Part of: Theodore Wirth Regional Park
Wirth Lake is located in the 759-acre Theodore Wirth Park, the largest regional park in the system. The lake has a beach, fishing pier and boardwalks. Paths for walking and biking, volleyball courts, a playground and picnic facilities make this lake a popular destination. Wirth has excellent aesthetic and recreational ratings and good water clarity.
Water Clarity
About Secchi Disk Readings
To measure water transparency with a Secchi disk, the disk is lowered from the shaded side of a boat until it cannot be seen. The depth of the water is recorded at the point where the disk reappears upon raising it from its original depth beyond visibility. It is important to remember that the Secchi measurement is a simple, approximate measurement of water clarity and can be influenced by various factors such as time of day, reader’s eyesight, water color and suspended particles in the water. Therefore, Secchi disk readings should be used as a comparative tool to determine trends between lakes and over time.
- Increased water clarity may be due to reduced nutrient inputs, seasonal algal cycles, decreased sediment inputs, and zooplankton grazing on algae.
- Decreased water clarity may be due to large algal blooms, increased soil erosion inputs, wind circulation of sediments and nutrients, stormwater inputs, or a decrease in zooplankton.
Secchi readings for the lakes are done during the regular lake sampling schedule, with some lakes sampled every other year. Current Secchi readings taken during lake sampling can be found on the Lake Water Quality Map.
Beaches
Beach Water Quality Status
Learn more about the water quality of Minneapolis beaches
LAURI
Lake Aesthetic and User Recreation Index (LAURI)
The Lake Aesthetic and User Recreation Index (LAURI) was designed to give recreational users an easily understandable graphical source of information about conditions affecting their use of city lakes. The goal is to have an accurate, science based and easily understandable recreational indicator for the public. The LAURI has the five following indices: aesthetic considerations, water clarity, public health, habitat quality, and recreational access. For each of the five indices, the LAURI calculates a value that is then considered poor, good, or excellent.