Coot Lake vs Cottontail Lake
Water quality, depth, fish species, and recreation comparison.
Coot Lake and Cottontail Lake both received the same overall water quality grade of F (Very Poor). Both are in Jackson County, Wisconsin.
Both Coot Lake and Cottontail Lake sit in Missouri. A same-state comparison strips out the state-level water-quality regime as a variable: any grade differences here are about the lakes themselves, not the agencies grading them. These two are within a letter of each other on the rubric — Coot Lake (F) versus Cottontail Lake (F). The deciding factors for a recreational visitor are likely physical (depth, access, fish species) rather than water-quality differences.
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.
Coot Lake
Very murky, less than 1.6 ft of visibility.
Cottontail Lake
Very murky, less than 1.6 ft of visibility.
Side-by-Side Metrics
| Metric | Coot Lake | Cottontail Lake |
|---|---|---|
| Overall Grade | F (Very Poor) | F (Very Poor) |
| Water Clarity | 1.6 ft | 1.6 ft |
| Phosphorus | 77.2 µg/L | 86.5 µg/L |
| Chlorophyll-a (Algae) | 43.7 µg/L | 39.4 µg/L |
| Maximum Depth | - | - |
| Surface Area | 23 acres | 21 acres |
| Public Access | Unknown | Unknown |
| Fish Species | 0 | 0 |
| 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 F. The tiebreakers come down to clarity (Coot Lake: 1.6 ft, Cottontail Lake: 1.6 ft) and what you want from the lake. Coot Lake matches its peer on species count.