Rice Lake TMDL
Rice Lake was placed on the 2008 State of Minnesota’s 303(d) list of impaired waters. Rice Lake’s aquatic life and recreation designated use was identified as being impaired by excessive nutrients/algal blooms. Water quality in Rice Lake does not meet state eutrophication water quality standards for deep lakes in the North Central Hardwood Forest ecoregion.
Because Rice Lake was classified as "impaired", a study referred to as a Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) was undertaken with funds from the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency given to the North Fork Crow River Watershed District (NFCRWD). The goal of the TMDL was to identify the sources of the excessive nutrients, mostly phosphorus, and to quantify the reductions in the nutrients needed to meet the state water quality standards for our ecoregion. The TMDL study was completed in April, 2012 by Wenck Associates, inc. Once the TMDL study was completed, an Implementation Plan was developed by Wenck with the goal of outlines activities that would improve the water quality by decreasing the flow of nutrients into the lake.
For more information see the documents below or view the NFCRWD: Rice Lake TMDL page on the MPCA website.