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LakeQuality

Arrowhead Lake vs Prairie Rose Lake

Water quality, depth, fish species, and recreation comparison.

Arrowhead Lake and Prairie Rose Lake both received the same overall water quality grade of F (Very Poor). Both are in Wisconsin.

Both Arrowhead Lake and Prairie Rose Lake sit in Iowa. A same-state comparison strips out the state-level water-quality regime as a variable: any grade differences here are about the lakes themselves, not the agencies grading them. These two are within a letter of each other on the rubric — Arrowhead Lake (F) versus Prairie Rose Lake (F). The deciding factors for a recreational visitor are likely physical (depth, access, fish species) rather than water-quality differences.

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.

F

Arrowhead Lake

Pottawattamie County, Wisconsin

Very murky, less than 1.8 ft of visibility.

F

Prairie Rose Lake

Shelby County, Wisconsin

Very murky, less than 1.6 ft of visibility.

Side-by-Side Metrics

Source: EPA National Aquatic Resource Surveys, 2026.

Source: EPA National Aquatic Resource Surveys, 2026.

Source: EPA National Aquatic Resource Surveys, 2026.

Source: EPA National Aquatic Resource Surveys, 2026.

Source: EPA National Aquatic Resource Surveys, 2026.

Source: EPA National Aquatic Resource Surveys, 2026.

Source: EPA National Aquatic Resource Surveys, 2026.

Source: EPA National Aquatic Resource Surveys, 2026.

Source: EPA National Aquatic Resource Surveys, 2026.

MetricArrowhead LakePrairie Rose Lake
Overall GradeF (Very Poor)F (Very Poor)
Water Clarity1.8 ft1.6 ft
PhosphorusNo dataNo data
Chlorophyll-a (Algae)53.6 µg/L73.6 µg/L
Maximum Depth--
Surface Area15.7 acres200 acres
Public AccessUnknownUnknown
Fish Species00
Trophic Stateeutrophichypereutrophic

Bold value = better for that metric (lower phosphorus / chlorophyll = cleaner; higher Secchi / depth / species count = better).

Verdict

Both lakes earn the same Grade F. The tiebreakers come down to clarity (Arrowhead Lake: 1.8 ft, Prairie Rose Lake: 1.6 ft) and what you want from the lake. Arrowhead Lake matches its peer on species count.