What is the cleanest lake near Paine Lake?

Gillett Lake in Hubbard County holds a Grade A water quality score and is 4.5 miles from Paine Lake.

Why is Paine Lake not Grade A?

Paine Lake holds Grade B, with about 4.9 ft of water clarity and 15 µg/L of phosphorus. The grade reflects measured water quality against Metropolitan Council thresholds. Cleaner alternatives nearby score higher on clarity, phosphorus, or chlorophyll-a.

Are these recommendations based on real data?

Yes. Every grade is calculated from EPA Water Quality Portal samples for the lake. Recommendations are limited to lakes within 30 miles of Paine Lake in Minnesota, with strictly higher numeric grade scores and sufficient monitoring data.

Cleaner Lakes Than Paine Lake, Top 5 Within 30 Miles, LakeQuality

Cleaner Lakes Than Paine Lake

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

Paine Lake carries a Grade B (Good) water quality score. Within 30 miles, 5 lakes hold a higher grade. Gillett Lake (Hubbard County, Grade A, 4.5 mi away) is the closest meaningful upgrade.

Gillett Lake

Hubbard County, Minnesota · 4.5 mi from Paine Lake

+Higher grade (B → A)
++14.1 ft water clarity
+Lower phosphorus (8 vs 15 µg/L)

George Lake

Hubbard County, Minnesota · 1.1 mi from Paine Lake

+Higher grade (B → A)
++7.7 ft water clarity

Hattie Lake

Hubbard County, Minnesota · 6.2 mi from Paine Lake

+Higher grade (B → A)
++8.2 ft water clarity

Mccarty Lake

Hubbard County, Minnesota · 3.3 mi from Paine Lake

+Higher overall water quality score
++4.1 ft water clarity

Halverson Lake

Hubbard County, Minnesota · 3.7 mi from Paine Lake

+Higher overall water quality score
++4 ft water clarity

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.