Wisconsin's Clearest Lakes: The 2017 List

Time for my annual list of the clearest lakes in Wisconsin.  Every year, I consult with Wisconsin's state-wide citizen's lake monitoring group. They're a network of individuals, usually lake-front property owners who monitor and regularly take a variety of water samples from lakes all across Wisconsin.  The data they compile helps to give us a look at how our lakes are doing. One of the many tasks lake monitors perform is to take regular sechi disc readings. This is a universal way of assessing and comparing water clarity.  I'm always interested in knowing which Wisconsin inland lakes are the clearest.  Thank you to Jacob Dickmann at the Wisconsin DNR for putting this years data together for me so that I can share it with you. Here are the lakes that recorded the highest average water clarity in 2017. In short-here are Wisconsin's clearest inland lakes and their average water clarity in 2017:

1)   Pine Lake, Waukesha Co. 29.75 feet
2)   Whitefish Lake, Douglas Co.  29 feet
3)   Sawyer Lake, Langlade Co.  24.86 feet
4)   Maiden Lake, Oconto Co.  24.77 feet
5)   Lake Metonga, Forest Co.  24.40 feet
6)   Lake Millicent, Bayfield Co.  23.90 feet
7)   Presque Isle Lake, Vilas Co.  23.75 feet
8)   Lake Owen, Bayfield Co.  23.38 feet
9)   Delavan Lake, Walworth Co.  23 feet
10) Lake Lucerne, Forest Co.  22.13 feet

To see the lake list from 2016, click here.To see the lake list from 2015, click here.  To see the lake list from 2014, click here.  For the lake list from 2013, click here.  And for the 2012 list of clear lakes, click here.