1
ASturgeon Lake
St. Louis County, Minnesota · 1.9 mi from West Sturgeon Lake
- +Higher grade (B → A)
- ++9.7 ft water clarity
Cleaner Lakes Than West Sturgeon Lake
4 higher-graded lakes within 30 miles, ranked by grade improvement and proximity.
West Sturgeon Lake carries a Grade B (Good) water quality score. Within 30 miles, 4 lakes hold a higher grade. Sturgeon Lake (St. Louis County, Grade A, 1.9 mi away) is the closest meaningful upgrade.
2
ASide Lake
St. Louis County, Minnesota · 2.6 mi from West Sturgeon Lake
- +Higher grade (B → A)
- ++6.9 ft water clarity
- +Lower phosphorus (11.5 vs 17.5 µg/L)
3
ABeatrice Lake
Itasca County, Minnesota · 2.9 mi from West Sturgeon Lake
- +Higher grade (B → A)
- ++6.4 ft water clarity
4
APerch Lake
St. Louis County, Minnesota · 3.5 mi from West Sturgeon Lake
- +Higher grade (B → A)
- ++9.4 ft water clarity
- +Lower phosphorus (11 vs 17.5 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.