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Florida Lake reads lower on nutrients and algae than Diamond Lake. Both are in Kandiyohi County, Minnesota.

Reviewed by LakeQuality Editorial Team · Updated

Both Diamond Lake and Florida 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. Florida Lake reads materially cleaner than Diamond Lake on nutrients and algae. A gap that wide is unlikely to close in a single year of remediation work; it reflects multi-decade differences in the lakes themselves.

For a recreational visitor, the wider gap in the readings is decisive: Florida Lake 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?

Diamond Lake

Kandiyohi County, Minnesota

Murky, only visible to about 5.6 ft.

Florida Lake

Kandiyohi County, Minnesota

Good clarity, visible to about 12.3 ft.

Side-by-Side Metrics

MetricDiamond LakeFlorida Lake
Water Clarity5.6 ft12.3 ft Better
Phosphorus65 µg/L20 µg/L Better
Chlorophyll-a (Algae)17.4 µg/L3.8 µg/L Better
Maximum Depth27 ft40 ft Better
Surface Area1,610 acres705 acres
Public AccessYesYes
Fish Species1518 Better
Trophic Stateeutrophicmesotrophic

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.

Verdict

Florida Lake reads lower on nutrients and algae than Diamond Lake. Water clarity: 12.3 ft vs 5.6 ft. For fishing diversity, Florida Lake also leads with 18 species.

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Source: EPA National Aquatic Resource Surveys, 2026.