1
ALac CrèVe-Faim
Bellechasse County, Québec · 16.3 mi from Lac Aux Canards
- +Two grade letters higher (D → A)
- ++9.2 ft water clarity
- +Lower phosphorus (9.3 vs 29.2 µg/L)
Cleaner Lakes Than Lac Aux Canards
5 higher-graded lakes within 30 miles, ranked by grade improvement and proximity.
Lac Aux Canards carries a Grade D (Poor) water quality score. Within 30 miles, 5 lakes hold a higher grade. Lac CrèVe-Faim (Bellechasse County, Grade A, 16.3 mi away) is the closest meaningful upgrade.
Reviewed by LakeQuality Editorial Team · Updated
2
BLac la Retenue
La Côte-de-Beaupré County, Québec · 17.6 mi from Lac Aux Canards
- +Two grade letters higher (D → B)
- ++5.8 ft water clarity
- +Lower phosphorus (10.4 vs 29.2 µg/L)
3
BLac Mailloux
Bellechasse County, Québec · 17.8 mi from Lac Aux Canards
- +Two grade letters higher (D → B)
- ++6.6 ft water clarity
- +Lower phosphorus (10.4 vs 29.2 µg/L)
4
BLac Pierre-Paul
Bellechasse County, Québec · 11.7 mi from Lac Aux Canards
- +Two grade letters higher (D → B)
- ++1.8 ft water clarity
- +Lower phosphorus (11.1 vs 29.2 µg/L)
5
BLac Dion
Bellechasse County, Québec · 14.2 mi from Lac Aux Canards
- +Two grade letters higher (D → B)
- ++2.6 ft water clarity
- +Lower phosphorus (13.8 vs 29.2 µg/L)
Reading the cohort
Within 30 miles of Lac Aux Canards, 5 water bodies score higher than its Grade D on the same EPA water-quality metrics. That density of cleaner options is itself a signal — when several nearby lakes score better on the same indicators, the issues at Lac Aux Canards are typically lake-specific (depth, watershed inflow, stratification pattern) rather than regional. The choice for a swim, paddle, or fishing trip is genuinely between meaningfully different water bodies, not between marginal differences in the same dataset.
The nearest cleaner alternative — Lac CrèVe-Faim in Bellechasse County — sits 16.3 miles from Lac Aux Canards, 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, Lac Aux Canards 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.