Lake Assessment Program - Two Rivers Lake, Stearns County

Two Rivers Lake ( also known as Two River Lake) is located near the city of Albany in Stearns County. With a surface area of about 575 acres, it is among the top fifteen percent of lakes in the state in terms of size and with a maximum depth of 63 feet it is deeper than the typical depth for lakes of this ecoregion. The total watershed is about 58 square miles that drains to Two Rivers Lake. Two Rivers Lake is located in the North Central Hardwood Forest (NCHF) ecoregion. Land use in the watershed is characterized primarily by cultivated (55 percent) and pasture and open (25 percent) uses. These percentages are very comparable to other lake watersheds in this region of the state - North Central Hardwood Forests ecoregion. Two Rivers Lake was sampled during the summer of 1999 by the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA) staff and a citizen from the Two Rivers Lake Association (Association). Water quality data collected during the study reveal summer-mean total phosphorus (TP) concentration of 36 ?g/L, chlorophyll a of 29 ?g/L and Secchi transparency of 5.9 feet. All three measures are comparable to or slightly above the typical range of values exhibited by reference lakes in the NCHF ecoregion. Total phosphorus, chlorophyll a and Secchi transparency help to characterize the trophic status of a lake. These measures indicate eutrophic conditions for Two Rivers Lake.