1
APottawatomie State Fishing Lake
Pottawatomie County, Kansas · 21.1 mi from Centralia Lake
- +Two grade letters higher (D → A)
- ++5.5 ft water clarity
- +Lower phosphorus (14.5 vs 140 µg/L)
Cleaner Lakes Than Centralia Lake
5 higher-graded lakes within 30 miles, ranked by grade improvement and proximity.
Centralia Lake carries a Grade D (Poor) water quality score. Within 30 miles, 5 lakes hold a higher grade. Pottawatomie State Fishing Lake (Pottawatomie County, Grade A, 21.1 mi away) is the closest meaningful upgrade.
Reviewed by LakeQuality Editorial Team · Updated
2
CPrairie Lake
Jackson County, Kansas · 29.2 mi from Centralia Lake
- +Higher grade (D → C)
- +Lower phosphorus (39.5 vs 140 µg/L)
3
CNla Lake
Marshall County, Kansas · 23.2 mi from Centralia Lake
- +Higher grade (D → C)
- +Lower phosphorus (99.5 vs 140 µg/L)
4
CBanner Creek Lake
Jackson County, Kansas · 27 mi from Centralia Lake
- +Higher grade (D → C)
- +Lower phosphorus (46.5 vs 140 µg/L)
5
DSabetha City Lake
Nemaha County, Kansas · 19.3 mi from Centralia Lake
- +Higher overall water quality score
Reading the cohort
5 cleaner lakes sit within 30 miles of Centralia Lake in the EPA water-quality dataset. With that many higher-grade neighbors close by, Centralia Lake's Grade D reflects something specific to the lake itself — not a regional water-quality ceiling. The neighbor list below isn't a small set of marginal upgrades; it's a real cohort of meaningfully cleaner choices for the same Kansas weekend.
The nearest cleaner alternative — Pottawatomie State Fishing Lake in Pottawatomie County — sits 21.1 miles from Centralia Lake, putting it firmly in "destination trip" rather than "neighborhood swap" range. The water-quality gap has to be the deciding factor; for a casual outing, Centralia Lake is the practical choice and the cleaner options are reserved for purpose-specific visits.
The EPA water-quality grading combines clarity (Secchi depth), phosphorus, and chlorophyll-a measurements from state environmental sampling. A higher letter grade reflects measurably cleaner water on those indicators, not subjective beauty or access quality — a Grade A lake might have worse boat-launch facilities or shoreline access than a Grade C neighbor, so the ranking is one input alongside the rest of trip planning. See the methodology page for the full grading formula.
How this list is built
Every lake on LakeQuality has a calculated grade from EPA Water Quality Portal samples — secchi depth, total phosphorus, and chlorophyll-a measured against Metropolitan Council thresholds. To suggest cleaner alternatives, we filter lakes within 30 miles to those with a strictly higher numeric score, then rank by grade improvement with a small proximity tiebreak. Cross-state and limited-data lakes are excluded so the list stays locally relevant.