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LakeQuality

Buffalo Bill Lake Nr. Access vs Hamilton Lake

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

Buffalo Bill Lake Nr. Access and Hamilton Lake both received the same overall water quality grade of D (Poor). Both are in Wisconsin.

Both Buffalo Bill Lake Nr. Access and Hamilton Lake sit in Missouri. 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 — Buffalo Bill Lake Nr. Access (D) versus Hamilton Lake (D). 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.

D

Buffalo Bill Lake Nr. Access

DeKalb County, Wisconsin

No clarity data.

D

Hamilton Lake

Caldwell County, Wisconsin

No clarity data.

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.

MetricBuffalo Bill Lake Nr. AccessHamilton Lake
Overall GradeD (Poor)D (Poor)
Water ClarityNo dataNo data
Phosphorus71.3 µg/L64.2 µg/L
Chlorophyll-a (Algae)24.3 µg/L20.7 µg/L
Maximum Depth--
Surface Area45 acres76 acres
Public AccessUnknownUnknown
Fish Species00
Trophic Stateeutrophiceutrophic

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

Verdict

Both lakes earn the same Grade D. The tiebreakers come down to what you want from the lake. Buffalo Bill Lake Nr. Access matches its peer on species count.