Wing	C	5.6 ft	40 ft	53
98	Grove Lake	Pope	C	5.1 ft	31 ft	54
99	Net Lake	Pine	C	3 ft	15 ft	58
100	Sarah Lake	Murray	C	3.9 ft	10 ft	53

All eutrophic lakes →Wisconsin version →Illinois version →Michigan version →Iowa version →Ohio version →Pennsylvania version →New York version →Missouri version →Indiana version →North Dakota version →South Dakota version →Florida version →Colorado version →North Carolina version →Vermont version →Texas version →Oregon version →Arkansas version →Oklahoma version →Kansas version →Nebraska version →Nevada version →Arizona version →Idaho version →Montana version →New Mexico version →Tennessee version →Alabama version →Virginia version →Kentucky version →Utah version →Washington version →Wyoming version →Georgia version →Massachusetts version →Ontario version →Québec version →Nova Scotia version →British Columbia version →Newfoundland and Labrador version →All Minnesota lakes →

Source: EPA National Aquatic Resource Surveys, 2026.