Buffalo Lake vs Lake Puckaway
Water quality, depth, fish species, and recreation comparison.
Buffalo Lake and Lake Puckaway both received the same overall water quality grade of D (Poor). Both are in Wisconsin.
Both Buffalo Lake and Lake Puckaway sit in Wisconsin. 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: Buffalo Lake (D) and Lake Puckaway (D) 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.
Buffalo Lake
Very murky, less than 2.5 ft of visibility.
Lake Puckaway
Murky, only visible to about 4.4 ft.
Side-by-Side Metrics
| Metric | Buffalo Lake | Lake Puckaway |
|---|---|---|
| Overall Grade | D (Poor) | D (Poor) |
| Water Clarity | 2.5 ft | 4.4 ft |
| Phosphorus | 125.5 µg/L | 52.1 µg/L |
| Chlorophyll-a (Algae) | No data | No data |
| Maximum Depth | 8 ft | 5 ft |
| Surface Area | 2,179 acres | 5,013 acres |
| Public Access | Yes | Yes |
| Fish Species | 5 | 6 |
| Trophic State | eutrophic | eutrophic |
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 clarity (Buffalo Lake: 2.5 ft, Lake Puckaway: 4.4 ft) and what you want from the lake. Buffalo Lake has fewer fish species than Lake Puckaway.
Source: EPA National Aquatic Resource Surveys, 2026.