Blanche Lake vs West Battle Lake
Water quality, depth, fish species, and recreation comparison.
Blanche Lake and West Battle Lake read the same on nutrients and algae. Both are in Otter Tail County, Minnesota.
Both Blanche Lake and West Battle Lake sit in Minnesota. A same-state comparison strips out the state-level water-quality regime as a variable: any differences in the readings here are about the lakes themselves, not the agencies sampling them. The readings are close: Blanche Lake and West Battle Lake sit within a narrow band of each other on phosphorus, chlorophyll-a and clarity. The per-parameter table below shows where the small differences actually live.
With readings 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.
Blanche Lake
Good clarity, visible to about 12.5 ft.
West Battle Lake
Crystal clear, you can see 18 ft down.
Side-by-Side Metrics
| Metric | Blanche Lake | West Battle Lake |
|---|---|---|
| Water Clarity | 12.5 ft | 18 ft Better |
| Phosphorus | 11 µg/L | 8 µg/L Better |
| Chlorophyll-a (Algae) | 4.5 µg/L | 2.7 µg/L Better |
| Maximum Depth | 64 ft | 108 ft Better |
| Surface Area | 1,296 acres | 5,615 acres |
| Public Access | Yes | Yes |
| Fish Species | 4 | 17 Better |
| Trophic State | mesotrophic | oligotrophic |
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.
Swap a lake
Compare Blanche Lake or West Battle Lake against a different lake.
Verdict
Both lakes earn the same Grade A. The tiebreakers come down to clarity (Blanche Lake: 12.5 ft, West Battle Lake: 18 ft) and what you want from the lake. Blanche Lake has fewer fish species than West Battle Lake.
Source: EPA National Aquatic Resource Surveys, 2026.