Penn Lake - Nine Mile Creek Watershed District

Bloomington

ABOUT PENN LAKE

Penn Lake, just west of Highway 35W in Bloomington, is a shallow lake with opportunities for bird watching, picnicking, and canoeing.

street view map of Penn Lake — Penn Lake, Bloomington

Water Quality

Water quality of Penn Lake is poor, with average phosphorus levels higher than state standards for shallow lakes. Phosphorus is the nutrient that fuels algae growth and can lead to unwanted algae blooms in a lake. Penn Lake’s water quality limits activities on the lake, but there is a picnic area perfect for watching wildlife and canoeing is allowed, along with fishing.

During monitoring, the water clarity of Penn Lake has always been less than the one meter state standard.

Phosphorus levels in Penn Lake are consistently higher than the state standard.

Chlorophyll-a levels in Penn Lake are consistently higher than the state standard.

Past Projects

The Nine Mile Creek Watershed District has not conducted any major water quality improvement projects on Penn Lake. The District has helped fund several best management projects near Penn Lake including: raingardens, shoreline buffers, habitat restorations, and more. These projects help reduce runoff that enters Penn Lake. The District also provides education on pollution and runoff prevention. For information about other past District projects, click here.

Lake Study

The District is currently conducting a water quality study on Penn Lake to identify potential water quality improvement projects to help improve the overall health of the lake. Learn more.

Printable lake fact sheet.

Lower Penn Lake has great bird watching. […] you feel like you are far away from the big metropolitan area when you are on this lake. –Lisa McIntire, volunteer lake monitor

Recreation

Penn Lake has a picnic area perfect for watching wildlife and canoeing is allowed, along with fishing. A variety of fish species live in the lake including: black bullhead, black crappie, bluegill, brown bullhead, green sunfish, hybrid sunfish, largemouth bass, northern pike, pumpkinseed, white crappie, yellow bullhead, yellow perch, bigmouth buffalo, common carp, white sucker, and fathead minnow. Eagles regularly nest on the shores of Penn Lake.

The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources may have additional information on the lake (including fishing regulations; location; water access sites; lake maps; lake reports on stocking, ice in/out and water quality; fish consumption; and aquatic plant surveys) if so, that information can be found here:

https://www.dnr.state.mn.us/lakefind/index.html

Downloadable water quality data can be found here:

https://www.pca.state.mn.us/water/water-quality-data