Clearwater Lake Health

There is a lot that goes into determining a lakes health.   There are also a many points of view on the most important aspects of a lake's health.   The Clearwater Lake Association's goal is to find a balance between what is best for the lake and what is best for the general membership.
 
Crow Wing County has a very good report on the condition of our lake.  The report is a little old, it is from 2011 but is has a lot of information in it. See the county report here: Clearwater Lake Water Quality.  Water quality data have been collected on Clearwater Lake since 1979  These data show that the lake is mesotrophic, which is characteristic of moderately clear water throughout the summer and excellent recreational opportunities.
But what exactly does that all mean and what has changed since 2011?  The first thing that has changed drastically since 2011 is our increase of Eurasian Milfoil and now the discover of Curly-Leaf Pondweed.  No invasive is ever good news, and unfortunately, the general consensuses is that you can never get rid of these invasives, you can only control the spread.  
But there is a good side. We do not have Zebra Mussels, Spiney Water Flea or Veligers.  With Mille Lacs so close and infected with all of these invasive, we have been lucky so far.  With the walleye fishing changes and the increase in bass tournaments on Mille Lacs and Clearwater we need to stay vigilant to protect our lake.
A new threat appear in 2015 when a large algae bloom appeared on our lake for the first time. The fear was that the dead milfoil from the treatments were adding extra nutrients into the lake, causing the bloom.  The Board was concerned that we might be starting a ripple effect, causing one problem while solving another.  As stewards of the lake, we decided to bring in RMB labs to help us analyze our lake to make sure we were not causing more harm then good with our milfoil treatments.  They assured us that the treatments would not cause this effect.   The primary cause of algae is from nutrient load due to erosion into the lake. 
RMB took water samples in the summer of 2016.  You can compare the new findings with the Crow Wing County findings of 2011  There is a lot of interesting facts about our Lake in these reports.  Having 2 surveys gives us good data to compare and watch for trends.   For More reports see the Reports link.

Clearwater Lake Association hired RMB in 2018 to sample our aquatic vegetation.   See the full report at Reports, Vegetation.

You can see a breakdown of the report on the 2018 Link above.