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Sitting in the southeast corner of VLAWMO, Gem Lake is a unique basin within the Watershed. The Gem Lake subwatershed does not drain outside of its boundary, therefore, none of the water falling in the Gem Lake subwatershed leaves the area, and does not drain to any other area within VLAWMO. The south end of the lake is wetland while the north gets as deep as  14 feet and exhibits deep lake characteristics.

The lake is completely surrounded by private property and has no public access. Monitoring has been performed on the lake since 2005. Water quality has increased by a good margin since 2009, showing a decrease in total phosphorus and chlorophyll A. It has not confirmed but is believed that the Highway 61 road reconstruction improved stormwater inflow into the lake, increasing water quality.

As of 2018, Gem Lake has been delisted from the Minnesota state impaired waters list. Click here for our formal announcement on this exciting success story!

Studies: Gem Lake

• Gem - fish survey
• Gem Lake aquatic plants and lake contour report 2022
• Gem Lake Delisting Proposal
• Gem Lake Retrofit Report 2012