Center Lake vs Loon Lake
Water quality, depth, fish species, and recreation comparison.
Center Lake and Loon Lake both received the same overall water quality grade of F (Very Poor).
This comparison crosses state lines: Center Lake in Iowa versus Loon Lake in Minnesota. The LakeGrade rubric is uniform across both, but the underlying monitoring programs differ in subtle ways worth noting. The grades are close: Center Lake (F) and Loon Lake (F) 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.
Center Lake
Very murky, less than 2.3 ft of visibility.
Loon Lake
Very murky, less than 0.9 ft of visibility.
Side-by-Side Metrics
| Metric | Center Lake | Loon Lake |
|---|---|---|
| Overall Grade | F (Very Poor) | F (Very Poor) |
| Water Clarity | 2.3 ft | 0.9 ft |
| Phosphorus | No data | 274 µg/L |
| Chlorophyll-a (Algae) | 39.6 µg/L | No data |
| Maximum Depth | - | - |
| Surface Area | 287 acres | 707 acres |
| Public Access | Unknown | Unknown |
| Fish Species | 0 | 1 |
| Trophic State | eutrophic | hypereutrophic |
Bold value = better for that metric (lower phosphorus / chlorophyll = cleaner; higher Secchi / depth / species count = better).
Verdict
Both lakes earn the same Grade F. The tiebreakers come down to clarity (Center Lake: 2.3 ft, Loon Lake: 0.9 ft) and what you want from the lake. Center Lake has fewer fish species than Loon Lake.