Binder Lake vs Windmill Lake
Water quality, depth, fish species, and recreation comparison.
Binder Lake has a higher water quality grade (D, Poor) than Windmill Lake (F, Very Poor). Both are in Wisconsin.
Binder Lake and Windmill Lake are both in Iowa — 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: Binder Lake (D) and Windmill 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.
Binder Lake
Very murky, less than 3 ft of visibility.
Windmill Lake
Very murky, less than 2.5 ft of visibility.
Side-by-Side Metrics
| Metric | Binder Lake | Windmill Lake |
|---|---|---|
| Overall Grade | D (Poor) | F (Very Poor) |
| Water Clarity | 3 ft | 2.5 ft |
| Phosphorus | No data | No data |
| Chlorophyll-a (Algae) | 24.5 µg/L | 33.9 µg/L |
| Maximum Depth | - | - |
| Surface Area | 79.4 acres | 24.5 acres |
| Public Access | Unknown | Unknown |
| Fish Species | 0 | 0 |
| Trophic State | eutrophic | eutrophic |
Bold value = better for that metric (lower phosphorus / chlorophyll = cleaner; higher Secchi / depth / species count = better).
Verdict
Binder Lake wins on overall water quality with a Grade D versus Windmill Lake's Grade F. Water clarity: 3 ft vs 2.5 ft. For fishing diversity, Binder Lake also leads with 0 species.