1
ABurditt Lake
Rainy River District County, Ontario · 18.6 mi from Wasaw Lake
- +Two grade letters higher (C → A)
- ++9.9 ft water clarity
- +Lower phosphorus (7.9 vs 26.3 µg/L)
Cleaner Lakes Than Wasaw Lake
5 higher-graded lakes within 30 miles, ranked by grade improvement and proximity.
Wasaw Lake carries a Grade C (Fair) water quality score. Within 30 miles, 5 lakes hold a higher grade. Burditt Lake (Rainy River District County, Grade A, 18.6 mi away) is the closest meaningful upgrade.
Reviewed by LakeQuality Editorial Team · Updated
2
ALoonhaunt Lake
Kenora District County, Ontario · 18.6 mi from Wasaw Lake
- +Two grade letters higher (C → A)
- ++6.6 ft water clarity
- +Lower phosphorus (9.5 vs 26.3 µg/L)
3
ALoonhaunt Lake
Kenora District County, Ontario · 18.8 mi from Wasaw Lake
- +Two grade letters higher (C → A)
- ++6.9 ft water clarity
- +Lower phosphorus (7.2 vs 26.3 µg/L)
4
BDespair Lake
Rainy River District County, Ontario · 10.2 mi from Wasaw Lake
- +Higher grade (C → B)
- ++1.3 ft water clarity
- +Lower phosphorus (10.1 vs 26.3 µg/L)
5
BWest Jackfish Lake
Rainy River District County, Ontario · 13.8 mi from Wasaw Lake
- +Higher grade (C → B)
- ++1.7 ft water clarity
- +Lower phosphorus (17.9 vs 26.3 µg/L)
Reading the cohort
5 cleaner lakes sit within 30 miles of Wasaw Lake in the EPA water-quality dataset. With that many higher-grade neighbors close by, Wasaw Lake's Grade C reflects something specific to the lake itself — not a regional water-quality ceiling. The neighbor list below isn't a small set of marginal upgrades; it's a real cohort of meaningfully cleaner choices for the same Ontario weekend.
The nearest cleaner alternative — Burditt Lake in Rainy River District County — sits 18.6 miles from Wasaw Lake, 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, Wasaw Lake 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.