Colby Lake vs Whitewater Lake
Water quality, depth, fish species, and recreation comparison.
Colby Lake and Whitewater Lake both received the same overall water quality grade of A (Excellent). Both are in St. Louis County, Minnesota.
Colby Lake and Whitewater 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: Colby Lake (A) and Whitewater Lake (A) 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.
Colby Lake
Very murky, less than 3 ft of visibility.
Whitewater Lake
Good clarity, visible to about 14 ft.
Side-by-Side Metrics
| Metric | Colby Lake | Whitewater Lake |
|---|---|---|
| Overall Grade | A (Excellent) | A (Excellent) |
| Water Clarity | 3 ft | 14 ft |
| Phosphorus | 22 µg/L | 14.5 µg/L |
| Chlorophyll-a (Algae) | 3.2 µg/L | 1.8 µg/L |
| Maximum Depth | 30 ft | 73 ft |
| Surface Area | 518 acres | 1,212 acres |
| Public Access | Yes | Yes |
| Fish Species | 15 | 15 |
| Trophic State | eutrophic | oligotrophic |
Bold value = better for that metric (lower phosphorus / chlorophyll = cleaner; higher Secchi / depth / species count = better).
Verdict
Both lakes earn the same Grade A. The tiebreakers come down to clarity (Colby Lake: 3 ft, Whitewater Lake: 14 ft) and what you want from the lake. Colby Lake matches its peer on species count.
Source: EPA National Aquatic Resource Surveys, 2026.