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LakeQuality

Cleaner Lakes Than Mountain Lake

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

Mountain Lake carries a Grade F (Very Poor) water quality score. Within 30 miles, 4 lakes hold a higher grade. Fish Lake (Jackson County, Grade C, 8.7 mi away) is the closest meaningful upgrade.

1
C

Fish Lake

Jackson County, Minnesota · 8.7 mi from Mountain Lake
  • +Two grade letters higher (F → C)
  • ++3.3 ft water clarity
  • +Lower phosphorus (35 vs 148.5 µg/L)
2
D

Bingham Lake

Cottonwood County, Minnesota · 5.3 mi from Mountain Lake
  • +Higher grade (F → D)
  • ++2.8 ft water clarity
  • +Lower phosphorus (73.5 vs 148.5 µg/L)
3
D

Cottonwood Lake

Cottonwood County, Minnesota · 9.1 mi from Mountain Lake
  • +Higher grade (F → D)
  • ++2.7 ft water clarity
  • +Lower phosphorus (86 vs 148.5 µg/L)
4
D

Wellner-Hageman Reservoir

Brown County, Minnesota · 14 mi from Mountain Lake
  • +Higher grade (F → D)
  • ++2.5 ft water clarity
  • +Lower phosphorus (45 vs 148.5 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.