Cokato Lake vs Howard Lake
Water quality, depth, fish species, and recreation comparison.
Cokato Lake and Howard Lake both received the same overall water quality grade of D (Poor). Both are in Wright County, Minnesota.
Cokato Lake and Howard 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 grades are close: Cokato Lake (D) and Howard Lake (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.
Cokato Lake
Murky, only visible to about 6 ft.
Howard Lake
Murky, only visible to about 4 ft.
Side-by-Side Metrics
| Metric | Cokato Lake | Howard Lake |
|---|---|---|
| Overall Grade | D (Poor) | D (Poor) |
| Water Clarity | 6 ft | 4 ft |
| Phosphorus | No data | 60 µg/L |
| Chlorophyll-a (Algae) | No data | No data |
| Maximum Depth | 52 ft | 39 ft |
| Surface Area | 552.78 acres | 745 acres |
| Public Access | Yes | Yes |
| Fish Species | 1 | 1 |
| 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 (Cokato Lake: 6 ft, Howard Lake: 4 ft) and what you want from the lake. Cokato Lake matches its peer on species count.