Sentinel Lake Assessment Report Artichoke Lake (06-0002) Big Stone County, Minnesota

The Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA) is working in partnership with the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (MDNR) on the Sustaining Lakes in a Changing Environment (SLICE) Sentinel Lakes Program. The focus of this interdisciplinary effort is to improve understanding of how major drivers of change such as development, agriculture, climate change, and invasive species can affect lake habitats and fish populations, and to develop a long-term strategy to collect the necessary information to detect undesirable changes in Minnesota Lakes (Valley 2009). To increase our ability to predict the consequences of land cover and climate change on lake habitats, SLICE utilizes intensive lake monitoring strategies on a wide range of representative Minnesota lakes. This includes analyzing relevant land cover and land use, identifying climate stressors, and monitoring the effects on the lake's habitat and biological communities. The Sentinel Lakes Program has selected 24 lakes for long-term intensive lake monitoring (Figure 1). The "Deep" lakes typically stratify during the summer months only. "Shallow" lakes are defined as mixing continuously throughout the summer. "Cold Water" lakes are defined as lakes that either harbor cisco, lake whitefish, or lake trout and are the focus of research funded by the Environmental Trust Fund (ETF). "Super sentinel" lakes also harbor cold-water fish populations and research on these lakes is also funded by the ETF. Artichoke Lake is located in Big Stone County within the Pomme de Terre River watershed. The lake is located 15 miles east of Ortonville, Minnesota (MN). Artichoke Lake has a surface area of 795 hectare (1964 acres) and has a maximum depth of 4.7 meters (15.5 ft); however, its size and depth has fluctuated greatly since the 1940s. Artichoke Lake is a polymictic lake that mixes during wind events. The majority of the shoreline remains undeveloped. Two public accesses are located on Artichoke Lake. The lake supports recreational activities such as waterfowl hunting and fishing.