Lakes
Le Sueur County has a lot of lakes; 73 to be exact! With such bountiful water resources, the lakes provide numerous opportunities or outdoor recreational activities, vacation hotspot, or be stay year round as a resident. Our lakes are some of most treasured resources and make the County a popular place to visit or live!
Volunteer Lakes Monitoring Program
Le Sueur County has continued building coordination efforts for volunteer lake monitoring. 2024 was our first year offering the program and we had 5 lakes that were able to sample from July to September. In 2025, 8 lakes are now a part of the program and were able to sample for the full season from May to September. Lakes that sampled in 2025 include: East Jefferson, Middle Jefferson, Gorman, Upper Sakatah, Frances, German, Tetonka, and Volney.
The process of sampling went relatively smooth again this season. Individuals from last year were familiar with the sampling methods and were able to start back up with relative ease, and the newcomers for the program had no major issues with the process. The Total Phosphorus and Chlorophyll-A samples were taken and dropped off to the County on the third Monday of the month; samples were typically taken the Sunday night before. The County continued this year bringing the samples up to the laboratory once they were all brought in and replacing the samplers with new bottles for the next month.
Now that the program has been established, Le Sueur County is hoping to keep adding more lakes to these sampling efforts. Lake data is an important part of lake stewardship and can inform lakeshore owners how their lakes are trending in terms of lake health.
East Jefferson Lake is part of the Jefferson/German Chain of Lakes. East Jefferson is 685 acres in size with a maximum depth of 37 feet and average depth of 17 feet. East Jefferson Lake is currently impaired for nutrients and is not meeting water quality standards.
This lake is located within the Cannon River Watershed. While this lake is not a priority water resource in the Cannon River Comprehensive Watershed Management Plan, it is still considered a local priority.
Lake Francis is 927 acres in size with a maximum depth of 60 feet and average depth of 12 feet. Lake Frances is currently impaired for nutrients and mercury in fish and is not meeting water quality standards.
This lake is located within the Cannon River Watershed. While this lake is not a priority water resource in the Cannon River Comprehensive Watershed Management Plan, it is still considered a local priority.
German Lake is part of the Jefferson/German Chain of Lakes. German Lake is 889acres in size with a maximum depth of 51 feet and average depth of 14 feet. German Lake is currently impaired for nutrients and is not meeting water quality standards.
This lake is located within the Cannon River Watershed. While this lake is not a priority water resource in the Cannon River Comprehensive Watershed Management Plan, it is still considered a local priority.
Gorman Lake is 521 acres in size with a maximum depth of 14 feet and average depth of 7 feet. Gorman Lake is currently impaired for nutrients and mercury in fish and is not meeting water quality standards. Gorman Lake is considered a shallow lake which means it naturally has a higher nutrient load compared to deep lakes. The water quality standard for shallow lakes are higher than deep lakes.
This lake is located within the Cannon River Watershed. While this lake is not a priority in the Cannon River Comprehensive Watershed Management Plan, it is still considered a local priority.
Middle Jefferson Lake is part of the Jefferson/German Chain of Lakes. Middle Jefferson Lake is 667 acres in size with a maximum depth of 8 feet and average depth of 4 feet. Middle Jefferson Lake is currently impaired for nutrients and is not meeting water quality standards. Middle Jefferson Lake is considered a shallow lake which means it naturally has a higher nutrient load compared to deep lakes. The water quality standard for shallow lakes are higher than deep lakes.
This lake is located within the Cannon River Watershed. While this lake is not a priority water resource in the Cannon River Comprehensive Watershed Management Plan, it is still considered a local priority.
Lake Tetonka is part of the Waterville Lakes Area. Lake Tetonka is 1,358 acres in size with a maximum depth of 31 feet and average depth of 16 feet. Lake Tetonka is currently impaired for nutrients and is not meeting water quality standards.
This lake is located within the Cannon River Watershed. While this lake is not a priority in the Cannon River Comprehensive Watershed Management Plan, it is still considered a local priority.
Upper Sakatah Lake is part of the Waterville Lakes Area. Upper Sakatah is 892 acres in size with a maximum depth of 10 feet and average depth of 6 feet. Upper Sakatah Lake is currently impaired for nutrients and is not meeting water quality standards. Upper Sakatah is considered a shallow lake which means it naturally has a higher nutrient load compared to deep lakes. The water quality standard for shallow lakes are higher than deep lakes.
This lake is located within the Cannon River Watershed. While this lake is not a priority water resource in the Cannon River Comprehensive Watershed Management Plan, it is still considered a local priority.
Lake Volney is 269 acres in size with a maximum depth of 67 feet and average depth of 22 feet. Lake Volney is currently impaired for nutrients and mercury in fish and is not meeting water quality standards.
This lake is located within the Cannon River Watershed. While this lake is not a priority water resource in the Cannon River Comprehensive Watershed Management Plan, it is still considered a local priority.
Minnesota Pollution Control Agency Surface Water Assessment Monitoring Program
The State of Minnesota has entered into its second round of developing the Watershed Restoration and Protection Strategies Report (WRAPS). This report assesses conditions and resources within a watershed and provides recommendations for protection and improvement efforts. As part of developing this report, water resources, both lakes and streams, are monitored and sampled for different water quality parameters. For this second round of monitoring efforts, lakes were primarily chosen based off of local and watershed priorities. Local government units are not required to participate in these efforts; however, Le Sueur County and Le Sueur SWCD are active participants in this program!
The Cannon River Watershed was sampled in 2022 and 2023. Lakes that were sampled during these efforts include: East Jefferson, Fish, German, Middle Jefferson, Roemhildts, Upper Sakatah, and Volney.
The Middle Minnesota River Watershed was sampled in 2024 and 2025. Lakes that were sampled during these efforts include: Emily, Henry, and Washington.
The Lower Minnesota River Watershed was sampled in 2025 and will be sampled in 2026 as well. Lakes that were sampled during these efforts include: Clear.
Currently there are no updated WRAPS reports available for recent monitoring efforts. To view recent data that was collected for lakes in these watersheds, please visit the following website: https://webapp.pca.state.mn.us/surface-water/search.
- Clear
- East Jefferson
- Emily
- Fish
- German
- Henry
- Middle Jefferson
- Roemhildts
- Tetonka
- Upper Sakatah
- Volney
- Washington
- West Jefferson
Clear Lake is 279 acres in size with a maximum depth of 20 feet and average depth of 10 feet. Clear Lake is currently impaired for nutrients and is not meeting water quality standards.
This lake is located within the Lower Minnesota River Watershed. This lake is a priority water resource within the Lower Minnesota River East Comprehensive Watershed Management Plan, it is still considered a local priority.
East Jefferson Lake is part of the Jefferson/German Chain of Lakes. East Jefferson Lake is 685 acres in size with a maximum depth of 37 feet and average depth of 17 feet. East Jefferson Lake is currently impaired for nutrients and is not meeting water quality standards.
This lake is located within the Cannon River Watershed. While this lake is not a priority water resource in the Cannon River Comprehensive Watershed Management Plan, it is still considered a local priority.
Lake Emily is 300 acres in size with a maximum depth of 37 feet and average depth of 10 feet. Lake Emily is currently considered nearly/barely impaired for nutrients and is not meeting water quality standards, but is very close to meeting them. This elevates the priority of protecting and improving the resource since it is close to meeting water quality standards.
This lake is located within the Middle Minnesota-Mankato River Watershed. This lake is a priority water resource within the Middle Minnesota-Mankato River Comprehensive Watershed Management Plan, and is still considered a local priority.
Fish Lake is 77 acres in size with a maximum depth of 53 feet and average depth of 18 feet. Fish Lake is currently meeting water quality standards and is considered high quality and unimpaired.
This lake is located within the Cannon River Watershed. This lake a priority water resource within the Cannon River Comprehensive Watershed Management Plan due to its being considered a healthy lake and it is still considered a local priority.
German Lake is part of the Jefferson/German Chain of Lakes. German Lake is 889 acres in size with a maximum depth of 51 feet and average depth of 14 feet. German Lake is currently impaired for nutrients and is not meeting water quality standards.
This lake is located within the Cannon River Watershed. While this lake is not a priority water resource in the Cannon River Comprehensive Watershed Management Plan, it is still considered a local priority.
Lake Henry is 377 acres in size with a maximum depth of 6 feet and average depth of 4 feet. Lake Henry is currently impaired for nutrients and is not meeting water quality standards. Lake Henry is considered a shallow lake which means it naturally has a higher nutrient load compared to deep lakes. The water quality standard for shallow lakes are higher than deep lakes.
This lake is located within the Middle Minnesota-Mankato River Watershed. This lake is not a priority water resource within the Middle Minnesota-Mankato River Comprehensive Watershed Management Plan, and is still considered a local priority.
Middle Jefferson Lake is part of the Jefferson/German Chain of Lakes. Middle Jefferson Lake is 667 acres in size with a maximum depth of 8 feet and average depth of 4 feet. Middle Jefferson Lake is currently impaired for nutrients and is not meeting water quality standards. Middle Jefferson Lake is considered a shallow lake which means it naturally has a higher nutrient load compared to deep lakes. The water quality standard for shallow lakes are higher than deep lakes.
This lake is located within the Cannon River Watershed. While this lake is not a priority water resource in the Cannon River Comprehensive Watershed Management Plan, it is still considered a local priority.
Roemhildts Lake is 71 acres in size with a maximum depth of 60 feet and average depth of 21 feet. Roemhildts Lake is currently meeting water quality standards and is considered high quality and unimpaired.
This lake is located within the Cannon River Watershed. This lake a priority water resource within the Cannon River Comprehensive Watershed Management Plan due to its being considered a healthy lake and it is still considered a local priority.
Lake Tetonka is part of the Waterville Lakes Area. Lake Tetonka is 1,358 acres in size with a maximum depth of 31 feet and average depth of 16 feet. Lake Tetonka is currently impaired for nutrients and is not meeting water quality standards.
This lake is located within the Cannon River Watershed. While this lake is not a priority in the Cannon River Comprehensive Watershed Management Plan, it is still considered a local priority.
Upper Sakatah Lake is part of the Waterville Lakes Area. Upper Sakatah is 892 acres in size with a maximum depth of 10 feet and average depth of 6 feet. Upper Sakatah Lake is currently impaired for nutrients and is not meeting water quality standards. Upper Saktah Lake is considered a shallow lake which means it naturally has a higher nutrient load compared to deep lakes. The water quality standard for shallow lakes are higher than deep lakes.
This lake is located within the Cannon River Watershed. While this lake is not a priority water resource in the Cannon River Comprehensive Watershed Management Plan, it is still considered a local priority.
Lake Volney is 269 acres in size with a maximum depth of 67 feet and average depth of 22 feet. Lake Volney is currently impaired for nutrients and mercury in fish and is not meeting water quality standards.
This lake is located within the Cannon River Watershed. While this lake is not a priority water resource in the Cannon River Comprehensive Watershed Management Plan, it is still considered a local priority.
Lake Washington is 1,516 acres in size with a maximum depth of 41 feet and average depth of 11 feet. Lake Washington is currently impaired for nutrients, mercury in fish, and fish bioassessment and is not meeting water quality standards.
This lake is located within the Middle Minnesota-Mankato River Watershed. This lake is a priority water resource within the Middle Minnesota-Mankato River Comprehensive Watershed Management Plan, and is still considered a local priority.
West Jefferson Lake is part of the Jefferson/German Chain of Lakes. West Jefferson Lake is 439 acres in size with a maximum depth of 24 feet and average depth of 9 feet. West Jefferson Lake is currently impaired for nutrients and is not meeting water quality standards.
This lake is located within the Cannon River Watershed. While this lake is not a priority water resource in the Cannon River Comprehensive Watershed Management Plan, it is still considered a local priority.
Additional Local Monitoring Efforts
Le Sueur County and SWCD in partnership with the Cannon River Watershed Joint Powers Organization is currently in the process of planning lake monitoring efforts for additional lakes within the Cannon River Watershed. This program is above and beyond volunteer and state monitoring efforts. This program is anticipated to begin in 2026. Criteria will need to be set by the Cannon River Watershed Joint Powers Organization to determine which lakes will be eligible for additional local monitoring efforts. Please check back at a later date for more details on which lakes are selected.
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Trevor Rudenick
Water Resources Planner