Big Woods Lake vs Jonathan Lake
Water quality, depth, fish species, and recreation comparison.
Big Woods Lake and Jonathan Lake both received the same overall water quality grade of F (Very Poor). Both are in Carver County, Minnesota.
Both Big Woods Lake and Jonathan Lake sit in Minnesota. 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. The grades are close: Big Woods Lake (F) and Jonathan Lake (F) 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.
Big Woods Lake
Very murky, less than 1 ft of visibility.
Jonathan Lake
Very murky, less than 1.5 ft of visibility.
Side-by-Side Metrics
| Metric | Big Woods Lake | Jonathan Lake |
|---|---|---|
| Overall Grade | F (Very Poor) | F (Very Poor) |
| Water Clarity | 1 ft | 1.5 ft |
| Phosphorus | 210.5 µg/L | 157.5 µg/L |
| Chlorophyll-a (Algae) | No data | No data |
| Maximum Depth | - | - |
| Surface Area | 31 acres | 31 acres |
| Public Access | Unknown | Unknown |
| Fish Species | 1 | 1 |
| Trophic State | hypereutrophic | hypereutrophic |
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 (Big Woods Lake: 1 ft, Jonathan Lake: 1.5 ft) and what you want from the lake. Big Woods Lake matches its peer on species count.