Birch Lake vs Lower Trelipe Lake
Water quality, depth, fish species, and recreation comparison.
Birch Lake reads lower on nutrients and algae than Lower Trelipe Lake. Both are in Cass County, Minnesota.
Birch Lake and Lower Trelipe 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. Birch Lake reads materially cleaner than Lower Trelipe Lake on nutrients and algae. A gap that wide is unlikely to close in a single year of remediation work; it reflects multi-decade differences in the lakes themselves.
For a recreational visitor, the wider gap in the readings is decisive: Birch Lake has the lower nutrient and algae numbers. For a researcher, the gap is the interesting part: what is different about the two watersheds, and which of those differences is mutable?
Birch Lake
Good clarity, visible to about 14 ft.
Lower Trelipe Lake
Moderate clarity, visible to about 6.9 ft.
Side-by-Side Metrics
| Metric | Birch Lake | Lower Trelipe Lake |
|---|---|---|
| Water Clarity | 14 ft Better | 6.9 ft |
| Phosphorus | 12 µg/L Better | 23 µg/L |
| Chlorophyll-a (Algae) | 4 µg/L Better | 11.9 µg/L |
| Maximum Depth | 45 ft Better | 32 ft |
| Surface Area | 1,267 acres | 618 acres |
| Public Access | Yes | Yes |
| Fish Species | 14 | 16 Better |
| Trophic State | mesotrophic | eutrophic |
A green ✓ marks the better value for that metric (lower phosphorus / chlorophyll = cleaner; higher Secchi / depth / species count = better). Surface area and trophic state carry no tick — a bigger lake is not a better lake.
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Compare Birch Lake or Lower Trelipe Lake against a different lake.
Verdict
Birch Lake reads lower on nutrients and algae than Lower Trelipe Lake. Water clarity: 14 ft vs 6.9 ft. For more fish-species variety, Lower Trelipe Lake edges ahead with 16 documented species.
Source: EPA National Aquatic Resource Surveys, 2026.