What lakes are in the Minnesota River Watershed?

143 monitored lakes drain through the Minnesota River Watershed, including Brickyard Lake, Courthouse Lake, Krenz Lake, and others. The watershed spans Minnesota.

What is the cleanest lake in the Minnesota River Watershed?

Brickyard Lake in Carver County is the highest-rated lake in the Minnesota River Watershed with a Grade A.

What is a HUC8 watershed?

HUC8 (Hydrologic Unit Code, 8-digit) is the USGS classification for "subbasins" — the level at which major named river systems are usually identified. The Minnesota River Watershed corresponds to HUC8 07020012.

Minnesota River Watershed

Minnesota · 143 monitored lakes · 6 grade A · 20 grade B · HUC8 07020012

The Minnesota River basin draining southern Minnesota — agricultural country with high phosphorus loading and a classic test case for nutrient-driven lake degradation.

Counties in this watershed

Big Stone, Lac qui Parle, Yellow Medicine, Renville, Redwood, Brown, Nicollet, Blue Earth, Le Sueur, Sibley, Scott, Carver, Dakota

Monitored Lakes (143)

#	Lake	County	Grade	Clarity	Area	Depth
1	Brickyard Lake	Carver	A	15.1 ft	-	-
2	Courthouse Lake	Carver	A	20 ft	-	-
3	Krenz Lake	Scott	A	16.2 ft	-	-
4	Holland Lake	Dakota	A	27.9 ft	-	-
5	Fish Lake	Le Sueur	A	11.8 ft	-	-
6	Piersons Lake	Carver	A	10 ft	-	-
7	O'Brien Lake	Dakota	B	19.7 ft	-	-
8	Unnamed Lake	Blue Earth	B	-	-	-
9	Minnewashta Lake	Carver	B	11.5 ft	-	-
10	Zumbra-Sunny Lake	Carver	B	10.1 ft	-	-
11	Schultz Lake	Dakota	B	8.5 ft	-	-
12	Lac Lavon Lake	Dakota	B	12.8 ft	-	-
13	Fireman'S Lake	Carver	B	10.8 ft	-	-
14	Sunfish Lake	Dakota	B	11.5 ft	-	-
15	Roemhildts Lake	Le Sueur	B	10.2 ft	-	-
16	Stone Lake	Carver	B	10.5 ft	-	-
17	St. Joe Lake	Carver	B	10.5 ft	-	-
18	Deans Lake	Scott	B	-	-	-
19	Unnamed Lake	Nicollet	B	5 ft	-	-
20	Unnamed Lake	Dakota	B	6.9 ft	-	-
21	Lemay Lake	Dakota	B	6.9 ft	-	-
22	Blackhawk Lake	Dakota	B	6.9 ft	-	-
23	Ann Lake	Carver	B	9.2 ft	-	-
24	Carlson Lake	Dakota	B	8 ft	-	-
25	Lower Prior Lake	Scott	B	9.5 ft	1.1K acres	-
26	Central Mystic Lake	Scott	B	-	-	-
27	Mcdonough Lake	Dakota	C	9.8 ft	-	-
28	Jensen Lake	Dakota	C	5 ft	-	-
29	Marion Lake	Dakota	C	7 ft	-	-
30	Auburn Lake	Carver	C	7.2 ft	-	-
31	Fish Lake	Dakota	C	6.9 ft	-	-
32	Crystal Lake	Dakota	C	7 ft	-	-
33	Crystal Lake	Scott	C	8.5 ft	-	-
34	Thomas Lake	Dakota	C	5.6 ft	-	-
35	Waconia Lake	Carver	C	7.3 ft	-	-
36	Spring Lake	Scott	C	7 ft	-	-
37	Frances Lake	Le Sueur	C	6 ft	-	-
38	Mccoll Pond	Scott	C	8 ft	-	-
39	Fish Lake	Scott	C	3.9 ft	-	-
40	Pitts Lake	Dakota	C	4.9 ft	-	-
41	East Auburn Lake	Carver	C	5 ft	-	-
42	Volney Lake	Le Sueur	C	5 ft	-	-
43	Oak Lake	Carver	C	4.5 ft	-	-
44	Bavaria Lake	Carver	C	5.2 ft	-	-
45	Lotus Lake	Carver	C	4.3 ft	-	-
46	Steiger Lake	Carver	C	5.2 ft	-	-
47	Upper Prior Lake	Scott	C	6 ft	-	-
48	Lucy Lake	Carver	C	5.6 ft	-	-
49	East Thomas Lake	Dakota	C	5.2 ft	-	-
50	Burandt Lake	Carver	C	3.9 ft	-	-
51	Bald Lake	Dakota	C	4.9 ft	-	-
52	Keller Lake	Dakota	C	4.3 ft	-	-
53	Orchard Lake	Dakota	C	4.8 ft	-	-
54	Scotch Lake	Le Sueur	D	4.1 ft	-	-
55	Rays Lake	Le Sueur	D	3.6 ft	-	-
56	Unnamed Lake	Big Stone	D	6.9 ft	-	-
57	Curtis Lake	Yellow Medicine	D	4 ft	440 acres	-
58	Virginia Lake	Carver	D	6 ft	-	-
59	Pickerel Lake	Dakota	D	3.6 ft	-	-
60	Del Clark Lake	Yellow Medicine	D	5 ft	160 acres	-
61	Tyson Lake	Yellow Medicine	D	4.5 ft	-	-
62	Mill Pond	Scott	D	6 ft	16 acres	-
63	Wellner-Hageman Reservoir	Brown	D	3.7 ft	71 acres	-
64	O'Dowd Lake	Scott	D	5 ft	-	-
65	Lake Jefferson	Le Sueur	D	4 ft	700 acres	-
66	Reitz Lake	Carver	D	3.1 ft	-	-
67	Wassermann West Lake	Carver	D	5.2 ft	-	-
68	Madison Lake	Blue Earth	D	3.6 ft	-	-
69	Bur Oaks Pond	Dakota	D	4.6 ft	-	-
70	Rogers Lake	Dakota	D	4 ft	-	-
71	Cup Lake	Big Stone	D	5.1 ft	-	-
72	06-0422-00 Lake	Big Stone	D	2.6 ft	-	-
73	Myers Lake	Carver	D	3 ft	-	-
74	Oak Leaf Lake	Nicollet	D	3.3 ft	-	-
75	Sleepy Eye Lake	Brown	D	3.3 ft	227 acres	-
76	Gerhardt Lake	Dakota	D	2.5 ft	-	-
77	Grace Lake	Carver	D	2.6 ft	19 acres	-
78	Wassermann Lake	Carver	D	3 ft	-	-
79	Big Stone Lake	Big Stone	D	3.9 ft	-	-
80	Susan Lake	Carver	D	2.5 ft	-	-
81	German Lake	Le Sueur	D	3.2 ft	-	-
82	Hilltop Pd Lake	Dakota	D	3.6 ft	-	-
83	Porter Lake	Blue Earth	D	1.3 ft	-	-
84	Washington Lake	Le Sueur	F	4.5 ft	-	-
85	Emily Lake	Le Sueur	F	2 ft	315 acres	-
86	Preston Lake	Renville	F	5 ft	-	-
87	Pike Lake	Scott	F	2 ft	-	-
88	Unnamed Lake	Big Stone	F	2 ft	-	-
89	Unnamed Lake	Brown	F	0.3 ft	-	-
90	Jonathan Lake	Carver	F	1.5 ft	31 acres	-
91	Tetonka Lake	Le Sueur	F	3 ft	-	-
92	Clear Lake	Brown	F	0.8 ft	-	-
93	Eagle Lake	Carver	F	2.3 ft	183 acres	-
94	Eagle Lake	Blue Earth	F	1 ft	-	-
95	Ballantyne Lake	Blue Earth	F	2.5 ft	-	-
96	Allie Lake	Renville	F	2 ft	-	-
97	Cedar Lake	Scott	F	3.1 ft	-	-
98	Thompson Lake	Dakota	F	2.8 ft	-	-
99	George Lake	Blue Earth	F	2.5 ft	-	-
100	Jefferson Lake	Le Sueur	F	2 ft	700 acres	-

Showing top 100 of 143 lakes by water quality grade.

All watersheds →All Minnesota lakes →

Source: EPA National Aquatic Resource Surveys, 2026.