Colby Lake vs Whitewater Lake
Water quality, depth, fish species, and recreation comparison.
Whitewater Lake reads lower on nutrients and algae than Colby Lake. 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 readings are close: Colby Lake and Whitewater 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.
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Water Clarity | 3 ft | 14 ft Better |
| Phosphorus | 22 µg/L | 14.5 µg/L Better |
| Chlorophyll-a (Algae) | 3.2 µg/L | 1.8 µg/L Better |
| Maximum Depth | 30 ft | 73 ft Better |
| Surface Area | 518 acres | 1,212 acres |
| Public Access | Yes | Yes |
| Fish Species | 15 | 15 |
| Trophic State | eutrophic | oligotrophic |
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.
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Verdict
Colby Lake and Whitewater Lake read the same on nutrients and algae overall. 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.
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Where to stay near Colby Lake and Whitewater Lake
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Source: EPA National Aquatic Resource Surveys, 2026.