Altoona Lake vs Tainter Lake
Water quality, depth, fish species, and recreation comparison.
Altoona Lake and Tainter Lake both received the same overall water quality grade of D (Poor). Both are in Wisconsin.
Altoona Lake and Tainter Lake are both in Wisconsin — 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: Altoona Lake (D) and Tainter Lake (D) 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.
Altoona Lake
Very murky, less than 3 ft of visibility.
Tainter Lake
Murky, only visible to about 3.7 ft.
Side-by-Side Metrics
| Metric | Altoona Lake | Tainter Lake |
|---|---|---|
| Overall Grade | D (Poor) | D (Poor) |
| Water Clarity | 3 ft | 3.7 ft |
| Phosphorus | 99.6 µg/L | 121.5 µg/L |
| Chlorophyll-a (Algae) | No data | No data |
| Maximum Depth | 25 ft | 37 ft |
| Surface Area | 720 acres | 1,605 acres |
| Public Access | Yes | Yes |
| Fish Species | 4 | 5 |
| Trophic State | eutrophic | eutrophic |
Bold value = better for that metric (lower phosphorus / chlorophyll = cleaner; higher Secchi / depth / species count = better).
Verdict
Both lakes earn the same Grade D. The tiebreakers come down to clarity (Altoona Lake: 3 ft, Tainter Lake: 3.7 ft) and what you want from the lake. Altoona Lake has fewer fish species than Tainter Lake.
Source: EPA National Aquatic Resource Surveys, 2026.