Grass Lake spans 326 acres (132 hectares) and is located in the city of Eden Prairie, Minnesota. It is in the floodplain of the Minnesota River. Floodplain lakes, with their complex hydrology and ecosystems, are subject to periodic flooding that introduces water, sediment, and aquatic life. 

Water quality monitoring activities for floodplain lakes have been either eliminated or reduced because of the regular intrusion of water from the Minnesota River. Sediment and paleolimnological assessments have been periodically completed to understand the quantity and quality of sediment deposition in some of the floodplain lakes from the Minnesota River. Information about depth, water chemistry, or vegetation was not found for Grass Lake. 

Monitoring Data

Transparency

Measurements of transparency (a measure of water clarity) and other indicators of lake productivity were taken in 2017–2020 and are provided by the University of Minnesota LakeBrowser (UofMN, 2021). The transparency of Grass Lake is often at or less than the 1-meter (3.3-feet) criteria for shallow lakes in Minnesota (Statutes, 2021). The transparency in shallow lakes can be limited because the Secchi disk transparency reaches bottom before it disappears from sight.