16-0524-00 Lake vs Clearwater Lake
Water quality, depth, fish species, and recreation comparison.
16-0524-00 Lake and Clearwater Lake both received the same overall water quality grade of A (Excellent). Both are in Cook County, Minnesota.
16-0524-00 Lake and Clearwater Lake are both in Minnesota — a same-state head-to-head where the comparison comes down to lake-specific differences in depth, watershed, and monitoring history rather than the broader state-level water-quality regime. The grades are close: 16-0524-00 Lake (A) and Clearwater Lake (A) are within one letter of each other on the LakeGrade rubric. The per-parameter sub-grades below will show where the small differences actually live.
With grades this close, the choice between the two lakes turns on non-water-quality factors: depth, fish species, public access, distance from home. The per-lake pages below cover all of those.
16-0524-00 Lake
Crystal clear, you can see 15 ft down.
Clearwater Lake
Crystal clear, you can see 30 ft down.
Side-by-Side Metrics
| Metric | 16-0524-00 Lake | Clearwater Lake |
|---|---|---|
| Overall Grade | A (Excellent) | A (Excellent) |
| Water Clarity | 15 ft | 30 ft |
| Phosphorus | No data | 4 µg/L |
| Chlorophyll-a (Algae) | No data | No data |
| Maximum Depth | 142 ft | 65 ft |
| Surface Area | 837.01 acres | 461.73 acres |
| Public Access | No | No |
| Fish Species | 1 | 0 |
| Trophic State | oligotrophic | oligotrophic |
Bold value = better for that metric (lower phosphorus / chlorophyll = cleaner; higher Secchi / depth / species count = better).
Verdict
Both lakes earn the same Grade A. The tiebreakers come down to clarity (16-0524-00 Lake: 15 ft, Clearwater Lake: 30 ft) and what you want from the lake. 16-0524-00 Lake supports more documented fish species.