Crow R Mill Pond vs Nest Lake
Water quality, depth, fish species, and recreation comparison.
Crow R Mill Pond reads lower on nutrients and algae than Nest Lake. Both are in Kandiyohi County, Minnesota.
Both Crow R Mill Pond and Nest Lake sit in Minnesota. A same-state comparison strips out the state-level water-quality regime as a variable: any differences in the readings here are about the lakes themselves, not the agencies sampling them. The readings are meaningfully apart: Crow R Mill Pond carries clearly lower phosphorus and chlorophyll-a readings than Nest Lake. A spread that wide reflects real underlying differences, in watershed inputs, depth profiles, or monitoring rigor.
For a recreational visitor, the wider gap in the readings is decisive: Crow R Mill Pond has the lower nutrient and algae numbers. For a researcher, the gap is the interesting part: what is different about the two watersheds, and which of those differences is mutable?
Crow R Mill Pond
Moderate clarity, visible to about 7 ft.
Nest Lake
Moderate clarity, visible to about 7 ft.
Side-by-Side Metrics
| Metric | Crow R Mill Pond | Nest Lake |
|---|---|---|
| Water Clarity | 7 ft | 7 ft |
| Phosphorus | 21 µg/L Better | 30 µg/L |
| Chlorophyll-a (Algae) | 6.7 µg/L Better | 8.5 µg/L |
| Maximum Depth | 14 ft | 40 ft Better |
| Surface Area | 2,290 acres | 969 acres |
| Public Access | Yes | Yes |
| Fish Species | 13 | 19 Better |
| Trophic State | mesotrophic | eutrophic |
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.
Swap a lake
Compare Crow R Mill Pond or Nest Lake against a different lake.
Verdict
Crow R Mill Pond reads lower on nutrients and algae than Nest Lake. Water clarity: 7 ft vs 7 ft. For more fish-species variety, Nest Lake edges ahead with 19 documented species.
Source: EPA National Aquatic Resource Surveys, 2026.