Water Quality Report 2024

By Dave Loeffler (Water Quality Guy)

As with most of the residents and cabin owners on HML, we have all fallen in love with our lake's clear and mostly algae free waters.  I too find it as one of my favorite qualities of our lake home.  This past 2024 season started with the earliest "ice out" since records have been kept starting in 1968, which was March 14th.  The very early ice out equals more unrestricted sunlights to get to the vegetation in the water, which means more vegetation and more algae in general across the entire lake.  As a result of this phenomena, we saw below average water quality for 2024, more weeds, and more algae.  The secchi disk readings over the four months tested were:

June 2 = 12.5 feet

July 18 = 14.5 feet

August 11 11.75 feet

September 8 = 12 feet 

These secchi disk readings as seen in the graph, shows an abnormal dip in water quality at the end for 2024.  The red line shows the overall trend, which is positive as it shows a general trend toward more clear water since secchi dish readings were collected.  As we look forward to 2025 and a more normal ice out of April 7th, we should expect to see a better year of water quality for HML.