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LakeQuality

Cleaner Lakes Than Lake Monona

4 higher-graded lakes within 30 miles, ranked by grade improvement and proximity.

Lake Monona carries a Grade C (Fair) water quality score. Within 30 miles, 4 lakes hold a higher grade. Lake Mendota (Dane County, Grade B, 4.3 mi away) is the closest meaningful upgrade.

1
B

Lake Mendota

Dane County, Wisconsin · 4.3 mi from Lake Monona
  • +Higher grade (C → B)
  • +Lower phosphorus (50.2 vs 93.3 µg/L)
2
B

Lake Wingra

Dane County, Wisconsin · 3.8 mi from Lake Monona
  • +Higher grade (C → B)
  • +Lower phosphorus (33.8 vs 93.3 µg/L)
3
B

Lake Waubesa

Dane County, Wisconsin · 4.1 mi from Lake Monona
  • +Higher grade (C → B)
  • +Lower phosphorus (36.6 vs 93.3 µg/L)
4
B

Lake Kegonsa

Dane County, Wisconsin · 8.6 mi from Lake Monona
  • +Higher grade (C → B)
  • +Lower phosphorus (59.5 vs 93.3 µg/L)

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.