Rice Lake Excess Nutrient TMDL

This Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) study addresses nutrient impairments for Rice Lake (DNR #73-0196) located in the North Fork Crow River (NFCR) watershed, HUC-8 (#07010204), Upper Mississippi River Basin in Stearns County, Minnesota. The goal of this TMDL is to quantify the pollutant reductions needed to meet the Minnesota water quality standards for deep lakes in the North Central Hardwood Forests (NCHF) ecoregion. The numeric water quality standards for Rice Lake are summer average values of a total phosphorus concentration less than 40 µg/L, summer average values less than 14 µg/L for chlorophyll-a, and summer average values greater than 1.4 meters for Secchi depth. Water quality in Rice Lake does not currently meet state nutrient concentration standards for deep lakes in the North Central Hardwood Forest ecoregion.