Southwest Anderson Lake - Nine Mile Creek Watershed District

Eden Prairie

ABOUT SOUTHWEST ANDERSON LAKE

Southwest (SW) Anderson Lake is one of three connected lakes bridging the border between Bloomington and Eden Prairie.

street map of NW, SW, and SE Anderson Lakes — NW Anderson Lake and SW Anderson Lake, Eden Prairie; SE Anderson Lake, Bloomington

Water Quality

graph of phosphorous levels in SW Anderson Lake from 1988 to 2018 — Recent phosphorus levels in SW Anderson Lake have been better than the state standard.

SW Anderson met all parameters in 2018 for the Minnesota State Water Quality Standards for shallow lakes. The District’s water quality improvement projects have improved the lake’s water quality from prior years. Previously, SW Anderson Lake had too much of the nutrient phosphorus due, in part, to curly-leaf pondweed, an invasive aquatic plant. Phosphorus fuels algae growth, and too much can lead to unwanted algae blooms. Reduced curly-leaf pondweed levels have helped the lake meet state water quality standards for phosphorus. Water clarity also increased as a result of the District’s water quality improvement projects.

graph of chlorophyll-a levels in SW Anderson Lake from 1988 to 2018 — Recent levels of chlorophyll-a have been better than the state standard.

Graph of Water Clarity in SW Anderson lake from 1988 to 2018 using a secchi disk — The water clarity of SW Anderson Lake has improved in recent years and is now better than the state standard.

Printable lake fact sheet

Past Projects

The Nine Mile Creek Watershed District conducted a lake drawdown to improve the health of SW Anderson Lake. The project goals were to reduce the amount of curly-leaf pondweed, an invasive aquatic plant, and control phosphorus levels in the lake. The SW Anderson Lake drawdown occurred in the fall of 2008 until the spring of 2009. Follow-up herbicide treatments occurred in 2010 & 2011. Monitoring data from 2018 indicates that the water quality improvement projects have successfully controlled curlyleaf pondweed and improved water quality. Continued water quality and plant monitoring will occur to track the success of the projects.

For information about other past District projects, click here

Recreation

SW Anderson Lake does not have many recreation opportunities. There are however, 2.1 miles of paved and turf trails at the Three Rivers Park District Anderson Lakes Park Reserve.

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