Crystal Lake Max Depth vs Smith Lake
Water quality, depth, fish species, and recreation comparison.
Crystal Lake Max Depth and Smith Lake both received the same overall water quality grade of F (Very Poor). Both are in Wisconsin.
Both Crystal Lake Max Depth and Smith Lake sit in Iowa. 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 — Crystal Lake Max Depth (F) versus Smith 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.
Crystal Lake Max Depth
Very murky, less than 1.6 ft of visibility.
Smith Lake
Very murky, less than 2.4 ft of visibility.
Side-by-Side Metrics
| Metric | Crystal Lake Max Depth | Smith Lake |
|---|---|---|
| Overall Grade | F (Very Poor) | F (Very Poor) |
| Water Clarity | 1.6 ft | 2.4 ft |
| Phosphorus | No data | No data |
| Chlorophyll-a (Algae) | 50.3 µg/L | 39.1 µg/L |
| Maximum Depth | - | - |
| Surface Area | 9.7 acres | 53 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 (Crystal Lake Max Depth: 1.6 ft, Smith Lake: 2.4 ft) and what you want from the lake. Crystal Lake Max Depth matches its peer on species count.