1
COsakis Lake
Todd County, Minnesota · 7 mi from Little Sauk Lake
- +Higher grade (D → C)
- ++6.6 ft water clarity
Cleaner Lakes Than Little Sauk Lake
4 higher-graded lakes within 30 miles, ranked by grade improvement and proximity.
Little Sauk Lake carries a Grade D (Poor) water quality score. Within 30 miles, 4 lakes hold a higher grade. Osakis Lake (Todd County, Grade C, 7 mi away) is the closest meaningful upgrade.
2
CMaple Lake
Todd County, Minnesota · 3.7 mi from Little Sauk Lake
- +Higher grade (D → C)
- ++2.1 ft water clarity
- +Lower phosphorus (51 vs 72 µg/L)
3
CSauk Lake
Stearns County, Minnesota · 6.2 mi from Little Sauk Lake
- +Higher grade (D → C)
- +Lower phosphorus (49 vs 72 µg/L)
4
CLatimer Lake
Todd County, Minnesota · 8.2 mi from Little Sauk Lake
- +Higher grade (D → C)
- ++1.1 ft water clarity
- +Lower phosphorus (58.5 vs 72 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.