Cedar Lake vs Roberds Lake
Water quality, depth, fish species, and recreation comparison.
Cedar Lake and Roberds Lake read the same on nutrients and algae. Both are in Rice County, Minnesota.
Cedar Lake and Roberds 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. The readings are close: Cedar Lake and Roberds 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.
Cedar Lake
Very murky, less than 2 ft of visibility.
Roberds Lake
Very murky, less than 2.5 ft of visibility.
Side-by-Side Metrics
| Metric | Cedar Lake | Roberds Lake |
|---|---|---|
| Water Clarity | 2 ft | 2.5 ft Better |
| Phosphorus | 91 µg/L Better | 300 µg/L |
| Chlorophyll-a (Algae) | 72.6 µg/L Better | 86.7 µg/L |
| Maximum Depth | 42 ft | 43 ft Better |
| Surface Area | 902 acres | 632 acres |
| Public Access | Yes | Yes |
| Fish Species | 18 | 18 |
| Trophic State | eutrophic | hypereutrophic |
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 Cedar Lake or Roberds Lake against a different lake.
Verdict
Both lakes earn the same Grade F. The tiebreakers come down to clarity (Cedar Lake: 2 ft, Roberds Lake: 2.5 ft) and what you want from the lake. Cedar Lake matches its peer on species count.
Source: EPA National Aquatic Resource Surveys, 2026.