Water Quality Testing (Note: Current news on our water testing efforts is located under our ‘News/Photo Blog’ section)
We established a water quality test program with the help of RMB Environmental Laboratories and Hubbard County Coalition of Lakes. See the latest report on the lake her
Garfield Lake Association is an active member of Hubbard County Coalition of Lake Association (HC COLA)
Aquatic Invasive Species (AIS) (Note: Current news on our AIS efforts is located under our ‘News/Photo Blog’ section)
Garfield Lake has been identified as having Zebra Mussels. Our testing program identified zebra mussel veligers in 2017 and 2018. Our 2019 tests did not detect veligers and we have not found adult zebra mussels in any of our testing or inspections. Read this local article on zebra mussel’s effect on lakes.
The primary tool for preventing AIS from entering our lake is AIS Inspections at the boat landing. Many of the lake associations in our county have been supporting inspections for a number of years and consider this the most effective prevention tool. The Hubbard County Aquatic Invasive Species department manages the boat landing inspection program.
The AIS Inspection program is funded by grants from the State of Minnesota and can be increased from local supplemental sources. In 2018 the association approached the City of Laporte, Lakeport Township and Hart Lake Township and established a program of additional funding for the 2019 and 2020 seasons. In addition, the association funded additional inspection hours as well, and have a reserve for funding the 2021 and 2022 seasons. The AIS inspection hours and supplemental funding are shown on here.
The Minnesota DNR information on AIS Prevention information is included in this link and gives information on what you can do.
The University of Minnesota publishes a reference guide to invasive lake weeds and can be seen here https://www.maisrc.umn.edu/sites/maisrc.umn.edu/files/ais_id_guide_2018.pdf
Fishery Status (Note: Current news on our fisheries efforts is located under our ‘News/Photo Blog’ section)
General information on the lake, as well as fishery status, can be obtained from the Minnesota DNR’s LakeFinder page here.
The Minnesota DNR fishing regulations detail regulations covering our lake.
Lake Water Clarity:
The Startribune’s recent article on lake clarity issues in our part of the state
DNR Lake Finder information on Garfield Lake
UM Lake Browser, search on Garfield Lake to find our information or recent pdf of this report.